Do you know how easy it is to make your own sugar scrub? I didn’t!
To me, summer means three things: sun, heat, and barefeet. All three of which result in dry skin, especially here in the Desert Southwest of New Mexico. Until recently I had been using a super-posh exfoliating scrub from Origins, which a friend gave me as a gift. But when it ran out, I almost had heart failure when I saw how expensive it would be to buy for myself.
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Lately I’ve been hearing so much about the benefits of coconut oil that I thought I’d try to make my own coconut oil sugar scrub instead. Turns out, the entire ingredient list is in the name: coconut oil and sugar. You can also add essential oil for a nice aromatherapy experience and extra health benefits.
After a few tries, I found that my favorite formula is:
- 4 parts sugar
- 1 part Coconut Oil
- 2-4 drops Peppermint Oil
Make your own Coconut Oil Sugar Scrub:
- Measure out the sugar into a bowl. Plain white table sugar works great for this recipe, or you can use natural sugar for a more vigorous scrub. If you’re just making one batch for yourself, 4 heaping tablespoons will be enough for a miniature mason jar.
- Add the coconut oil. (So if you’re making one little mason jar’s worth, you’d add a heaping tablespoon of oil.) If you’ve never used coconut oil before, you should know that it’s usually a solid at room temperature, so it doesn’t look like oil at all. Once it warms up just a bit, it turns into liquid. This property is part of what makes it such a good ingredient for a body scrub. It liquefies on contact!
- Mix both together. At first, it will seem like you have the wrong proportions as it takes a while for the oil to mix with the sugar. It will eventually turn into a grainy sludge that roughly holds its shape.
- Add a couple of drops of essential oil or extract. (I used peppermint extract, since it was all I had on hand in my kitchen, and I love its bright smell.) Mix thoroughly.
That’s all it takes to make yourself an incredibly effective and healthy body scrub!
This scrub is so easy to use, and is great for your skin. You just rub a dab onto your skin for a few seconds, rinse off with warm water, and gently pat dry. The sugar exfoliates and then dissolves quickly in the water, and the coconut oil will stay behind to continue moisturizing, so there’s no need to add lotion.
Body scrubs are so great for exfoliation and moisturizing, but did you know you can also use this as a shave cream? I found this out the hard way when I ran out of shaving cream in the shower. After you apply the scrub, rinse it gently off, and the coconut oil left behind will buffer your skin from the razor. It actually works better than any shave cream I’ve tried.
Bonus: this stuff is so healthy and natural, you could even eat it. I know – I gave it a little taste test, all in the name of research. Yummy.
Make it a into a sweet gift!
Now, if you’re as inspired as I was by this discovery, you might want to make up a whole batch and give them as gifts. You could add a bright citrus-y scent as a gift for your gardening friends in the spring, or pine and cinnamon scents for cute Christmas gifts. All you need to do is package them in cute little mini-mason jars, and print a label for the top. I’ve included a free downloadable version of my label here, which you can print on any color paper to jazz it up a bit. (The labels are sized for the standard Mason Jelly Jar
Put a cute little ribbon around the edge and you’ve got an adorable and useful hand-made gift. (I hope my kids’ teachers aren’t reading this right now!) 
I haven’t gotten into essential oils yet, although this project has inspired me to try a few. What are your favorite combinations? Maybe I’ll make up a new batch with those!
Update: We’ve been playing around with a few essential oils recently. My daughter loves this Smiles for Miles formula, and I like Lavender and Tea Tree Oil. Give them a try, or any other essential oils. The possibilities are endless!
Fabulous!! Can’t wait to try once the kids are back in school! 🙂
We’re in the home stretch now – there’s a lot of things I can’t wait to do once the kids are back in school!
I love the idea of this Coconut Oil Sugar Scrub – home made! I exfoliate all the time, but the store brands can get expensive, so this is a real find for me. And I love the peppermint extract! That would be very invigorating
Thanks Jacquie, I feel the same! I was so happy to discover this that I couldn’t keep it to myself.
