http://www.care2.com/greenliving/homemade-sugar-scrub.html
Homemade Sugar Scrub
By Annie B. Bond
OK, folks. Get ready for almost unbelievably soft skin (even for those of us with older skin).
The other day I was speaking with Larry Pleasant, CEO of The Vermont Soapworks, and he mentioned that he and his staff had spent the morning testing homemade sugar scrubs, and that everyone was commenting on how incredibly soft their skin felt. Aware that sugar cane produces glycolic acid, one of the natural alpha hydroxy acids that exfoliates the skin, I was immediately curious about his recipes.
- 50 percent white cane sugar (note that organic sucanat, while the best choice for food, doesn’t work as well for this recipe)
- 50 percent vegetable glycerin to moisten the sugar (I used avocado oil since I was out of vegetable glycerin and it proved to be a successful substitute)
- Small amounts of aloe vera gel, vitamin C crystals, or anything healing that dissolves in water
- 1 or 2 drops of essential oil if desired (Larry recommends combining orange and lavender)
- Enough ground hibiscus powder for pink color (if desired)
Ingredients
Combine the ingredients in a bowl. Scoop some of the scrub onto your hand and massage gently onto your skin for a minute (the scrub will actually tighten onto your skin like a masque). Leave on for 3 to 4 minutes before rinsing.
Let me warn you in advance that you’ll want to use this sugar scrub on your entire body. I started on my face, returned to my desk, and my skin felt so baby soft that the skin on my neck felt like sandpaper, so I needed to use the sugar scrub there, and on and on.
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36 comments
add your comment »Pam F - You can find vegetable glycerin and the other ingredients you asked about at most health food stores. You can also get almond oil at a lot of grocery stores.
Baby oil is basically mineral oil with fragrance. It is not as good for you or the environment as vegetable oils or vegetable glycerin.
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Pam F - You can find vegetable glycerin and the other ingredients you asked about at most health food stores. You can also get almond oil at a lot of grocery stores.
Baby oil is basically mineral oil with fragrance. It is not as good for you or the environment as vegetable oils or vegetable glycerin.
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I decided to try this scrub with my daughter, but instead of the vegetable glycerin, I used baby oil for her scrub and a lemon/almond oil mix for mine. I used 1 tablespoon each of the sugar and the oils and it made my hands smooth and soft as well as lightly scented. My daughter has eczema and this has proved to smooth her skin without irritating it. Works great!
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Re: Sugar Scrub
I use:
1/4 cup graapeseed oil. It has naturally occuring vitamin E and other great stuff for skin.
(Look it up!).
1/4 cup of regular white cane sugar.
As much juice as I can squeeze from a small leaf from a real aloe vera plant that grows on our window sill.
Mix in a cereal sized bowl and rub it into your skin. For a whole body scrub, get some help with your back from a budddy ;-).
Shower (no soap) to rinse and blot dry with a fluffy towel. The grapeseed oil is actually good for your skin and very light, with almost no smell, and it will not clog pores, so you can leave the oil on your skin that remains. It feels GREAT!
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I made hibiscus powder by grinding hibiscus ( Jaimaca ) in my coffee grinder, There's hibiscus tea, as well, i think Tazo's is called Passion, you could probably use that.. from a blurb:
"... Tazo® Passion Iced Tea is a mix of luscious hibiscus flowers, lemongrass, mango and passion fruit essences..."
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Could someone tell me where to find vegetable glycerin or almond oil & aloe vera gel & vitamam
C crystals & essitial oils & hibiscus powder. Please........ Thanks you Pam
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Could someone please tell me how long this would keep unrefrigerated? I was planning to make a huge batch and give as Christmas gifts in plastic jars. Would you recommend? Thanks!
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This is a great scrub. I make a variation of it using a cornstarch and sugar mixture then adding the oil/glycerin/aloe and of course some essential oil for fragrance. By varying the amount of cornstarch you can get a coarser scrub for your body and one not as coarse for your face.
I also read somewhere about using salt instead of sugar - the only problem with that is that when I use it after shaving my legs it really stings!
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Contact Sarah at the little soap shop, she make fantastic bath and body products including sugar scrubs and soap cakes in all kinds of fabulous scents, one of my favorites is cherry bakewell.
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I love the scrub, but I could not find the hibiscus powder in any local store. Also is it possible to make it thicker
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