DIY sugar scrub cubes are great for exfoliating dry skin. This sugar scrub cube recipe calls for just 4 ingredients, and you can whip it up in about 30 minutes! With their delicious cranberry scent, these sugar scrub cubes would also make a great holiday gift. All you need is plain white sugar, a soap base of your choice, mica powder and skin-safe fragrance oil. Follow along as we make this super easy sugar scrub cube recipe.
Skill Level: Easy
Hands-On Time: 30 minutes
Yield: approximately 32 sugar scrub cubes
Supplies
- Square silicone soap mold
- Face mask (for working with mica)
- Micro scoop
- Mix & Pour Funnel Pitcher
- Pipette
- Digital Scale
- Straight-Edge Soap Cutter
- Whisk or spatula for stirring
- Measuring beaker for mixing fragrance & mica
- Bowl for measuring ingredients
- Cutting board
Ingredients
- 8 oz white granulated sugar
- 4 oz Melt & Pour Soap Base of your choice (We used Detergent-Free Goat Milk Soap)
- 2-4 micro scoops of Red mica powder of your choice (we used Purple Red)
- 1 ml Spiced Cranberry fragrance oil (you can also use Cranberry Spice!)
Project Overview
We’ll start by weighing our ingredients with a digital scale. The soap base will be cut into small pieces and microwaved until it’s melted. Fragrance oil and mica powder are added to the melted soap base to give it scent and color. If you’re using a white soap base, keep in mind the mica color will turn out much more pastel than it appears in the jar.
Once the mica and fragrance have been stirred into the soap base, you will add the sugar. It’s important to work very quickly, as the sugar will cause the soap to start hardening almost immediately. The mixture is stirred and poured into the soap mold. Once hard, the sugar scrub bars are removed and cut into uniformly-sized pieces.
Video Tutorial
How to Make Sugar Scrub Cubes: Step-by-Step Instructions
- Place a bowl on your digital scale and tare it to zero. Add 8 oz of plain white sugar to the bowl, then set aside for later.
- Using a cutting board and straight-edge soap cutter, cut 4 oz of soap base into small cubes.
- Add the soap cubes to the mix & pour funnel pitcher. Microwave the soap in 15-second bursts until the soap is completely melted. You can stir or swirl the container between sessions to help it heat evenly.
- Wearing a mask, add 2-4 micro scoops of mica powder to a small dish (we used a 3 oz plastic measuring beaker).
- Using a pipette, add 1 ml of fragrance oil to the dish that contains the mica. Stir to combine. The back of the micro scoop works great for stirring.
- Pour the fragrance/mica mixture into the melted soap base and stir with a whisk. The soap base can be put back in the microwave for a few seconds if it has developed a film on top.
- Get your square soap mold ready to go.
- Pour the 8 oz of sugar into the melted soap base and stir very quickly to combine it. The mixture will be quite thick.
- Immediately pour into the soap mold, using a whisk or spatula to help get the soap mixture out of the container. We were able to fill two cavities of our mold.
- Tap the sides of the mold to ensure the mixture has filled all the corners.
- Let the bars set up until they’re hard. This should take an hour or so. Because of the sugar, the bars will have a slightly tacky/sticky feeling texture. As long as they are firm, they are ready to go.
- Once hard, remove the bars from the mold and cut them into uniformly sized pieces. We cut each bar into 16 pieces, giving us 32 pieces total.
How to Store Sugar Scrub Cubes
Be sure to place the sugar scrub cubes in an airtight container such as a glass jar. The container should be stored in a cool, dry location. While sugar scrub cubes can be used in the shower, we don’t recommend keeping the container in the shower. The damp environment can affect how the cubes hold up, especially if water gets into the container when it’s opened. We recommend storing the container away from water, and using dry hands to remove a cube when you want to use one.
Sugar scrubs should be used within six months to a year, but the shelf life can vary depending on how they are stored.
How to Use Sugar Scrub Cubes
Sugar scrub cubes are great for exfoliating dry hands and feet, but you can use them just about everywhere. Just avoid using sugar scrub cubes on sensitive or broken skin. Sugar scrub cubes may be too abrasive for your face, so use your best judgement before using these cubes to exfoliate your face.
To use sugar scrub cubes, simply take one cube from the container and run it under warm water. The cube can then be crushed into a paste, which can be rubbed over dry skin to exfoliate it. To create a lather, use sugar scrub cubes with running water, such as when washing your hands or taking a shower. You can use more than one cube if needed.
Did you try this project? We’d love to hear how it worked for you! Leave a comment below or share your pictures on social media with #MadeWithNorthWood
NorthWood is not responsible for any products or projects that you make with our supplies.