Homemade Sugar Scrub

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.

Ingredients

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)

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.

Click here for more about Vermont Soap.

By Annie B. Bond

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Natasha S.

11:06PM PDT on May 7, 2013

Sounds great except i would take out glycerin+add olive oil! Thanks

May 7
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Aud N.

7:43AM PDT on Mar 28, 2013

thanks

March 28
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Alexandra S.

1:39PM PST on Jan 11, 2013

I am curious why you recommend using vegetable glycerin over some sort of oil, like olive or coconut. Also, I love the idea of adding aloe! You might be curious to check out my recipe for Vanilla & Brown Sugar Body Scrub here: http://www.creativesimplelife.com/brown-sugar-vanilla-body-scrub/

January 11
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Michele M.

5:37AM PST on Dec 21, 2012

I'm glad I found this!!! wanting to make!! tyvm

December 21
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Laurita W.

8:51PM PDT on Jul 13, 2012

I used a little cream off the top of my goat's milk -- Yum! What I didn't eat, I used on my face. I really like it. The goat's cream sticks to the side of the pail if I don't pour it into the strainer immediately, and just cleaning it out, I have noticed my hands are getting nicer to touch.

July 13
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Danielle L.

10:17PM PDT on Jul 10, 2012

I'm on a extremely tight budget, so I mixed sugar with a little baby oil, and added the aloe vera gel. I put it on (it was a bit rough, and I was skeptic) and let it sit for a few minutes (I sat on the edge of the tub and played Tetris on my gameboy.) When I went to rinse it off, I was really worried because it felt oily and my skin is really prone to breaking out, so after I rinsed, to help all the oil come off my skin (and out of my pores) I used my pink grapefruit face wash. As soon as I dried my face, I couldn't stop touching it!! This is definitely getting rotated into my skin routine, but I wouldn't recommend using it more than once a week, other wise you will trick your skin into thinking that it's not producing enough oil, and it will start producing more!