Get smooth, glowing, younger-looking skin by using this homemade honey sugar lemon scrub! It’s very easy to make and mixed together in a minute!
Contents
This all-natural exfoliator brightens your skin complexion, moisturises your skin, helps fight acne, unclogs pores, lightens age and sunspots, lessens redness and irritation as well as reduces skin damage and premature aging.
Ingredients
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- raw or brown sugar
- honey
- coconut oil (or olive oil)
- lemon essential oil
As you can see, I’m actually not using lemon juice in this recipe for reasons I’m gonna explain a bit later (see next heading). So, please, read the whole blog post before making this recipe to avoid any damage to your skin.
Sugar: I use raw sugar when I make sugar scrubs for my body and brown sugar for my face as it’s a bit finer thus gentler on the skin. Brown sugar is also better if you have sensitive skin.
Honey: Use raw honey! The more processed the honey is, the fewer benefits you get from it. Processing destroys many of its healing properties!
Coconut Oil: I generally use coconut oil for my body, however, when I use this honey sugar lemon scrub for my face, I actually use sweet almond oil because coconut oil isn’t so great on my facial skin. You can use olive oil instead, or any other oil you prefer, too.
Lemon Essential Oil: Always use pure, high-quality, therapeutic grade essential oils. Lemon oil is cheap as, if not the cheapest of all essential oils. I prefer using doTERRA lemon oil, but feel free to use any other good brand (there are heaps out there, like Young Living).
Lemon Juice vs. Lemon Essential Oil
Before we start with all the benefits etc., there are a few things to be aware of. Lemon is a bit contradictory when it comes to being beneficial for the skin. Some experts say lemon juice is great for our skin (read this article), others, however, tell you the opposite (read this article).
The reason why I prefer lemon oil over juice in this recipe is that lemon juice is very acidic which can lead to damaging your skin. Whereas, there are no acids in lemon oil!
Nevertheless, lemon oil is still a strong oil to use on our skin, so be careful, don’t use more drops than recommended and don’t apply this sugar scrub on a daily basis (I mean you shouldn’t anyway, see “How often can I use...”).
Also, lemon, in general, has to be used with care. Whether you’re using the oil or juice, both are phototoxic which means that lemon can cause irritations on the skin when it’s exposed to sunlight.
Always use this sugar scrub in the evening or when you know you won’t go outside in shorts and a t-shirt that day. Avoid sunlight for 12 hours after application.
Benefits
- natural exfoliation
- brightens skin complexion
- hydrating
- cleansing (for acne-prone or blemished skin and clogged pores)
- lightens age and sun spots
- helps reduce skin irritations
- anti-aging
Benefits of Lemon Essential Oil for our Skin
Lemon essential oil is great for acne and blemished skin because it’s antimicrobial and astringent. So, it cleanses your skin, unclogs pores, helps reduce hyperpigmentation from acne and may even lighten and prevent acne scars.
Lemon oil also nourishes damaged skin, hydrates the skin and as an antioxidant, it fights those free radicals which lead to premature aging.
Benefits of Honey for our Skin
Honey works as a humectant which means it retains the moisture in our skin, thus it’s very hydrating.
Just like lemon, it also cleanses, fights acne, unclogs pores and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It may also lighten scars.
If you like using honey in your body scrubs, check out this coffee honey scrub recipe!
Benefits of Sugar for our Skin
Surprisingly, sugar has a few benefits for our skin too, rather than just being the exfoliating ingredient!
So, besides removing dead skin cells and revealing the glowing, healthy skin underneath, sugar is a humectant, just like honey.
Sugar also contains glycolic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid (aka AHA), which exfoliates the top layer of the skin.
Benefits of Coconut Oil for our Skin
Coconut oil has sooo many benefits for our skin and I won’t list them all because this ingredient isn’t the “key ingredient” for this honey sugar lemon scrub.
In this recipe, it simply helps not to cause any friction on the skin when we rub the peeling all over our bodies. Plus, it’s needed for the lemon essential oil because it has to be diluted!
And, of course, it’s super hydrating and soothing after the scrub and when you jump out of the shower. Usually, I don’t put on any lotion because the oil is still present and keeps moisturising my skin.
Instructions
How to make this Honey Sugar Lemon Scrub
- Step One. Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix.
- Step Two. Fill into a container or recycled glass jar for storage.
How to use the Honey Sugar Lemon Scrub
- Apply small amounts of the honey sugar lemon scrub for each body part and rub or massage, with a little bit of pressure, in a circular motion for a few seconds. Be gentler on your inner thighs and chest area—and especially on the face.
- Rinse off the peeling when you’re done. The redness of the skin is normal, don’t get a fright. It’s temporary as you’ve just increased the blood flow.
I always wash my body first before applying the scrub just because I don’t want to remove the oil on my skin (it’s like an in-shower body lotion!). But if you prefer, you can of course wash your body after the scrub as well.
How often can I use this Honey Sugar Lemon Scrub?
As with all peelings, it’s recommended to do them once a week to give your skin time to “recover”. If you use this body scrub too many times in a short period of time you may irritate your skin.
Also, because we’re using lemon in this sugar scrub, you can’t use it on a daily basis or you can irritate your skin as well.
Storage
Keep this Honey Sugar Lemon Scrub in a clean container or recycled glass jar. All ingredients in this recipe have a very long shelf life so you can absolutely store it for months in your cupboard or shower!
Safety & Warnings
As already mentioned in this post, there are a few things to consider before using.
Lemon (oil) is a very strong ingredient that can lead to skin irritation. Also, avoid sunlight for 12 hours after applying this scrub because lemon is phototoxic and may damage the skin when it’s exposed to sunlight.
Honey is generally safe to use on the skin, however, if you’re allergic to bees or any of their products (like pollen), do a patch test first.
If any irritations (like redness, flaking, or itchy skin) occur, please stop using this body scrub immediately.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 250g / 1 cup raw sugar or brown sugar (for face/sensitive skin)
- 125ml / ½ cup coconut oil melted, or other oil like olive or sweet almond
- 1-2 tablespoon raw honey
- 15 drops lemon essential oil pure, therapeutic grade, see notes
Instructions
How to make
- Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix.
- Fill into a container or recycled glass jar for storage.
How to use
- Apply small amounts of the honey sugar lemon scrub for each body part and rub or massage, with a little bit of pressure, in a circular motion. Be gentler on your inner thighs and chest area—and especially on the face.
- Rinse off the peeling when you’re done. The redness of the skin is normal. It’s temporary as you’ve just increased the blood flow.
Notes
Resources
- https://www.daburhoney.com/benefits-of-honey/honey-for-face-and-skin/using-honey-for-face-and-skin
- https://www.healthline.com/health/beauty-skin-care/honey-and-lemon-for-face#diy-face-mask-recipe
- https://trueskincarecenter.com/blog/is-lemon-juice-good-or-bad-for-your-skin/
- https://draxe.com/essential-oils/lemon-essential-oil-uses-benefits/
- https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sugar-skincare_b_2133060
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