• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Email
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • YouTube
TVV-Logo-for-bright-bg

The Viet Vegan

Vegan. Feminist. Nerd.

  • Home
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
  • Recipe Index
  • Work With Me
    • Press

DIY Sugar Scrubs

January 2, 2014 by Lisa Le 28 Comments

Jump to Recipe

#DIY Sugar Scrubs - Jojoba and Coconut oil are great for nourishing the skin while you exfoliate! Makes a great gift =)

Happy New Year! I hope your celebrations were full of some bubbly drinks with friends and family! Before I get into this DIY sugar scrub, I thought I’d do some reflecting, since it’s a new year and all. I spent my NYE with group of very close knit friends and you know what? It was very eye-opening. Not only did I meet some excellent new people and make some new friends, but I somehow was able to catch a glimpse of how people saw me, and how I saw myself.

I typically see myself as a logical, down-to-earth kinda gal. Anytime I meet new people, I somehow pull the extrovertedness out from wherever it likes to hide, and I become this super confident, loud, and happy person. Smiley, witty, and a little flirty.

I don’t know where any of these attributes come from, I guess it’s part of my alter-ego. It’s a switch that gets flipped when the time is right. I feel like I channel a little Sasha Fierce whenever this happens.

#DIY Sugar Scrubs - Jojoba and Coconut oil are great for nourishing the skin while you exfoliate! Makes a great gift =)

So fierce.

Anyway, whenever my version of Sasha Fierce gets turned on (let’s call my alter ego Lulu because I think she’d be like an adult Little Lulu), I become hyperaware of how I typically would react to a comment, but then ignore that initial reaction, and react how Lulu would react.

Cool, a little brash, and fun.

But when the glasses are empty, the lights are off, and I’m wrapped in a tangle of sheets from tossing and turning, I replay these moments in my head. Sometimes I think, man. I should channel my inner Lulu more often. Lulu is sexy, fun, smart, and so quick on her feet. Lisa thinks of clever comebacks too late and is left with a bruised ego.

One thing that really hit home was the objective glance at my beauty. Or rather how someone would perceive my beauty. The subject came up, and it was deemed and agreed that I was average looking.

Not pretty. Not ugly. But average.

Both Lisa and Lulu agreed.

Self-consciousness, objectivity, a culture dominated by the concept of photoshopped and Western-centric standards of beauty have penetrated my perceptions so deeply that not only was Lisa saying that she was under no illusions that she wasn’t “pretty”. But Lulu too? The smart and flirty Lulu?

WTF.

#DIY Sugar Scrubs - Jojoba and Coconut oil are great for nourishing the skin while you exfoliate! Makes a great gift =)

I had a grotesquely large reality check as I laid in bed at 5 am, thinking about my NYE celebrations and conversations.

How do I expect anyone (i.e. Chris) to think I’m pretty if I don’t think I’m pretty?

That mindset is something that needs to change. My Happy and Healthy Saturdays are going to start including ways to change the way I think of myself. Self-confidence — true realization of my beauty both inside and out — is something that is essential to leading a happy and healthy life (IMO anyway).

I need to really believe so that both Lisa and Lulu agree that they are pretty. (Is this alter-ego business confusing? Who is “I” in this scenario? We’re not sure.)

#DIY Sugar Scrubs - Jojoba and Coconut oil are great for nourishing the skin while you exfoliate! Makes a great gift =)

In other news, I finally upgraded my camera to a Canon 60D! It’s now equipped with video, an LCD screen that flips out and rotates so I can take photos more easily, better low light sensitivity, and a more powerful processor in general. EEEE I’m so excited. So to celebrate, I shot a little instructional video for you! Excuse the cheesy royalty-free music and the low quality—my camera takes 1080 HD but my SDHC card is only Class 4, so it was only able to handle standard video. Womp.

Now check this out.

My editing skills from my YouTube vlog days are paying off! (I deleted those videos, so good luck trying to find 17-year-old Lisa’s vlogging days)

DIY-sugar-scrub from Lisa Le on Vimeo.

This sugar scrub can be used on your body, hands, and feet! Great for exfoliating, hydrating your skin, and just brightening up your complexion a bit by polishing off the old, dead skin. Jojoba oil mimics your skin’s natural oil (sebum) and helps moisturize and cleanse your skin. Coconut oil is also great for your skin (it’s used in Vietnam to relieve and cure dry skin all the time), while super-refined sugar sweetly scrubs away your rough patches.

