How to make the best homemade DIY chocolate orange sugar scrub for hands, lips, and body - This refreshing recipe is quick and easy with essential oils, brown and white sugar, coconut oil, and cocoa powder for a healing deep clean that is moisturizing and exfoliating.

chocolate orange sugar scrub in a small jar with a slice of orange on top

We had a pamper yourself day at MOPS last week. There were stations set up around the room with massage chairs and nail polish and assorted paraphernalia.

One of the areas was a craft station where we made hand scrubs. I'm not a hand scrub kind of person. I think I still have two salt scrubs that I bought for myself in my teen years.

Or maybe I purged them in the last great bathroom decluttering.

Probably the latter.

At any rate, I was pretty excited to make a scrub and give it to my mother, whose skin has been decimated by chemo. And then I smelled it and decided that Grace would like it.

And then I used it to wash my hands (because I was wiping off the jar I'd poured it into). I hated the gritty, dirty way it made my hands feel. Gross.

I thought about throwing the whole thing in the trash or bringing it home and rinsing it down the drain.

But then I rinsed them off. It was magical. My hands were soft and smooth and smelled like chocolate orange.

How about that, I thought.

Dirt under my fingernails straight through to nice and soft and pretty smelling in twenty seconds!

It was then I knew I'd have to share the recipe with you.

I made my mom a jar of chocolate orange hand scrub, but I haven't shared my jar with anybody.

a close up of chocolate orange sugar scrub in a small jar

Every day, I work out in the garden (without gloves because they impede me). My nails get dirty and gross, and my skin gets covered with soil. I come in the house and wash my hands twice with liquid hand soap to get all the dirt off. I scoop a bit of my chocolate orange scrub out of the jar. I rub it into my fingernails and cuticles. I rub it into my palms and the heels of my hands and all over the backs of my hands. I rub it into the wrinkles of my knuckles and into my fingernails and cuticles again.

Then I rinse and my hands feel and look like they've never seen a garden. Ever.

It's like magic. It is magic.

It's not really magic.

How a sugar scrub works to give you smooth, moisturized skin

The sugar in a sugar scrub is a mild abrasive and exfoliant and removes the dead skin cells and any dirt, while the oil soaks in and plumps up your freshly cleaned but dry skin cells.

two jars of chocolate orange sugar scrub with a bottle of orange essential oil

Why this is the best homemade sugar scrub recipe

This recipe uses simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry.

This recipe smells and tastes AMAZING - just like a Terry's Chocolate Orange tastes! If you're not a chocolate orange fan, you can make a simple substitution for chocolate peppermint. See the substitutions section below.

Because it uses simple, food-quality ingredients, you can use this sugar scrub as a hand scrub, a body scrub, and even a lip scrub.

Because it uses both brown sugar and white sugar, this sugar scrub has a texture that is safe for sensitive skin but still quite effective at removing dead skin cells and dirt.

Chocolate orange sugar scrub is pretty and makes a lovely gift for Mother's Day, Christmas, or any occasion.

a side view of chocolate orange sugar scrub in a small jar with a bottle of orange essential oil

What you'll need to make Chocolate Orange Sugar Scrub for Hands & Lips

Equipment

2 half-pint jars - You can put this sugar scrub into whatever container you want, although I do recommend you use something with a lid that you can seal shut to keep it fresh and moist longer. I think it could get rancid much more quickly if it's not in an airtight container.

Sugar Scrub Ingredients

See the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page for all measurements.

Cocoa powder - Nothing fancy required. I used the cheapest box I could find at the grocery store.
Brown sugar - The combination of brown and white sugar makes the scrub exfoliating but not too harsh. The brown sugar is softer and less abrasive than the white sugar.
White sugar - This is the primary exfoliant in the sugar scrub.
Vanilla bean paste - I love vanilla bean paste, but you could use an equal amount of vanilla extract if that's all you have.
Coconut oil - As with the cocoa powder, this does not need to be expensive. Use whatever you have. Coconut oil makes the scrub have a play-dough like consistency. If you want yours to be more pourable than scoopable, you can use an equal amount of olive oil instead.
Sweet orange essential oil - Be careful with this if you don't want your scrub to be very orangey. You might want to add it in smaller amounts and evaluate. I did use the full amount in the recipe, but it wasn't a premium brand. If it was Young Living or doTerra, I think I would have used less.

How to make Chocolate Orange Sugar Scrub

Mix the sugars and cocoa powder in a medium bowl.
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Add the vanilla bean paste and coconut oil.
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After the consistency is right, add the fragrance. Use your nose as a guide. You'll know when you have enough.
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Mix it up really well.
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Spoon it into half-pint mason jars.
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How to use a diy sugar scrub for your hands

All you have to do to use the sugar scrub is to scoop out a small amount (like maybe the size of a large grape) and rub it between your hands and all over the fronts and backs and up onto your wrists. Pay attention to under your nails and cuticles as well. Rinse thoroughly with warm water.

to use the sugar scrub, scoop out a small amount and rub between hands

How to use sugar scrub for your body

In the shower, step out of the water. Scoop a grape-sized amount out of the jar and rub it into your skin in a circular motion for about 30-60 seconds. Rinse with warm water.

It might be obvious, but here's what I do. I do my right thigh, then my lower leg and foot. Then I do the left leg the same way. Then I do my right upper arm and shoulder, then my lower arm and hand. Repeat with the left arm. Then I do my neck and chest (including my arm pits), then as much of my back as I can reach.

Be sure to rinse thoroughly with warm water, rubbing your skin under the stream of water to ensure that all the scrub comes off.

Stay away from especially sensitive skin such as your groin and around your eyes. There is no need to exfoliate those areas.

chocolate orange sugar scrub in a small jar with an orange slice and orange halves

How to use sugar scrub for your lips

Scoop out a pea-sized amount and rub gently into your top and bottom lips, avoiding the skin around the lips if possible. Allow to sit for a few minutes and then rinse with warm water.

How to store sugar scrub

This brown sugar scrub is perfectly safe at room temperature. If you find it has gotten a little too runny, you can pop it into the fridge for an hour or so to solidify the coconut oil.

There are no preservatives in this sugar scrub recipe, so it isn't going to last forever. Discard it if the smell changes or if the appearance becomes overly shiny or runny at room temperature, or if there's any mold. (Coconut oil melts around body temperature, so if the room gets really hot, your sugar scrub is going to get runnier. This does not mean it's spoiled.)

chocolate orange sugar scrub in a small jar with a bottle or orange essential oil in front

Substitutions

Using coconut oil in the sugar scrub gives the scrub a play-dough like consistency. If you would prefer your sugar scrub to be more pourable than scoopable, you could substitute an equal amount of cheap olive oil (no need to use extra virgin olive oil here - and that would have a stronger scent that would interfere with your chocolate orange scent anyway), avocado oil, or sweet almond oil in place of the coconut oil.

If you're not a chocolate orange fan, you could replace the orange essential oil with peppermint or spearmint extract or peppermint essential oil.

Brown sugar scrub makes a perfect gift

If you haven't gotten your mother anything for Mother's Day yet, you could throw this together in five minutes and give her a spa-like experience at home. If you don't have essential oils, skip them. The cocoa powder will still give you a nice scent.

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