MYO body scrub (low price, spa quality!)

I love to make my own bath and body care products for many reasons, the main reason being that I can control things like consistency or scent. It bothers me how many chemicals there are in your typical drugstore body care products. Making them myself means I can add exactly what I need without excess preservatives, colorings and such. I can also make a brand new scrub any time I want, without having to drive to the store!

The first time I made a hand scrub scrub I used liquid soap. Sounds weird, I know...but it really cleans stains well. Especially the gross stains I get from cleaning chicken coops and gardening! Over the years though I have experimented with various ingredients to make my own body scrubs. Now I don't even add soap. 

Seriously! I got the idea from a lip scrub that I bought in a store. Using it I realized that it had no soap or detergent type product, just oil, sugar and color. That's honestly all that you need...though many of those types need washed off, which adds another step to your process.

I've been dabbling in homemade beauty products for probably a dozen years now. Don't get me wrong, I loves me some Lush...but I'm cheap remember? So while I love the smell of loveliness that high end natural beauty products have, I know I can make it much cheaper (and healthier) myself. 

When you make your own body scrubs, hand butter, lip balms, creams, cuticle oil etc. you can also control just how much chemical your body comes in contact with too. Did you know that your skin is your body's largest organ? It absorbs the stuff we put on it, and I'm just not comfortable putting tons of chemicals on my skin on a regular basis. Are you?

Body scrubs are one of the easiest body care products to make at home and very customizable. You can use sugar OR salt! Since there are no added preservatives I only mix up enough for a few weeks at a time, though I have stored these for a year or more and they were fine. (ok...I forgot they were there! lol)

Point is, they do keep if you make a bit too much!

Salt scrubs are great because they use all natural ingredients to soften the skin, but they also provide exfoliation. This helps to remove dead skin cells, which leaves behind soft and silky skin. 

4 best body scrub recipes

Here are a few of my favorite scrub recipes. Browse through them and pick your favorite, then scroll down below for the mixing directions. You need a small jar to store your finished scrub in, a mixing bowl if you'd like (I mix in the jar) and a spoon to mix with. 

Lavender Salt Scrub

When it comes to beauty care products in general, lavender is almost always at the top of the list for it's skin healing properties. With this salt scrub, you will use lavender essential oil which is a skin safe oil. You want to have a carrier oil as well, like fractionated coconut oil or jojoba oil, along with some Epsom salts. 

The scrub is easy to make and just requires adding the oil and essential oils to a jar of Epsom salts, mixing it well, then storing it in a container.

Charcoal Acne Fighting Scrub

Activated charcoal is used in many DIY beauty products because it helps cleanse the skin, unclog the pores and detoxify the skin. For this salt scrub, you need activated charcoal in powder form, sea salt or Epsom salts, coconut oil and Frankincense and Rosemary essential oils. You can leave out the essential oils if you don't care for the scent, though they are wonderful for acne treatment.

Use 1.5 Tsp of charcoal for every cup of salt. Whisk your salt and charcoal together before mixing in the oils to help it to mix evenly.

Dry Heels Sugar Scrub

The tropical sugar scrub is perfect for the summertime. It will exfoliate your skin naturally, removing dry flakes on elbows, knees and heels! The base for this sugar scrub is coconut oil and either sea salt or Epsom salts. You will then add in Rose Geranium, Carrot Seed or Helichrysum essential oils. 

Skin Softening Rose Sugar Scrub

This one also uses coconut oil, but adds in rose essential oil for it's hydrating and healing properties. You can use either sugar or sea salt in this recipe. You can even use Pink Himalayan sea salt which has become more widely available and affordable. If you use regular coconut oil you'll want to melt it first.

Make your own body scrub 

Pick a cute jar with a lid so you can close it up after and store in the same jar you mix it in.  

First I filled my jar about 3/4 of the way with plain sugar or the salt you prefer. I use Domino's because it's pure cane sugar, and unless it says cane sugar it's probably GMO beet sugar. 

Next add your essential oils. You'll notice that I didn't put an exact amount of essential oils. That's because I make each scrub in the jar, and they come in multiple sizes. The ratio I use is 10-15 drops of essential oils to every 1 cup of salt or sugar. 

Next I added the coconut oil. There are 2 types of coconut oil, regular and fractionated. You can use regular coconut oil without melting it, but it's harder to mix. This is fine, it just has a more paste like consistency, which it will have when it cools anyway. I warm it up in the microwave first so it's almost liquid. I prefer to use fractionated coconut oil which will stay liquid even when cool, but it's ok to use whatever you have on hand.

Add a bit of oil and mix, then add more oil till you get it to the right consistency. You want it thick enough that you can scoop it out, not so runny that it pours. That's it, you're done! Use what you need and store the rest in an airtight container.

I tied a bit of twine around the lid and added some decorations. I like these jars because they come in all different sizes. I made this smaller one for my downstairs bathroom. I also added a few dyed Guinea feathers for decoration, but dried flowers would be pretty too. 

If you can't find jars like this at your dollar store, Amazon has similar ones in bulk packs so you'll have extra for gifts! I don't know about you, but 2020 certainly feels like a 'gifts from the heart type of year to me, doesn't it?" 


If you like making your own hand scrub, you'll love making your own bath soaks! Check out  my post on making your own herbal bath blends.

~L

Updated for 2020

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