There's nothing quite like a homemade body scrub. Sure, you can splurge on fancy exfoliants (and there's nothing wrong with that), but there's something satisfying about crafting your own bespoke homemade blend, whether the goal is to help boost circulation, exfoliate away dead skin before you apply self-tanner, or just improve the overall look and feel of your skin. And doing all of this on a budget is just the icing on the cake. Below, we sourced delicious recipes to serve for various skin needs from some of our favorite skincare experts.
* Anti-Aging Strawberry Scrub1 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup ground or even whole oats
1/4 cup pureed strawberries (you can also smoosh using the back of a fork)
- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a spoon.
- Apply on your skin and rub them.
* Clarifying Chickpea Scrub This soft scrub is particularly great at getting after body breakouts—just be sure to apply very light pressure. Chickpea flour is a great scrub/mask for blemish prone skin, and apple cider vinegar acts as a spot treatment for flare ups.
1 cup chickpea flour
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp dried peppermint (you can also empty the leaves of a peppermint tea bag)
10 drops tea tree oil
- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a spoon.
* Energizing Citrus ScrubIn these cold, bleak months, a zesty citrus body scrub will not only boost your mood, but the collagen in your skin. If you’re feeling the effects of the cold and less sunlight, take a trip to an imaginary tropical island with this citrus and tropical fruit mood-boosting scrub, which helps boost circulation and improve skin tone.
1/2 cup sea salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup sunflower oil
Zest of a lemon
2 Tbsp pureed papaya
10 drops orange essential oil
- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a spoon.
* Firming Body Scrub Too much salt or alcohol? This scrub will help rid the body of the excess water you find pooling the morning after. (Bonus points if you add in a body-sized gua sha tool to boost lymphatic drainage.) Juniper and grapefruit work together in this scrub that is ideal for... areas that could benefit from a lifting boost.
1 cup brown or cane sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 Tbsp of juniper berries blitzed in a clean coffee grinder
1 Tbsp of dried lavender from the farmer's market
10-15 drops grapefruit essential oil (or the zest of a fresh grapefruit)
- Mix all ingredients together with a spoon and put in an 8-ounce glass jar.
* Hydrating Honey, Sage, and Oat Scrub This scrub harnesses the power of oats which help treat dry skin and remove dead skin cells, softening honey, and sage which helps with skin regeneration. Honey is also a natural antiseptic, meaning it could help with breakouts.
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 Tbsp of dried sage leaves
1 Tbsp of honey
- Mix all ingredients together with spoon and put in an 8-ounce glass jar.