If you use it on your face, just be gentle! You don’t need to scrub your face raw to make your skin a little brighter. Rub in gentle circles, rinse off and pat your face dry. If you need to moisturize after, do so, but the jojoba and coconut oils should be plenty.

#DIY Sugar Scrubs - Jojoba and Coconut oil are great for nourishing the skin while you exfoliate! Makes a great gift =)

These make a great gift for friends! Use mason jars with cupcake liners (or a personalized circles if you’re fancy with graphics and a printer) to showcase the bright colour of your sweet DIY sugar scrubs =)

Happy New Year!

Continue to Content
Yield: Makes 6 cups of sugar scrub

DIY Sugar Scrubs

DIY Sugar Scrubs

Use this scrub on your hands, feet and body to polish off any rough patches! You can also use it on your face and lips but don't scrub too hard, it's not good to exfoliate too much where your skin is delicate.

NOTE: So the friends to whom I gave these scrubs noted that the food colouring does rub onto the skin a bit. If you dye the scrub, I recommend not using very much (like a drop. maybe two. Definitely not as much as I did).

Ingredients

  • 5 cups white granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup organic coconut oil (melted)
  • 1/3 cup organic jojoba oil
  • 3 tsp extract (mint/orange/lemon/vanilla*/rosewater) (use 1/2 tsp per 1 cup sugar mixture)
  • a couple drops food colouring

Instructions

  1. In a large pot with a can protector (or what I did was put the rims of the cans on the bottom), place the cans at the bottom, and fill the pot until the water covers the jars. Heat to a simmer then remove to let dry. Turn off the heat and let the mental lids sit in the hot water while you fill the jars.
  2. Mix together white granulated sugar and both coconut and jojoba oils until evenly distributed.
  3. If you're making a big batch of 1 flavour, add 3 tsp whichever extract and food colouring and mix until incorporated. If you're making separate flavours, add 1/2 tsp extract per 1 cup of the mixture.
  4. Store in the sanitized, jars, packing the sugar tightly. Store in a cool place away from direct sunlight.

Notes

*If you use vanilla, it's a little strong so reduce it to 1/4 tsp and add more as you see fit. If you add too much like I did, subdue it with a little bit of honey =)

© Lisa Le

#DIY Mint Sugar Scrub - Jojoba and Coconut oil are great for nourishing the skin while you exfoliate! Makes a great gift =)

 

Spread the love:
error
fb-share-icon
Tweet
fb-share-icon

Filed Under: Gluten-Free Tagged With: DIY, lemon, mint, orange, rosewater, scrub, sugar, vanilla

About Lisa Le

Lisa is the thirty-something, nerdy, procrastinating, feminist blogger and photographer behind The Viet Vegan. She loves spicy foods, noodles, and food in bowls.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lynh says

    January 2, 2014 at 7:36 AM

    Great 1st post for the new year. Those colours will give you the brightful year of happiness and success. I am so proud of you as always. Love you.

    Reply
  2. Heather @ French Press says

    January 2, 2014 at 1:07 PM

    what an inspiring post for the new year. as women we are often SO harsh on our perception of what “pretty” is. as the mother of a daughter it is even more important to stress that we need to be kind to ourselves. This sugar scrub is a great way to pamper and feel pretty :) and I am SO jealous of the new camera – someday soon I NEED to upgrade

    Reply
    • Lisa Mai says

      January 2, 2014 at 2:00 PM

      Thanks Heather! It’s so true, both daughters and sons look up to their parents and how they treat themselves and each other to know how they should see themselves.

      Reply
  3. LaureAnna says

    January 8, 2014 at 8:44 PM

    Great! Now I know what to do with this leftover white sugar that has been sitting in my pantry ever since my mother made donuts months ago! But won’t the colour transfer on your skin though?

    Reply
    • Lisa Mai says

      January 11, 2014 at 12:49 AM

      If you use only a little bit of food colouring, it’s not that bad as long as you mix it in thoroughly. However the more vibrant colours like the pink and green may leave a bit of a tinge at first. To be safe, just don’t use it on your face, but your body should be fine =P

      Reply
  4. LeSha B. (@TheLovelyPhotog) says

    January 11, 2014 at 12:46 AM

    Love this recipe! I’m going to try it ! :) Thank you for posting!

    Reply
    • Lisa Mai says

      January 11, 2014 at 12:46 AM

      Thanks LeSha! Let me know how it works out!

