This homemade body scrub is made with coconut oil, sugar, and essential oils. It's super easy to make and I've even included free printable labels if you want to give away a few to your friends.
This project is perfect for "make and takes", girls' night out, or any group gatherings where you want to enjoy creating something while sharing time with others. Of course, it also makes a great gift.
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A good coconut oil sugar body scrub is nice to use all year long. In the winter when your skin is dry, flaky, and itchy. And it's gentler than a salt scrub which is great if you have sensitive skin or issues like eczema or psoriasis. In fact, you can use brown sugar instead of granulated sugar which is less abrasive.
In addition, a sugar exfoliating scrub is great for polishing skin during the warm weather months when you are showing a lot more skin. Exfoliating your skin removes dead skin cells and allows products to go on smoothly and last longer. And, if you're fair skinned like me you probably hate showing your white legs in public. I don't have the time to lay out in the sun, and with my family's skin cancer history, it's probably not a good idea anyway. So, I often resort to using a sunless tanning product.
I've tried many and they all smell bad. The one that has worked best for me is St. Tropez Bronzing Mousse
applied with a foam mitt
for even coverage. However the key to obtaining a natural, even tan, with a sunless tanner is to make sure your skin is exfoliated. They all tell you this in the directions.
How to Make Homemade Body Scrub
Ingredients
- Sugar - White granulated
- Solid coconut oil
- Essential oils or fragrance oils (optional)
- Food coloring (optional)
This is where the sugar scrub comes into play. Using a formula of 2 to 1, sugar to coconut oil, you can make your own homemade body scrub, which is perfect for exfoliating all the dead skin on your body. For this one, I also added a drop of red food coloring to make it a pretty blush pink color. Just like the center of my pretty peonies.
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I used coconut oil in this recipe but you can try jojoba oil, olive oil, or sweet almond oil if you prefer. You may want to play around with the ratio using more of a 1:1 rather than a 2:1.
Adding, several drops of essential oils will make it smell great too. Feel free to use any combination of oils that you like best. Refreshing lemon or peppermint works well. I used a combination of lemon, orange, lavender, and patchouli. If you want to learn more about blending essential oils, check out this article about perfume oil. You could also use fragrance oils for this project. They are cheaper and you can sometimes find scents that are not readily available in the essential oil market.
Free Printable Labels
I'm using 8 oz. plastic jars
for safety in the shower but you could use mason jars. If you want to make some to give away or sell, feel free to print out the label above which should fit on a sheet of Avery 5294 round 2.5-inch labels. Just click on the image above and it will give you a pdf of the labels.
Enjoy making your own homemade body scrub and don't forget to follow up with a good moisturizer or a dry body oil spray.
More Homemade Bath and Body Crafts
DIY Body Scrub in Blush Pink
Equipment
- plastic bowl
- whisk for stirring
- measuring spoons
Materials
- 1 cup sugar white granulated
- 1/2 cup solid coconut oil
- 1/2 - 1 teaspoon essential oils 50 - 100 drops
Instructions
- Combine sugar and coconut oil in a medium bowl.
- Whisk together until smooth.
- Add essential oils and mix well until you the scent strength you desire.
Alysa
Hi! Do u use just any old sugar? Granulated or course? Would brown sugar work?
Patti Estep
Alysa, I've only used white granulated sugar. I have never tried brown sugar but I don't see why you couldn't use it instead.
Tara
Hey I’m not sure if I’m using the wrong coconut oil but it was so strong and over powering. Over the essential oil. I tried olive oil as well but it smelled just like the cooking oil. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong.
Patti Estep
Tara, the coconut oil I used did have a scent to it but I didn't mind it. I'm pretty sure that different coconut oils smell stronger than others. You might have to experiment a bit or consider an alternative like jojoba oil.
Vanessa
This may have been asked already but I didn't see. How many 8oz jars does the recipe above make? I want to make about 75 jars
Patti Estep
Vanessa, the recipe should make 2 8-0z jars.
