DIY Body Scrub Good Enough to Eat Better Slathered on Your Body

Truth be told I was never really  much of a DIY kind of person, more like a pull out the credit card and go shopping to solve whatever perceived issue I had kind of a person. As the years go by I’ve come to realize the benefits of being able to make things yourself. AKA the cost savings as with age comes added responsibilities that you may not have had when you’re younger like rent/mortgage/groceries/life in general. I must confess that I’m a skincare junkie and in my younger more financially reckless days I wouldn’t have thought twice about spending upwards of $100 on a small jar of body scrub that smelled like a spa in jar. That is until I grew up, moved out of my parents place and had to start spending my own hard earned cash on everything from mortgage to toilet paper (suddenly that no name brand starts looking pretty good….ha).

 

Over time I realized that my favorite body scrubs were made out of all natural products. Sugar or salt, some sort of oil, and various scented oils. While there are so many incredible products on the shelves these days I’ve come to realize that they are predominantly made out of ingredients that I could easily find in my kitchen. The only difference is that I wouldn’t necessarily have the svelte packaging and design as the ones on the shelf, but hey that gets thrown in the recycle bin once the jar is done anyways so not having the fancy packaging is a small sacrifice. Plus knowing exactly what goes into and that it’s all natural is also a huge win.

 

The only real thing you need to decide now when making your own body scrub is whether you want sugar or salt and the type of oil. I’ve listed out some types of sugars, salts, and oils below and their benefits

Sugar Scrub

The benefits of sugar scrubs is that they’re much gentler on the skin so if you have sensitive skin this is the best bet for you. Sugar is also a pretty inexpensive ingredient so your cost savings will be better in comparison to salt. You can really use any sugar you want but I’ve found the following to be the most beneficial in terms of exfoliation and they are the ones to give you the most similar results to that of the store bought body scrub variety:

• All natural cane sugar: Larger sugar granules so great for exfoliation and contains trace minerals and elements which may be beneficial to your skin
• Turbinado Sugar: Also larger sugar granules which are excellent exfoliants
• Brown Sugar: Smaller sugar granules and very gentle on the skin. Smells particular nice especially if you like body scrubs with sweeter scents

Salt Scrub

Salt is also an excellent exfoliant but larger granules means it might be too rough if you have sensitive skin. It is great for areas where the skin is thicker like the heel of your feed or in places where callouses have built up. Salt is also known to have excellent antibacterial properties although it does tend to be pricier than sugar. Some salt you may want to consider using:

• All natural sea salt: Larger granules and also contains trace minerals that may be beneficial to the skin
• Epson Salts: Larger granules great for exfoliation and contains high amounts of minerals, such as magnesium, known for effective soothing properties

Oils

Again, almost any type of oil will do but below are the ones I would recommend:

• Coconut Oil – highly moisturizing and also high in Vitamin E, which is considered a good antioxidant to help relieve common skin conditions like eczema or psoriasis. Also great if you want to have that tropical smell that reminds you of a beach vacation.
• Almond Oil – like coconut oil it’s also high in the antioxidant vitamin E. It’s also considered incredibly gentle and hypo-allergenic which is why it’s commonly found in many baby products
• Olive Oil – ah the best kept secret of the Mediterranean not only is it good for your heart it’s also good for the skin. In addition to antioxidant vitamin E it also contains antioxidants polyphenols and phytosterols which could potentially slow down signs of aging in addition to keeping your skin silky smooth
• Grapeseed Oil – my personal favorite for body scrubs it’s highly moisturizing but absorbs quickly so it doesn’t leave your skin feeling overly greasy. It’s also high in linoleic acid which has been known to improve the overall elasticity of your skin. Plus it’s non-comedogenic which means it won’t clog your pores. In fact, take a look at the ingredient listing for a lot of beauty/skin products and you’ll probably see grapeseed oil. It’s that good!

Instructions:

Ok, so now that you’ve chosen your sugar/salt/oil of choice here’s what you do to make the base of your body scrub

• 1 cup salt/sugar
• 1/2 cup to 3/4 of a cup of oil
• Essential oils/spices (optional)
• Mix all ingredients into jar of choice (I like using a simple mason jar but any jar works!)
• Seriously that’s it

Keep in mind these are loose guidelines that I find work for me but you can easily adjust the amount/proportions of salt/sugar and oil depending on the consistency you like. Higher amount of salt/sugar will give you a drier scrub whereas higher amounts of oil will give you a wetter scrub. Play around and see what works to your tastes.

One more thing to take note of too is that you may notice oil separation. Don’t freak out, this is perfectly normal.  Like all-natural peanut butter the oil will separate in a homemade body scrub because it’s not full of chemical stabilizers that are used specifically to prevent oil separation. So in fact the oil separation should be a comforting sight to you because you’ll know you’re not putting anything unidentifiable on your body. Just make sure to give it a good mix before using and you’re good to go.

Optional Ingredients:

You’ll notice that I included essential oils/spices as an optional ingredient above. The scrub works perfectly fine with just the salt/sugar and oil but if you want to make yourself something luxurious that is similar to store bought the optionals are a great way to do it while still only costing you a fraction of what you’d pay at a spa or store. Essential oils can be a little bit pricy and I’ve seen them range anywhere from $5 per 30mL to $50 per 30ML depending on the type and where you get them. It’s a good investment though if you want to spoil yourself a little as you only need a few drops of the stuff to replicate the fancy stuff and the essential oil bottle will last you for many jars of homemade scrub depending on how much you use. I find that a lot of farmer’s markets offer some locally made high quality essential oils at reasonable prices ($5-$10 range) and of course you can often score some pretty good deals online as well. Some really nice essential oils that work well in body scrubs are below but use whatever you like. That’s the beauty of making your own:

• Lavender – good for soothing and relaxation
• Citrus – citrus essential oils are known to energize and help uplift moods
• Mint – Thought to relieve anxiety and increase focus

If you prefer a scrub with a sweeter scent consider uses spices and herbs right from the kitchen. Mixing in some cinnamon, nutmeg, and powdered ginger will give you a nice gingerbread scented scrub or a little pure vanilla extract will have you smelling like a fresh baked birthday cake.

 

Alright now lather up and enjoy your silky smooth skin and smile knowing you saved yourself a ton of cash by making your own body scrub. But make sure you’re careful because it could get slippery in the shower or tub so make sure you clean up the floor after so there’s no leftover residue which you could easily slip and fall on (to be fair this can happen with store bought too and if you’ve ever read the labels carefully they give you this warning as well).

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