What happens if you blend up the coconut oil for the scrub? I find it would be easier to mix.
That’s a great idea Wanda – it might make it more aerated. I’ll give it a try next time.
Love, love, love it. Can I get in the receiving line for gifts? How about lavender scented?
Yes! I just need to get some lavender oil…
I’ve never exfoliated before and this recipe seems perfect. I’ll take a free gift to try it out lol but I do have a quick question, where do you get the scented oils? I love fruity smelling stuff and would love to make something like that or even vanilla…
Hi Alisha, you can get essential oils at almost any natural-type grocery store, but you can also order them on Amazon if that’s easier. Click any of the links in the post to see the ones I like. (I added an update section at the end to make them easier to find.)
Excellent idea. Use coconut oil on a daily basis. Will just add some sugar and make a scrub. Or salt, if for some reason I’m out of sugar.
Thanks Catarina! Yes, you can use salt too, but it will be a little more exfoliating, so you probably wouldn’t want to use it every day.
This is great for the dead of winter! Skin gets so dry that time of year. I had a friend who made these for her daughter’s college friends for Christmas. They were a little smaller thought. They loved them. Thanks for sharing the steps. I think I may try it myself. It looks pretty easy.
It is easy! And perfect for dry winter skin too.
I’m sure this works great Meredith but the first thing that comes to mind for me is how sticky sugar feels on your skin.
Ha! Ewww. It’s really not sticky at all though! The sugar dissolves right away in the water, leaving only the moisturizer.
I’ve only recently been introduced to the many merits of coconut oil and using it as a scrub doesn’t surprise me. It can be used for everything it seems 😉
I know, it’s a panacea it seems. Next week they’ll be telling us it causes cancer, I’m sure. 😉
This scrub sounds tasty!! I like the idea of making it to give as gifts. In Kenya, we always used coconut oil to moisturise our skin and hair so I think a scrub would work great in the dry summer months.
Yes it’s such a great natural moisturizer that I’m surprised it’s only recently become so popular here.
What a great idea, Meredith! You’ve shown us how easy and cost effective it is to make our own scrub made from pure and natural ingredients! Thx so much!
Oh that reminds me! I forgot to put in the cost breakdown. Oh well, you get the idea, it’s lots cheaper than store bought!
Hi Meredith, Erica has turned me on to coconut oil and I’ve been using it in all kinds of ways but this sugar scrub is a new one. Love it. I’m going to be making some tonight – witt lavender essentilal oil of course. I’m also going to print off your label – that is so neat. I’m having such a hard time making a proper label for my products – unlike you I am not the least bit artistic. One more month of summer – enjoy!!!!!!!
Thanks Lenie! My kids go back to school in two weeks already! I’m going to try lavender next too, know where I could get a good one? 😉
Wow – coconut sugar scrub! With my busy lifestyle, I could do with some pampering!
I use coconut oil in my hair which keeps it cool in the summer months (on the days that we actually have sun that is!)
The recipe does not look too difficult. I am sure it smells good enough to eat!
Wow, coconut oil is good for everything! I didn’t know it also keeps you cool. This scrub is super easy to make, and it really does make you feel pampered. Enjoy!
This looks wonderful Meredith. I tried a similar concoction recently with coconut oil and dried coffee grounds. Like you might imagine it looked pretty yucky but it worked great. I do like adding essential oils so I will definitely give this one a try!
Ooh, coffee, another one of my favorite things that seems to have a million uses!
Ooh, this sounds heavenly. I adore natural products with yummy smells (confession: I’m addicted to a hair gel that smells like creme brule), and so will have to try this. And it’s so easy to do! Brill.
