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Unlike sugar scrubs made with only oils and sugar, emulsified sugar scrubs become a creamy exfoliating lotion upon contact with water, leaving no oily residue, but only soft, supple skin behind.
One of the most common DIY beauty products that can be found online is sugar and salt scrubs. Perhaps the main reason that these products are so popular is that they are very easy to make. Basically, you take some oil and mix it together with either sugar and salt, and you’re essentially done. Sure, you can customize your recipe with different oils, sugar types, essential oils, and/or add in other exfoliants or colorants, but most of these recipes are essentially the same.
I’m not going to criticize these recipes. In fact, one of the first DIY recipes on my blog was a brown sugar lip scrub. As you may have guessed, I mostly used it to exfoliate my lips, but also tried using it in the shower to exfoliate my skin.
The benefit of emulsified sugar scrubs
The problem with regular sugar scrubs is that they tend to be messy to use. The oil doesn’t provide a lot of structure for your product, so it’s usually hard to scoop into your hands to use in the shower. Sure, you can use coconut oil to give it more body, but as soon as the weather warms up, you’re back to a more liquid product.
You could, of course, add some butters and/or waxes to the scrub to thicken it, but we’re still left with the main problem with sugar scrubs, the oily residue. Because it’s an oil-based product, you usually end up with oil all over your hands, and body, and shower, as well as the container you’re using for your sugar scrub. I liked the smooth feeling of my legs and arms after exfoliating with my homemade sugar scrub but didn’t like the feel of the oily residue all over my body.
Emulsified sugar scrubs don’t leave that sort of oily residue behind. Because they include an emulsifier as one of their ingredients, when the oils and waxes of the product come in contact with water, they basically form an emulsion, or a lotion, on your skin while you are exfoliating away. In the end, emulsified sugar scrubs are like exfoliants and lotions in one product. You’re essentially making an exfoliating creamy cleanser right on your skin as you scrub away.
If you’re lazy like I am, and don’t like having to exfoliate, rinse, and then use lotion once out of the shower, this emulsified sugar scrub is the perfect solution. It leaves your skin clean, smooth, and lotioned up. (Is that a word?)
Watch me make this easy, emulsified sugar scrub:
Should you add a preservative to your sugar scrub?
Because this is still an oil-based product, without any water in it, you technically don’t have to add a preservative to it. The problem with not using a preservative, though, is that you use this product in a very wet environment and likely scoop it out of the jar with wet hands. The likelihood of moisture contaminating your product is very, very high.
That’s why preservatives are usually added to these types of products, and why you have to be very, very careful using it if you choose not to add a preservative. You could even consider adding less sugar and less wax to the scrub so that you end up with a thinner product that you could more easily dispense from a silicone travel tube dispenser or another type of flip cap dispenser. That would allow you to dispense the product without touching it and would help keep water from contaminating your product.
Customizing the emulsified sugar scrub
There are several ways that you can customize this recipe to better suit your taste.
Changing the exfoliant: Salt, sugar, or brown sugar?
While I made this a sugar scrub, you could just as easily add salt to the recipe instead. Salt tends to be a bit more abrasive because the granules aren’t as round and it takes longer for the salt to dissolve, but it really depends on the coarseness of whatever you choose to use. Brown sugar usually has smaller granules and tends to be a lot less abrasive, making it a great option for exfoliating your face.
How much sugar should I use?
When I first made the recipe, I used 120g of sugar and found it to be a nice texture. The next time I made it, I decided I would add more sugar, around 30g more, thinking I’d end up with a thicker scrub (and more of it). In the end, I think it may be a bit on the thick side (as you can see at the end of my video when I’m applying the scrub). It still works well, especially if you are applying it to wet skin, but is a bit harder to apply if it isn’t thinned out with a bit of water. I think somewhere between 120g-150g is a good guideline, and you can adjust the amount to achieve the consistency you prefer.
Customizing the fragrance
I used a combination of lavender, rosemary, and lemon essential oils because I tend to favor citrus herbal scents. You can change the essential oils, though, to suit your tastes. I like lavender because it is calming and soothing for relaxing after a busy day. Lemon can be both soothing or invigorating depending on what you mix it with and when you use it. I don’t normally measure out my essential oils, but use my nose to help decide how much to add.
Which emulsifying wax should you use?
You can use any emulsifying wax that you may happen to have on hand. If you make your own homemade lotions, you should already have one or two of them at home.
