How to Make Your Own Sugar Scrub At Home: A Simple DIY Guide

Sugar scrubs are fantastic for exfoliating and moisturizing the skin. This simple sugar scrub recipe uses only three ingredients, sugar, coconut oil, and essential oils. 

I make many homemade skincare products in my home, and sugar scrubs were one of the first DIY’s I got started with. I was gifted a lovely Vanilla brown sugar scrub for Christmas when I was younger, and when I ran out, I wanted to make more, which was the beginning of my DIY skincare journey. Since then, I’ve made salt scrubs, pink salt scrubs, and coffee scrubs. 

Sugar scrubs are easy to make and are versatile. Below I’ll go over the basics of making sugar scrubs and how to use different types of sugars, carrier oils, and essential oils to create the perfect sugar scrub.

What is a Sugar Scrub?

A sugar scrub is an exfoliating skin product made with sugar, carrier oil, and fragrance. While you can purchase scrubs, it’s economical to make them since they’re so simple to make. Also, it’s always a plus to know the ingredients you’re putting on your skin and have the choice to add what you feel comfortable using. Are you sensitive to essential oils? Use herbs instead or entirely leave the fragrance out of the body scrub. If you don’t like coconut oil, you can use a different carrier oil that suits your skin better. The possibilities are endless when you DIY your own skincare products! 

Ingredients for homemade body scrubs:

Sugar: You can use white organic sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, or coconut sugar for the base of your sugar scrubs. Cane sugar is the standard in most body scrubs and has almost no scent, while brown sugar and coconut sugar have a soft sweet fragrance. 

Carrier Oil: Use your favorite skin-loving carrier oil in this recipe. My favorite carrier oils are (and I’ve included links for where you can purchase a few of them):

• Virgin coconut oil (my in-depth research guide)
• Fractionated coconut oil (different guide, still in-depth 🙂 )
• Avocado oil
• Jojoba oil
• Sweet almond oil
• Olive oil
• Macadamia nut seed oil
• Grapeseed Oil

Scents: Add a fragrance to this homemade body scrub to create a refreshing aroma. I use organic essential oils, but plant extracts, herbs, and fragrances work too. 

Preservative/Antioxidant: This ingredient is completely optional, but I want to share it here anyway for anyone who’d like to add it to this recipe. Adding a minimal amount of preservatives or antioxidants to homemade body care products to help extend the shelf life and protect the product from going rancid. Vitamin E oil and rosemary antioxidants are great natural alternatives that can help preserve your sugar scrubs. I haven’t personally used a preservative in this scrub, but Geogard ECT would be my choice. This preservative should be .6-1% of the formula if you choose to use it.

Below are some of my favorite essential oils to use in this homemade sugar scrub recipe:

• Peppermint (15-20 drops). You’ll smell like a candy cane! Great for the holidays.
• Lavender (20 drops), this mix promotes beautiful soft skin!
• Vanilla & Lavender (15 drops of Vanilla and ten drops of Lavender), this mix is very relaxing!
• Grapefruit & Lime (20 drops each). This smells AMAZING!! Just be careful not to wear this outside since citrus oils are photosensitive.

Related: Lemon Sugar Scrub Recipe

How To Make A Simple Sugar Scrub

Equipment

• Mixing bowl
• whisk or hand mixer food processor (optional)
• Jars or mason jars

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white sugar, brown sugar, or coconut sugar
• 1/4-1/2 cup of carrier oil (I used coconut oil – which you can make at home or buy)
• 15-20 drops of essential oils
• 1 teaspoon dry herbs (optional)

Start by mixing one cup of sugar or brown sugar with 1/4 cup of oil (I used coconut oil). Then, use a whisk or food processor to mix the sugar and oil together. If the scrub is dry, add more oil until the scrub holds together and isn’t too dry or too oily.

Then, add in the essential oils. I like to start with 10-15 drops, stir well and smell the scrub. Then, if it needs more, I’ll add more, five drops at a time, until I reach the fragrance I’m trying to achieve. If you’re adding in an antioxidant or preservative, now is the time to add it. If you are using a preservative, please use proper gloves and protective gear.

Scoop the sugar scrub out of the bowl and into storage jars. Label each jar with the fragrance title and date created. Store the scrubs in a cool dark place. 

How To Use:

1. Use 1-2 tablespoons of the sugar scrub to exfoliate your skin.
2. Rub gently in a circular motion to massage and rub into your skin.
3. Rinse off thoroughly with warm or hot water in the shower. You may want to use a drain catcher to collect herbs from going down the drain.

Homemade Sugar Scrub Recipes:

Below are three of my favorite DIY sugar scrub recipes made with this basic recipe. Each one uses different sugars, oils, and fragrances. These scrubs help to exfoliate and moisturize dry skin, and leave your entire body feeling soft and smooth. The basic sugar scrub and variations are available in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this page. 

Coconut & Vanilla Brown Sugar Scrub

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup organic brown sugar
• 4-6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted 
• 15-20 drops of vanilla essential oil or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Combine the brown sugar and coconut oil in a medium bowl.
2. Add in the vanilla essential oil and mix thoroughly.
3. Scoop the scrub into an air-tight jar or container.

Pumpkin Spice Sugar Scrub

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 4-6 tablespoons pumpkin seed oil (or carrier oil of choice) 
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• pinch of ground clove

Directions:

1. Mix the sugars and coconut in a medium bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the spices. Pour the spices into the scrub and mix until incorporated.
3. Store scrub in an air-tight container at room temperature.

Lavender Sugar Scrub

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup organic cane sugar
• 4-6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted 
• 15-20 drops of lavender essential oil
• 1 tablespoon lavender buds (affiliate links)

Directions:

1. Combine the sugar and coconut oil in a medium bowl.
2. Add in the lavender essential oil and lavender buds and mix thoroughly.
3. Scoop the scrub into an air-tight jar or container.

Love this sugar scrub recipe? Then I know you’ll enjoy my other body scrub recipes, like this coffee body scrub, lemon sugar scrub, Himalayan salt scrub, DIY Lip Scrub, and coconut lime body scrub. These homemade beauty products are all made with simple ingredients and make wonderful Christmas gifts or birthday presents.

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Originally published on December 19th, 2020 and updated with new images and recipe notes on November 9th, 2021 and on September 8th, 2022.