      Reply
  5. Misty Cox says

    February 7, 2014 at 7:10 PM

    Wondering where you get those jars and what size they are?

    Reply
    • Lisa Le says

      February 7, 2014 at 7:53 PM

      Hey Misty, they’re the wide-mouth Ball jars (250 mL) and they come in packs of four. I bought it at Canadian Tire, but I’ve seen them in larger stores like Walmart before.

      Reply
  6. Jalyn says

    March 3, 2014 at 11:14 PM

    This sounds like a great recipe and am anxious to try it! Just one question..How long will this hold up and do you know if i could use a natural preservative in it? I have optiphen that I use in other homemade products. Do you think it would work with this recipe as well? Thanks and thanks for the recipe.

    Reply
    • Lisa Le says

      March 4, 2014 at 10:01 AM

      Hi Jalyn!

      My friends have had it for a while now, I’m pretty sure as long as you use sterilized jars and clean tools to mix and make the scrubs, I’d say about 6 months (as is the shelflife of most commercial products like this…6-12 months I think). I have no idea what optiphen is so I wouldn’t be able to give you any advice.

      Reply
      • Jalyn says

        March 4, 2014 at 10:56 AM

        Thank you for your reply but optiphen is a used in alot of natural products. I did a quick follow up on it this morning and it said that optiphen is great for body scrubs and other homemade products.. Yippee using this will give it a longer shelf life. Thanks again and I love your post.

        Reply
  7. Έξυπνες Συμβουλές says

    April 30, 2014 at 8:56 AM

    such a great idea!!

    Reply
  8. Jamie says

    May 9, 2014 at 11:27 AM

    I was curious of what kind of extracts to use? Like extracts for food? Or any kind of extract that I come across? Sorry if that is a ridiculous question but I’m curious.

    Reply
    • Lisa Le says

      May 9, 2014 at 9:24 PM

      Hey Jamie, I used food extracts cause I’m a food blogger and that’s all I’ve got haha, but essential oils would probably be more potent. I’m just not sure how much you should use in comparison to extracts because essential oils are much stronger.

      Reply
      • Jalyn says

        May 28, 2014 at 12:36 PM

        Jamie , I would like to add that Essential Oils are better in this recipe..the fragrance is stronger and holds up longer..plus EO are all natural which is another plus.

        Reply
  9. Dana says

    July 23, 2014 at 3:31 PM

    I cannot for the life of me find jojoba oil anywhere in a store! Where do you get it? And is there something I can substitute if I can’t find it??

    Reply
    • Lisa Le says

      July 24, 2014 at 11:24 AM

      Hi Dana,

      I know that grapeseed oil and almond oil are great for your skin but I’m not sure I know enough about DIY skincare to recommend another oil =P Have you tried local health food stores that sell natural skincare products. Often they’ll have oils near soaps or deoderant?

      Reply
  10. Sarah says

    December 4, 2014 at 8:43 AM

    Trying to plan a Christmas themed baby shower and wanted a cute inexpensive gift for the game winners. So glad I found this link! I did two batches and made one with peppermint and some red food coloring and left the other white with vanilla and then layered them into mason jars to give a candy cane effect. It looks great! So glad I found this page. Thank you!

    Reply
  11. melissa says

    February 7, 2017 at 10:18 AM

    is there another way to color these so it wont change the color of the skin

    Reply
    • Lisa Le says

      February 18, 2017 at 10:43 PM

      I found just using less food colouring was better =P The colours will be more pastel-like, but you won’t have green skin haha.

      Reply
  12. jackie says

    October 27, 2018 at 1:13 PM

    I thought granulated sugar was not vegan?

    Reply
    • Lisa Le says

      November 6, 2018 at 5:20 PM

      In the US, it’s often filtered with bone char, but in Canada most sugar companies are vegan friendly (like Redpath and Lantic’s East processing plants)

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Welcome!

Lisa

Xin chào! Welcome to my food blog. Thanks for visiting, reading, and enabling my obsession with food and photography.

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

looking for something?

Recipe index sidebar
YouTube-Graphic-side
Vietnamese recipe index button
  • Popular
  • Recent

Footer

What are you craving?

Recipe index footer

Looking for something?

