Lavender-Orange Sugar Scrub: DIY Recipe

scrub

Looking for microdermabrasion, the natural way? Need an idea for a practical, luxurious and thoughtful gift? Try making your own sugar scrub and your pals and relatives will be thankful for their renewed skin!

Exfoliating your skin brings tremendous benefits, chiefly the removal of dead skin cells. Sloughing off the dead cells unclogs pores, making way for your moisturizer to do its thing while combating dry, dehydrated and flaky skin. Exfoliating also improves the texture of your skin, speeds up the renewal process and reduces the appearance of potentially unwanted lines. As tempting as it is to slather all over, your elbows, knees and feet will especially love this "locked-in" moisture method. Using a scrub one to two times per week will prompt a noticable difference in the softness of your skin. And that's a good thing.

So, what jars to use for your special, personal gifts? You certainly can resort to recycled glass containers but I'm a huge fan of weck canning jars.  For the sugar scrub, I used the 1/2 liter tulip jars, although the 1/5 liter wide-mouth mold jars would work well too. The ingredients are simple and fairly inexpensive so using the tulip jars certainly generated a larger batch of scrub...good for several dry winter months!

To make this scrub, place all of the ingredients (except essential oils) in a bowl and stir well, smoothing out all sugar lumps. Then add the drops of essential oil before storing in a glass jar.

The following recipes are adapted and modified from several sugar scrub recipes.

  • 1 cup of white cane sugar
  • 1 cup of vegetable glycerin (or try avocado oil)
  • 1 TBLS. (or dollop) of aloe vera gel or vitamin e oil
  • 2-3 drops each of essential oils: lavender and sweet orange

Or try this recipe for a coarser, drier scrub:

  • 2 1/2 cups of white cane sugar
  • 1/2 cup of sweet almond oil (or jojoba oil)
  • 1 TBLS. of shea butter
  • 4 TBLS. of honey
  • 2 drops of essential oil (bergamot, lavender, lemon..you choose)

Have you ever made a body scrub? What are your favorite sugar scrub scents?

And if you're feeling tired and achy, try the DIY recipe for Warming Mustard Bath, an amazingly therapeutic soak.