Mmm, creme brulee! That sounds yummy too! 🙂
I can’t believe it! This is something I actually do. I use organic brown sugar that I order on Amazon and either coconut oil or sesame oil. Sometimes I just use it right our of the bag. Let’s talk saving money. I can’t believe the prices of sugar scrubs and it’s such a simple to DIY. I never thought I use “simple” and DIY it the same sentence!
Yay! You’re a DIY-er! I love saving money, especially when it’s healthy, don’t you?
I love sugar scrub. It makes my skin happy. 🙂 Thanks for linking up with us and the #homemattersparty. We’re glad to have you.
Me too! And thanks! See you again this week at the party…
It’s the end of the week, so I’m gonna off-topically sneak this in: Will you be writing a post about those friendly and inquisitive cows? I’m sure that was a mooo-ving experience for you and your family…
Ha! I’ll have to see if I can work them in somehow…
I learned about the benefits several years ago. An elderly father of a friend of mine started showing signs of Alzheimer’s and coconut oil seemed to reduce its impact. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Wow, that’s amazing! I guess it really is good for all sorts of things!
I LOVE this recipe and as a gift for someone special. It easy and useful and wine for all. This is a must make for me. ?
Thanks Susan! Hope you enjoy it as much as I have!
What did you use to make the label for the mason jar lid? I am making sugar scrub for my daughters bridal shower favors. Thanks
Hi Beverly, I used picmonkey.com. It’s a free online photo editing system, and it works great for simple designs like this one. Good luck!
The labels print way too big. How do I get them to print the correct size?
Hmm that’s weird! Maybe try adjusting your printer settings? They should print 6 to a page. Also, I can send you a PDF file instead. Just shoot me an email and I’ll send it right over to you. ([email protected])
Do you use this scrub on your face? Looks great. Thanks
Thanks Patt! I don’t use it on my face because I have another product that I use. I would think the sugar would be a little too abrasive, especially if you have sensitive skin. It’s great everywhere else though!
What is the shelf life of the scrub? do you refrigerate it ?
I didn’t refrigerate mine, although that’s probably not a bad idea. I only make enough to last a couple of months, and it’s never gone bad on me in that time period.
Made 20 of these for a bridal shower. About two weeks after our production, i opened one of the mason jars and the scrub was hard as a rock. What did i do wrong? thanks!
Hi Debra, I’m guessing you may need less coconut oil and more sugar. Coconut oil is solid at room temp, but as soon as you warm it between your hands it will soften. But usually the sugar keeps it all broken up, so maybe there’s just not enough sugar? Also, the sugar shouldn’t melt when you’re stirring it together. Otherwise it will definitely solidify. Let me know what you think and I’ll try to help out some more.
Thank you Meredith…. makes sense…… added sugar to a couple of jars…… i’ll get back to you 🙂
Does the coconut oil you use smell like coconut? I have two different kinds of oil, one smells like coconut and one doesnt . The oil that smells like coconuts seems to have a nicer texture when cooled down so im wondering if this one is better for the scrub?
Yes, mine does a little. I’ve since used different brands, and they all seem to work fine. Just be sure you’re adding enough sugar, even though it will seem like a lot.
It was easy enough to make, but the coconut oil hardened when it cooled, and I could barely get it out o f the jar!!!! Any advice???
Hi Jeanette, the coconut oil will solidify at room temperature or below. You can put it in a warm spot in your house, or heat it up a little, or just scoop it out with a spoon and rub it between your hands to warm it up. Can I ask, did you use the same measurements I recommended? Sometimes people want to add more oil and then it does seem to harden more. If you use less oil and more sugar it will stay crumbly.
How long is the sugar scrub good for? I want to make some for a bridal shower favor but heard the color separates from the scrub. How long before the shower can I put these together?
Hi Elaine, I haven’t ever used color in mine, so I can’t comment on the color separation you mentioned. The actual scrub will last for a couple of months, at least. If you’re adding color, maybe make up a big batch early on, then add color at the last minute before canning the scrub. Hope that helps!