Find me in other places :)

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Find me on YouTube!

youtube_watch

View

Jan 16

Open
My latest YouTube video with my recipe for EZ PZ sourdough bread is live. No need to wait for a levain, no autolyze, and no super wet, sticky dough or gummy bread!
🍞
I've been thoroughly enjoying all this bread and how consistently delicious it has been! Please go give it a watch to hear me wax and wane about bread, or check out the blog post for a video with no talking, only bread 😂
🍞
#thevietveganrecipes https://youtu.be/Y9R2Ivw1tgQ #thevietvegan #sourdough #sourdoughbread #flourwatersalt #masamadre #breadmaking #veganfoodshare #bestofvegan #veganbaking
435 10
View

Jan 13

Open
Just a new What I Eat In a Day vlog where I make many bready things and get extremely excited about my new water bottle 🤣Featuring the vegan spicy negi ramen kit from @crafty_ramen (gifted), my go-to daal, sourdough naan experiments and discard bread experiments!It's live on the channel now 😊
https://youtu.be/QuagXSKuknE#thevietvegan #thevietveganrecipes #whatveganseat #whatieatinaday #kwvegansociety #hamiltonvegan #hamont #veganfood #veganuary2021
1045 30
View

Jan 9

Open
Henlo it's been a very busy week on my end but I've been working hard to try to get back up to 2x a week uploads again. So last week I posted two bookish videos and today I posted my sourdough discard chocolate chip cookies!
🍪
Crisp edges, chewy centre, crunchy flakes of @maldonsalt on top...MMM. A perfect way to use up some sourdough discard!
🍪
Video is up on the channel, and recipe is on the blog🥰https://bit.ly/2LilQk3#thevietvegan #thevietveganrecipes #whatveganseat #sourdoughdiscard #sourdough #🍪
708 17
View

Dec 16

Open
[AD] Tis the season for finger food and delicious bites! So many vegan charcuteries tend to be nut-heavy, but for those who are allergic to many things like me, you might enjoy this pizza snack board I created for @whollyveggie with some marinated mushrooms (recipe on the blog), fresh veggies, and olives, and vegan salami to snack on, with pizza sauce to dunk in!
🍕
I used the Classic Cheese, Margherita pizzas, and Naked Cauliflower Crust that are frozen and delicious for a snack board. I honestly kind of forgot that they were gluten-free because I love a nice, crisp thin crust and this was tender enough to yield a nice, chewy bite while being golden and crisp!
🍕
Find the recipe on my blog, deets on your closest Wholly Veggy retailer on their website, and please tag me and @whollyveggie in your homemade pizza snack boards! I'd love to see how you customize yours :)
🍕
#thevietvegan #whollyveggie #veggiefullmeals #respecttheveg #whatveganseat #veganfoodshare #bestofvegan #vegancharcuterie #thevietveganrecipes https://bit.ly/3gTF22N
605 37
View

Nov 28

Open
Feeling like I got my mojo back! Also coincidentally my cycle ended, so maybe that had something to do with this week of super low energy and negativity 😂❣️😭Today I cleaned out the fridge, treated myself to a schnickers square from @covenhamilton and made some Instant Pot phở because Eddie's been missing @saigonlotustoronto and we haven't been able to go all year (for obvious reasons).You can find the recipe on the blog. I'll put a swipe up link since the link in bio sometimes take a second to populate, or you can use the search bar at the top of my blog! Hope you are all having a relaxing weekend ☺️Instant Pot Phở: http://bit.ly/2DdKATA#thevietvegan #thevietveganrecipes #whatveganseat #veganfoodshare #veganpho #vietvegan #vietnamesefood
1587 30
View

Nov 26

Open
A lot of you are celebrating Thanksgiving today, and while this Instant Pot red curry lentil and potato stew is not a Thanksgiving recipe, I wish you all the best this weekend and kindly remind you that Thanksgiving has a lot of colonial, traumatic and genocidal origins of Indigenous peoples across North America.
🍂
Eddie loves Thanksgiving food (I mostly like stuffing/dressing and mashed potatoes haha) so I understand that nostalgia and love for Thanksgiving fare, but I hope you also take this time to continue your education in Indigenous history, culture and how the exploitation and trauma still affects Indigenous cultures and peoples today.
🍂
I always worry I'm being like a bummer to remind you of this year after year, but I'm on my own journey of education and unlearning the history we were erroneously taught and all the convenient gaps that didn't tell the whole story. We are all unlearning together.
🍂
And while it is important to learn about the heavy history, I also implore you to appreciate and support Indigenous art and cultures. I recently finished reading Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson and I have many more books by Indigenous authors on my to-read list!
🍂
Enjoy the time with your loved ones (hopefully very safely, and hopefully you've quarantined before seeing each other). It can be hard to deny our families who have varying levels of concern, but know that the precautions you take now show the people you love and the communities we're in how much you care. Virtual celebrations aren't quite the same but are a nice stand-in for being alone.
🍂
Also fyi this is an Instant Pot red curry lentil and potato stew I shared last week. On YouTube and the blog! https://bit.ly/3nCsQWm
🍂
#thevietvegan #thanksgiving #thanksliving #veganthanksgiving #thevietveganrecipes #whatveganseat #veganmealprep
361 4
View