Sandra
Hi,
What is the size of the jar in pictures?
Thank you!
Patti Estep
They are 8 ounce jars. I have a link in the post the ones I bought. I also just added the same link to the printable card in case it helps anyone else who missed it.
Anita Anguiano
Where did you place the free printable labels? I have not seen them. Thank you!
Patti Estep
Anita, it should have given you a file of the labels. However, as that may be difficult I just changed it to a pdf. All you need to do it click on the image of the label and you should see a pdf of a full page of labels.
Karen
Are these oils that you find in the cooking section?
Patti Estep
Karen, the coconut oil you find in the cooking aisle is fine for this project. However, you are unlikely to find essential oils there. They may have them in the bath and body section of a large grocery store. Usually with the natural organic products. I have also bought them at GNC. Most of the time I order my online.
Britnie
How long does these scrubs last?
Patti Estep
Britnie, the ingredients in this sugar scrub should last at least 6 months. However, getting water in it (using it in the shower) and possible bacteria from your hands could cause it to grow mold. So far, I've been able to use it up before there was a problem.
Mary
Where do you purchase the essential oils?
Patti Estep
I usually purchase mine on Amazon. However, you can find essential oils just about anywhere these days. I have seen them at Walmart, TJMaxx and Trader Joes. The quality does vary but I'm no expert so I can't say one is better than the other. One brand I have found to be good and affordable is NOW. Have fun crafting.
vanessa
Wouldn't the food coloring, stain ur skin? Or make ur skin that color?
Patti Estep
No. I have not found this to be the case. Perhaps its because there is the smallest amount of red food coloring in this sugar scrub making it a light pink.
Guadalupe
Easy and natural, you have great ideas always Patti. Regards
Patti Estep
Thanks Guadalupe!
Lesley
This is just so LUSH LooKing!🌸 I am going to use Hibiscus flower Powder in it for color:) it makes a great pink! With some Xtra nutrients along with the whole prettiness too! "They"'are calling it the "New Botox!" if you infuse it with Oassion Flower it relaxes facial
Muscles! Kinda good to know :).. hey I'm eyes off track here! So sorry! Enjoy your weekend Sugar Babies :)-
Patti Estep
Hi Lesley,
That's good to know. I have never used that kind of ingredient for color or any other benefit but it does sound interesting.
Thanks for sharing, and stopping by,
Pati
Mashi
What if you are allergic to coconut? What other oil can be used?
Patti Estep
Mashi, you can use any carrier oil. Sweet Almond, jojoba oil, sunflower, olive oil, etc... The only difference it that coconut hardens as it cools, so the consistency is thicker but they all work.
Barbara Chapman ~ French Ethereal
Hi Patti!
A wonderful idea! I posted this out to my Ethereal Beautiful You board on Pinterest for you and will post to DIY projects via Tailwind. I love all these idea for scrubs! I'm allergic to a lot of grasses and things so I can't make for myself, but I have a daughter who loves these as well as my new daughter-in-love. <3
Thank you for this idea,
Barb 🙂
Patti Estep
Hi Barbara,
I'm so glad you like the scrub and I hope your daughter and new daughter-in-law love it too.
Thanks for sharing and stopping by,
Patti
Pamela @ Flower Patch Farmhouse
This sounds wonderful. I had a friend give me some epsom salts that she added lavender essential oil to and what a relaxing combo to add to the bath.
My feet especially need the exfoliation in the summer as I wear sandals constantly and it takes extra scrubbing to get the dirt off.
Patti Estep
Hi Pamela,
This works great on dry feet. If you want something a little stronger you could try table salt for your feets too.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!
Patti
carole
What a neat gift idea, this stuff is expensive when you purchase from retailers. Like you, fair skin, white legs and it's all good. I've given up on laying in the sun years ago. I'm running into some additional time lately which means I'm learning to relax and I've been making some fun things here and there so this is going on my list for next week. Thanks!