With summer on its way, it’s time to deal with the unrelenting heat, sweat and skin damage. To hydrate your skin and keep it clean, a sugar scrub can rub off dead skin cells from a long, hot day.
A fun extra — it’s totally edible and you can make it at home. Homemade, all-natural sugar scrubs are much healthier and more versatile than store-bought scrubs, too.

Story and Photos by Sarah Montgomery

In this DIY recipe, the sugar removes dead cells, the vanilla gives the scrub a wonderful scent, the coconut oil hydrates and the lemon juice helps to tone the skin.

Ingredients:

¾ cup of melted coconut oil

1 ¼ cup sugar

10 drops of essential oil (find this online)

1 tsp of vanilla

The juice of one lemon

Instructions:

1. Gather your items.

Many people are deterred from making homemade products because of the initial costs. In this recipe, most of these ingredients are normal cooking products that can be found around the house. Although essential and coconut oil can be pricey at first, they last a long time and can be used for many different projects.

2. Mix the coconut oil, brown sugar and essential oil, until the solution is smooth — no clumps.

The essential oil is optional, but can have added benefits, such as vitamin E. For this batch, I used almond oil I purchase at Central Market, which is great to apply for smoother skin. The amount of sugar can vary based on how thick you want the mix to be.

3. Mix the vanilla, lemon juice and any other ingredients you want to add.

Mint oil, lavender or other fruit juices are just a few of the many ingredients you can use to enhance your sugar scrub.

And you’re done! Finish off the scrub by pouring it into a cute container or jar. Make sure to store the scrub in a dry area, because this mix is all-natural and has a shelf life of about a month. Next time you take a shower, use the scrub on desired areas and enjoy.