If you are very concerned about making a very natural emulsified sugar scrub, consider using an emulsifying wax like olivem. Olivem is a vegetable based emulsifier that is derived from olives. It is allowed in natural, organic products that use the ECO-CERT certification. Olivem is a great option for an emulsifying scrub, too, because some people say that it has a bit of a soap feel to it. In the case of a cleanser, that is more of an advantage than a disadvantage.
Basic, Easy Emulsified Sugar Scrub
Emulsified Sugar Scrub
Ingredients
- 50 g oil I used sweet almond oil
- 10 g cocoa butter
- 10 g shea butter
- 10 g beeswax or candelilla wax
- 15 g emulsifying wax Olivem is a great choice for this!
- 1 g essential oil (I used lavender, rosemary, and lemon)
- 1 g cosgard or other natural preservative used at the recommended dose
- 150 g sugar (Use less for a slightly thinner product)
Instructions
- Weigh out ad mix together the first 5 ingredients: the oil (but not essential oils), butters, and waxes.
- Melt the oils, butters, and waxes over a double boiler (or in the microwave, if you prefer).
- Once melted, remove from the heat, and stir occasionally as the mixture cools. You can use a mixer to help blend everything together and make a creamy mixture, but it's not essential.
- Once your mixture has cooled down quite a bit (ideally below 45ºC/115ºF), you can begin to add the essential oils and preservative.
- Make sure the essential oils and preservative are well incorporated into your oils and then begin to add the sugar. Add slowly, and stir constantly, so you can gauge the consistency of the product. Add as much sugar as you like to achieve the desired consistency. (I like it somewhere between 120-150g.)
- To use your sugar scrub, scoop out a small amount in your hands and begin to rub over your wet arms and legs (or any areas you want to exfoliate and hydrate) in a circular motion. As the mixture comes into contact with the water, a lotion will be formed, and the sugar will begin to dissolve, making the product smoother and less abrasive. Rinse any remaining sugar crystals off, and pat your skin dry. Your skin should now feel smooth and hydrated.
What are Bitters, and How to Make Them
Thank you so much Tracy!
I’d love to make some of the spirit based scrubs like Moonshine sugar scrubs. Could you give some guidance on quantities or a recipe, please? x
Hi Chris,
I’ve never used one of those, so I’m not really sure. I just looked up moonshine sugar scrub, and found this list of ingredients: sugar, glycerin, shea butter, olive oil, water, sodium cocoyl isethionate, sorbitol, disodium lauryl sulfosuccinate, stearic acid, sodium chloride, fragrance oil, pheoxyethanol, tetrasodium EDTA, activated charcoal, iron oxide, mica, titanium dioxide
It appears to have some surfactants along with glycerin, oils, and butters. I don’t know. I’d have to try to play with those ingredients. (I have several of the surfactants), but as I’m not sure what the original is like, it would be impossible to know how close mine is to the original.
Normally, the ingredients are listed in order from the highest concentrations used to the smaller amounts. (Those that are 1% or less can be listed in any order.) That depends on the regulations for each country, though, so they may not be listed in order properly.
Hi ! Thank you for this great recipe , if I want to make coffee scrub with the same recipe should I use only coffee instead of sugar , or should I put both coffee and sugar ?? And should I change the amount of any other ingredients ?
Thanks
Hello Hadeer,
I think you should probably experiment with it. Coffee may be a bit too abrasive if used in large amounts. You could also maybe use instant coffee for scent/color, but I’m not sure if it would disperse well in this oil-based product.
This looks great Tracy! Thanks for sharing, I’ve been thirsting for a firmer scrub, the oil and sugar combo on its own just seems to fall apart!
I was wondering about the preservative, would benzyl alcohol work? I happen to have that but not sure if it’s suitable since I believe it’s meant to be added to water-based ingredients.
Also, I’ve seen lip scrubs that are meant to be licked right off the lips after scrubbing, since they’re made from sugars and edible oils/butters. Would the waxes and preservative stop that from being the case or could one theoretically still lick it off safely?
Hi May,
That’s a tricky question and one that I’m not really sure of. (I’ve been trying to figure out what “edible” preservatives get used in toothpaste, and can’t find a lot of information.)
I personally don’t add a preservative to my lip balms. Yes, it’s possible that moisture may touch the surface when you apply, but most people aren’t going to get if fully wet and then seal it up again. The same goes for my homemade deodorant.
