Hello! After talking about the coffee scrub the other day, I started looking at the other scrubs that I use in my own routine. One of the ingredients that came up a few times was sugar, so this week I’m going to tell you about 3 recipes that I use that involve sugar. They are a lip scrub, an exfoliator for your face and a brightening scrub. As I said in the last post, always do a patch test with these recipes just in case!
For all of these recipes I have used brown sugar because a) it’s what I had, and b) it’s chunky, so I feel it exfoliates my skin better. If you have sensitive skin, it’s best to use a softer sugar that is finer, like caster sugar, but just give it a try with what you’ve got and use the right amount for your skin.
Lip Scrub
This is a really great scrub to use for when your lips are a bit dry and cracked because it exfoliates the dry skin and moisturises them at the same time. You will need 3 ingredients: Sugar, vaseline and coconut oil. Now, some of you may be thinking, ‘you can’t get vaseline zero waste, so this isn’t good for the environment!’ This is true, vaseline does come in packaging, however it comes in tins which I save and reuse for things like this lip scrub. If you don’t have vaseline, then you can just substitute extra coconut oil. The basic recipe that I used was about a tablespoon of the vaseline and sugar, and half a teaspoon of melted coconut oil. Then you just mix them together, making sure to distribute the sugar evenly. To use it, you just scrub it onto your lips and then wipe it off with a little bit of water! As tasty as it may seem, don’t try and eat it – I’m not sure that ingesting vaseline is a great idea.
The Exfoliator
One of the skin products that I really missed when I started changing my beauty products for zero waste ones was an exfoliator I used to swear by. It always left my skin feeling completely smooth and not irritated at all. This scrub is a wonderful alternative for me. Again, you need 3 ingredients: Sugar, coconut oil and lemon juice. You can also add honey to this if you like (because it has antibacterial properties), but I chose to leave this out because it has irritated my skin in the past. For the method, I combined 2 parts coconut oil to 1 part sugar and about a tablespoon of lemon juice. If you want a more abrasive scrub, just up the amount of sugar. If you want it to be more moisturising, add more coconut oil. Be careful with the amount of lemon juice you use, because it can loosen the texture a bit too much. To use, just scrub it onto your face (over a sink, because it can get messy) and wipe off with a flannel.
Brightening Scrub
This is a ridiculously easy recipe – it’s a one off type of thing, similar to doing a face mask. You only need 2 ingredients – sugar and a lemon. Cut the lemon in half and dip it into the sugar. Then, rub the end covered in sugar onto your face to exfoliate it. Wash it all off, and your skin will look a bit brighter and feel softer. Try to avoid direct sunlight after doing this. This is something that I’ve been doing for many years, even before I started looking at my waste. The original recipe comes from the YouTube beauty sensation, Michelle Phan – I’ve linked her video down below. It’s really easy and funnily enough, very tasty when you eat it by accident.
So, there are the three recipes! I hope you enjoy making and using them all. Because they are all great for exfoliating, you shouldn’t use them all the time, because it will be too rough on your skin, and always moisturise afterwards! Thanks for reading.
Sources:
Michelle Phan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXU_ylBSpbw
Waste Makes Waste 