I’m quite afraid to use sugar in my recipes because I’m always worried about attracting the ants. However, my curiosity got the better of me when I picked this up while watching a local Chinese drama. It’s a hand scrub said to make the hands smooth again after doing too much housework and definitely sounds like something I’m in dire need of!
Ingredients needed
The recipe is really easy too! All you need is to mix brown sugar and honey with some jojoba oil. And since it is for the hands, I used normal, non-organic ingredients. The brown sugar isn’t very fine as well. In terms of proportion of the ingredients, this is what I used, enough to store in a small 50g bottle:
– 5 teaspoons of brown sugar
– 2 teaspoons of honey
– 3 teaspoons of jojoba oil
Brown sugar is great for exfoliating our skin while honey is a natural humectant that attracts and retains moisture. As for the oil, you can use any others you fancy but I went with jojoba because that’s what I have. If you use extra virgin olive oil for cooking, that should do too!
Best used when refrigerated
Okay, I found that this recipe works particularly well after I refrigerated the mixture. When it’s cold, I only needed to use very little and it really made my hands soft and very smooth! They did feel a tad oily after washing but the oil is quickly absorbed and I swear my hands were glowing after being scrubbed by these wonderful ingredients. I really love how my hands feel after using this and I don’t have to moisturize it with anymore hand cream!
Can double as a foot scrub
If you’re concerned about your state of hands, I would highly recommend you to try this. It’s easy, cheap and best of all, it works great! I’ve learnt that some girls use this recipe for the face but I wouldn’t recommend unless you use really fine brown sugar. Even then, I would urge you to use with care as the skin on your face is far more delicate than your hands. But this recipe can definitely double up as a foot scrub if you like!
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Hey Sesame, this looks great! I’m so going to try it out later.
Oh, been wanting to ask you, have you tried My Beauty Diary masks? They are natural masks, and I heard that they were quite good. But not good for sensitive skin..
If you have tried it before (or going to try it) could you please post a review? 🙂
Thanks! Would love to hear your thoughts about this line of masks.
Hi Jesse: No, I haven’t tried My Beauty Diary masks and don’t plan to…but if you run a search, you should be able to find a number of reviews on it.
i’ve always wanted to try this but wary of ants too. where do u buy jojoba oil btw?
You can get it at whoopeekiddies.com.
Hi Sesame, can you please recommend a good, gentle facial scrub that effectively removes flaky skin? I have sensitive, oily skin which is prone to redness if I’m rough with it.
Thanks =)
Hey Grace: I wrote a post about exfoliating for sensitive skin here http://www.vivawoman.net/2009/09/16/facial-exfoliation-tips-for-sensitive-skin/. You may like to check it out. Additional suggestion – if you use a clay peel, remember to hydrate your skin adequately with a moisturizer or even follow on with a hydrating mask. The Cure Aqua Gel is probably suitable for you too. I’m using a product currently containing amino acids and the results are quite amazing. But don’t use it everyday and don’t exfoliate for too long.
I love scrubs!! I definitely get this one made ASAP. Homemade products a lot of time are very beneficial especially if you have a recipe book for facial and body products!
Hope you’ll like this too once you’ve tried it!
Thanks for sharing this tip. My hands definitely could use a scrub right now. I changed to a new type of hand soap. It was OK at first, not drying for my hands, but now seems my hands are getting back to the same old coarse hands again. 🙁
It’s great for dry hands. I totally heart this!
ohhh.. I’m scared I’ll eat it! looks totally yummy!
The smell is quite delicious but no lah, one would turn dibectic eating this! Haha…
Hi Sesame, thanks for pointing me to your previous post on gentle exfoliation products/techniques, it’s very helpful. May I know what product you’re using currently, the one you mentioned that contains amino acids? Does it rid your skin of flakes? Thanks =)
I’m using the True Bio Skin Care range from True Beauty. Recently started using their massage cream which contains amino acids and my skin’s texture definitely improved. It get rids of dead skin cells so might help with your flaky skin. But suggest you do a patch test if you use something similar since your skin sounds real sensitive.
This is wonderful! I’ll try it this weekend. My hands are a little beat up from scrubbing and washing so much. Doesn’t the mixture get hard when stored in the fridge? You have a very interesting blog here. 🙂
– Kaith
Yes, it hardens but it’s easy to dig it out for scrubbing.
I’ve been using this for my body as well. Definitely beat slapping on lotion after shower.
Wow, that’s nice…but I’m too worried about attracting ants in the bathroom. 😛
I’ll be trying out this recipe for body scrub 🙂 But by using jojoba oil, or any sort of oil, make the basin/bathroom greasy?
It does, to an extent but it’s not that bad.
Can I make a batch of this and keep it in the fridge? How long can I keep this in the fridge? Thanks for the many helpful info.
Yes, you can keep in the fridge. I made mine and kept it in the fridge. I think it should keep for awhile but I wasn’t sure so I only made a small badge.
i tried mixing sugar with baby oil as body scrub. it’s not too bad but the bath tub is messy! lol!
Yes, agree…pretty messy using DIY ingredients for bathing…especially those containing sugar and honey!
When I keep it in the fridge it goes all hard and solid :/ but is it safe to keep outside the fridge without it going off? Isn’t honey a preservative, plus I’m adding EVOO too so that should be fine wont it?
Yes it turns hard but if you leave it out for awhile, it should soften. What I do is scoop out a bit and once I rub on my hands, the mixture melts. I’m not sure about the length of time one can keep this outside but perhaps you try with a small batch. Anyway, it’s for the hands so not so bad in that sense.