Nov 7

Open
I feel like it's no suprise to anyone that my favourite colour is green and that this green ramen is an herbaceous, vibrant way to eat your greens!
💚
PLUS I use peas in the sauce to add some lean, green protein so you don't feel hungry again in 20 minutes like you would if you just ate a pack of instant noodles 😂
💚
Recipe is linked in the bio, although it might take a sec to repopulate but it's also in my Asian recipe highlight (although it's not really Asian... it's just green saucy noods but my regular recipe highlight is getting too long 😅)
💚
#thevietvegan #thevietveganrecipes http://bit.ly/2w7pXE4 #whatveganseat #veganfoodshare #bestofvegan #eatyourgreens #vegan #vegansofig
1083 18
View

Oct 30

Open
Inari pockets with vegan crab salad from my last hiking vlog 🍱🌳🍂 some of y'all might remember that this package of tofu pockets was similar to the package I have bought before and I realized too late that they had clam and oyster extract in the seasoning.
🍁
Because I was going on a hike with a few omnis, I figured it was worth just using it anyway to feed them so it didn't go to waste, and that way Eddie and I didn't have to eat it all on our own. This dilemma can be controversial, and I've had people (well, one persistent person) hate on me for drinking a can of Arizona Iced Tea after I bought it and realized too late that it had honey in it.
🍁
Y'all, being vegan is point blank a privilege. Choosing what to eat, being informed enough to want to choose vegan, having access to fruits and vegetables that don't cost $$$$, having time to cook, having the time to LEARN how to cook, it is all overlapping privileges that enable any of us to eat vegan. Throwing food away because of a mistake you made even though it is perfectly edible is not helping the animals (and it is so wasteful!)
🍂
Obviously in this case, it was just extract and not actually pieces of meat, dairy, or egg, so it was easier for me to eat it without trying to think about it. And honestly, I'm unsure if I would be able to eat anything non-vegan without getting sick (because I got hives after eating the tofu pockets 🙃), but it's nuanced and eating a non-vegan product you bought by accident doesn't make you a bad person. It doesn't discount your veganism. You simply learn from it and keep trucking on.
🍁
Anyway, I explain this in the video but have a watch it you want to see how I made the inari and the beautiful trees on the hike 😁#thevietvegan #thevietveganrecipes https://youtu.be/aBY97WhZCw4 #inarisushi #whatveganseat
1008 35
View

Oct 27

Open
From before my last manicure 😅 vegan tempura batter for super crispy, light and simple fried goodness! Recipe is live on the blog :) the last few days have been pretty busy but hopefully I will be back on testing upcoming recipes soon!Recipe will be in the swipe up in stories, and linked in the bio (although sometimes it takes a sec to populate 😅)#thevietveganrecipes https://bit.ly/34y9lYv #thevietvegan #whatveganseat #veganfoodshare #vegantempura #bestofvegan #veganeats #eeeeeats #feedfeedvegan
624 15
View

Oct 15

Open
I've been eating this nearly every day for the past four days 😂 bánh hỏi thịt nướng chay! I've been meaning to develop a nem nướng chay recipe to go along with this but this week was not the week haha.
🥗
Did anyone else grow up eating platters upon platters of bánh hỏi at long weekend parties and family gatherings? I swear these take up less space in my body than actual noodles because I can always eat an alarming amount 😂
🥗
Check out the new video on YT and the recipe on my blog, swipe up links in my stories!
🥗
#thevietveganrecipes https://bit.ly/343B7vP #thevietvegan #whatveganseat #vietnamesefood #vietvegan #veganfoodshare #letscookvegan #banhhoi #vietkieu
1364 35
TVV logo

Copyright© 2021 · The Viet Vegan · All rights reserved

  • Recipe Index
  • Privacy Policy
  • Work With Me
  • Press