The problem with sugar scrubs is that people tend to store them and apply them in the shower- so larger amounts of water/humidity can float on top and people would just seal that water there afterward. Technically you don’t need to add one if you will be careful scooping it out and applying it without it getting wet.
Euxyl K 903 is a good oil-soluble preservative, but I’ve used Sharomix 705 successfully too- and it has benzyl alcohol.
Because this has an emulsifier, you should be able to use pretty much any of them. I’d think the emulsifier would work well to help incorporate it. 😉
Thank you! This helps 🙂
With this measurement., how many grams did you make?
Does the sugar melts bin the container over time ?
Hi Vera,
Depending on the amount of sugar you use, you’ll end up with somewhere between 220-250g of scrub.
The sugar shouldn’t “melt” with time as long as you protect your scrub from water. The water is what dissolves the sugar with time.
This is an oil-based product, so as long as you keep water out of the container, it should keep for a very long time.
Nice but what kind of preservative can i use for it
Hi Henrietta,
There are a lot of different preservatives you can use. I have a guide to natural preservatives that you can check out to maybe get some ideas.
Hi, I’m going to use Stearite as a preservative, because I’d already ordered it for another recipe, then decided that I liked yours more. Oops!
Hi Christine,
I’m not sure what type of stearite you are referring to or how it is used as a preservative. I’m not familiar with a stearite that is used as a preservative. So, just make sure to do research on it to make sure it will protect you. (I have a beginner’s guide to natural preservatives that may also help give more information.)
In the end, a preservative isn’t 100% necessary in this recipe as it is oil-based, but you’ll want to make sure not to contaminate it with water if you aren’t using a preservative.
Hi again, the Stearite preservative I have is in wax form, so I’m guessing it will be ok. I can’t use a tub & water is bound to get into the scrub in the shower, so I really want to protect my scrub from going “off.” Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.
HI, I was wondering what the shelf life of this sugar scrub is?
Hi Wendy,
Because there are no water-based ingredients, this should theoretically keep for as long as the oils in the recipe. (So, look at the expiration date on the oils you use.)
It’s more about rancidity than other types of preservation.
That said, if it gets contaminated with water, it can go bad more quickly than that, especially if you don’t add a preservative.
Will a sugar scrub bar go moldy in the shower if it’s bigger, say standard soap bar size? I wanted to make them bigger than just single-use. Thanks!
Oops, sorry, posted this on the wrong page!
Hi! Thank you for sharing and for responding to everyone’s questions so thoughtfully! Do you think I could omit the beeswax and swap out the cocoa butter for more shea? I know that might make the product a little less firm, but would I need to increase or decrease the emulsifying wax or any other ingredients if I made these changes? Also I’m having a card time finding Cosgard but I found Geogard ECT. Is that an equivalent? Its INCI is Benzyl Alcohol & Salicylic Acid & Glycerin & Sorbic Acid. Thank you!
Hi Amanda,
You’re welcome! I always try to help when I can.
For your first question-yes, definitely. I see no problem in omitting the cocoa butter. This recipe is very forgiving. You could probably even just make a simple emulsion with a liquid oil and add your exfoliators to that. Yes, it would be a bit thinner, but the sugar thickens everything up anyway. I’ll probably end up posting a simpler version someday (soon?) because having a lot of ingredients tends to scare people off. I think I was actually simplifying other recipes out there with this one, but later decided that I could simplify even more! (Consider that some scrubs just use a liquid oil and sugar. The emulsifier already thickens that.)
As for the other…
Geogard is actually another name for Cosgard in some areas (but I had to look up which Geogard as the glycerin didn’t sound familiar to me). Where I live, Geogard 221 is easily found and it is sold with the “Cosgard” name in parentheses after the Geograd 221. Geogard ECT is slightly different and I think the pH range is a bit different, but I imagine it would work here.
Geogard is a water-soluble preservative, and this is an oil-based product, but because of the emulsifiers, I don’t see there being a problem. I can’t find much information about using this particular preservative with oil-based products, so I’m not sure how it would work in a body butter. Some preservatives give a lot of information about that sort of thing.
(I also have a post about natural preservatives that may help, but, yes, it’s a confusing part of formulating sometimes!)
Hi! I was wondering at what stage of the recipe do I add my preservative? Do I add it at the same time that im adding the oils? Thank you!
Hello Deborah,
Ideally, add it with the essential oils after the mixture has slightly cooled. Many preservatives are quite heat-stable, but some are affected by heat. That’s why it’s best to wait until the end.