Simple Sugar Scrub for Hands
Winter can be brutal on skin. Cold air outside, dry heated air inside. I find that, no matter how much I hydrate, my skin can still get a little flaky. Over the years, I’ve experimented with recipes for a healthy, organic hand scrub that nourishes as well as exfoliates. This simple sugar scrub is the easiest by far – and still remarkably effective. I whipped up a new batch over the holidays, preparing for January’s onslaught of colder temperatures, and thought I’d share it with you all.
In this blog post, we'll delve into the art of crafting your own DIY simple sugar scrub, demystifying the process and highlighting the numerous benefits for your skin. Get ready to embrace the simplicity and luxury of a homemade sugar scrub that can transform your skincare routine.
The Basics of a Simple Sugar Scrub:
A sugar scrub is a skincare product that exfoliates and nourishes the skin, leaving it smooth and radiant. The primary ingredients for a simple sugar scrub are readily available in most kitchens: sugar and oil. The sugar granules work as a natural exfoliant, sloughing off dead skin cells, while the oil provides moisture and leaves your skin feeling hydrated.
What’s in it
¼ cup sugar
½ cup coconut oil
¼ cup almond oil
1 tsp Vitamin E oil
That’s it! You can certainly add a couple drops of essential oil if you want a scented version, but the coconut oil is a pleasant smell all on its own.
How to Make Your Own Simple Sugar Scrub
Gently warm the coconut oil in a glass container. It doesn’t have to be fully liquid – in fact, the sugar seems to mix better if the oil is still semi-solid. Now add in the sugar and Vitamin E, and stir to combine. Pour or spoon the mixture into an airtight container and let cool.
Easy peasy – that’s the “simple” in simple sugar scrub.
To use, take a small amount and gently massage it onto damp skin in circular motions. Rinse off with warm water. You will find that this mixture doesn’t take much volume per use. Because coconut oil melts at such a low temperature, your skin’s natural heat will melt the scrub fairly quickly as you massage this over your hands. Be careful not to massage too vigorously or you can damage your skin. This is an exfoliant, and like all exfoliants can be abrasive if pressure is applied aggressively. My rule of thumb is to massage this into hands the same way you would massage soap onto them when washing off something greasy.
Why a sugar scrub?
There are so many wonderful benefits to using a sugar scrub. The most obvious are that this gentle exfoliant unclogs pores and boosts cell turnover. A scrub can also stimulate collagen synthesis. And gentle exfoliation can also help other products absorb and penetrate the skin better, all of which promotes smoother, softer, healthier skin.
A few quick notes to get the best results for your simple sugar scrub:
Make sure to use a glass container for mixing, just so that nothing leeches into the mix.
If you get the coconut oil too warm and it melts fully, that’s okay. Sometimes, the fully liquid oil allows the sugar to settle to the bottom, even after stirring and mixing thoroughly. This doesn’t mean you have to start over, but it does mean you will need to stir things up quite a bit once the mixture has solidified again to get sugar evenly distributed. You could also cool this mixture in stages – stirring then putting it in the fridge to cool it down for 5 minutes, then stirring again, and repeating this process until the oil has solidified again.
Keep in mind that, because this is filled with natural ingredients rather than petroleum based, it won’t cling to your skin all day. An easy solution is to top this off with a little hand lotion after use, just to seal in the softness and moisture. I love Arbonne’s Jasmine hand cream, but any favorite healthy skin lotion will work.
This simple sugar scrub is suitable for all skin types, but remember that everyone’s skin is unique. Notice if you have any reaction and discontinue use if your skin doesn’t love it.
One parting thought - You can also substitute salt instead of sugar as an alternative. I’ve tried this with Himalayan Sea Salt as a foot scrub and really like the larger texture. So now you have 2 recipes for healthy, homemade scrubs. Embrace the magic of a DIY for your skincare. It’s better for your pocketbook, and so often better for your skin as well. This scrub is so simple and easy to make, if you’ve never tried DIY scrubs before, this is a perfect place to start. I hope you’ll try out this simple sugar scrub, tailor it to your preferences, and revel in the glow of healthy, radiant skin.
