Fast forward a few years. They had discontinued my beloved bergamot coriander fragrance (a very unpopular move, according to every B&BW clerk I ever spoke to). Besides, I wear high-quality, natural, artisan-made perfume oils from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab; Bath and Body Works simply smells too artificial now. (Thinking back on it, I cringe, knowing what I know about the stuff I was putting on my skin.) I was pretty much out of my stockpiled sugar scrubs, and besides, I wanted to give some as gifts.
So began my semi-obsessive research on sugar scrubs, which led to brown sugar scrubs. And THAT led to my playing around with sugars, honey, fragrances, and oil. The recipe that made the cut got packaged up in mason jars (so very handy!) and given as Christmas gifts.
Years later, I still get friends asking me how I made them. I've posted my recipe before for friends, but now I'm putting my recipe out in the wild. (After all, I relied heavily on recipes other people had posted to come up with mine!) If the list of oils is too long, just use 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil; it will still feel great.
So here it is, a traditional oil-rich sugar scrub.
Honey Brown Sugar Scrub
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons grape seed oil
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sweet almond oil
1 tablespoon jojoba oil
1 tablespoon honey
perfume oil, natural fragrance oil, or essential oils of your choice
1. In a small bowl, combine the sugars.
2. In a larger bowl, combine the oils and the honey.
3. Add your fragrance source of choice to the liquids. Start with a very tiny amount and add a bit more at a time, until the scent is a bit stronger than you want. (Depending on whether you're using perfume oil, fragrance oils, or essential oils, or even which scent you're using, the amount will vary wildly!)
4. Add the sugars to the liquids a little at a time, stirring to make sure the oil is evenly absorbed.
This amount of scrub will fill a half-pint (8 oz) mason jar. I usually use regular-mouth quilted crystal jelly jars, but it's easier to use in a wide-mouth half-pint jar, if you can find them. Or put them in a small half-cup (4 oz) mason jar; this recipe will fill two.
When you get to the bottom of the jar, you'll probably find there's oil left. Add in more sugar and keep using it until it's gone!
Recently, I've been seeing lots of "dry sugar scrubs," particularly at Whole Foods. These aren't actually dry, but all the oils are absorbed. I found that my basic recipe works great with only a small change: more sugars!
Honey Brown Sugar Dry Scrub
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons grape seed oil
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sweet almond oil
1 tablespoon jojoba oil
1 tablespoon honey
perfume oil, natural fragrance oil, or essential oils of your choice*
Mix as for the traditional scrub. Keep adding the sugar mixture until pretty much all of the oil is absorbed; you may have to mix up more sugar.
*It may take more fragrance to create the same intensity of scent. Remember, you've got a lot more sugar now!
