How to Make Your Own DIY Body Scrub

Green tea, chocolate, and lemon all sound like yummy ingredients found in drinks and goodies at your favorite coffee shop. But these same ingredients will keep your skin smooth this summer as vital elements in super exfoliating body scrubs. And after days in the sun resulting in rough, dry skin, you’ll welcome a good skin scrubbing.

But no need to run to the spa just yet: These are DIY scrubs you can make yourself in a few simple steps.

Base Ingredients: Every body scrub has the same vital elements. The first is an oil. We recommend extra virgin organic coconut oil for its antifungal properties, easy absorption and heavenly scent. Other oil options include almond, avocado or walnut oils, though coconut oil is our favorite. The second basic ingredient is the main exfoliator—either sea salt or cane sugar. Sea salt gives you a more vigorous exfoliation due the size of its crystals, while cane sugar’s fine crystals lend a softer scrub to your skin. Start with half a cup of oil and half to full cup (depending on the recipe) of either sea salt or cane sugar. Mix together and melt oil over a low heat until liquefied.

Customizable Ingredients: Here’s where you can get creative! Ingredients like lemon zest, coffee grounds, essential oils and chocolate make your DIY scrub rejuvenating, relaxing and infuse skin with antioxidants. Here are two of our favorite scrub recipes, courtesy of YouBeauty.com.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookie Scrub

Ingredients:

4 lemons

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup cornmeal

½ cup coconut oil

Directions: Zest the lemons, then leave the zest to dry for one to two hours. (If you don’t have a zester, remove the lemon peel with a vegetable peeler and then mince the peel with a knife.) In a bowl, mix poppy seeds, sugar, cornmeal, vanilla and lemon zest. Pour the oil over the ingredients and mix to combine.

Java Mint Scrub

Ingredients:

½ cup coffee grounds

2 tablespoons mint leaves or 2 peppermint tea bags

½ cup sugar

½ cup coconut oil

Directions: If you’re using fresh mint, pluck all the leaves from the stalks and spread onto a cookie sheet. Bake at the lowest temperature for one hour. Let the leaves cool completely before crumbling them between your fingers into a powder. If you’re using peppermint tea bags, snip open the bags and use the leaves. In a bowl, combine coffee, mint and sugar. Pour the oil over the ingredients and mix to combine.

These recipes will keep for up to three months when stored in a sealed jar, so use them out regularly (1-2x a week) to keep your body skin glowing!