First of all, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of the kind comments on yesterday’s post. (If you missed it, you can read it here). It’s always a little bit nerve-wracking when we post something out of the norm around here, especially when it’s of a personal nature, and we always cross our fingers and hope it’s well received, and in the way we intended. I curled up with my laptop tonight and read every single comment. Thank you, thank you.
Now, in that post we talked a little about the expectations women everywhere face because of the internet. On that note, has Pinterest pressured anyone out there to compulsively purchase a ridiculously large container of coconut oil? Admit it, and least 4,972 of you did. We know because at least half of you have emailed us to ask what the heck you should do with it now. Here’s an answer! By the way, the brand pictured below, is amazing. Awesome coconut flavor and pure white color.
I love a good DIY sugar scrub. Coconut oil is an amazing moisturizer and sugar is an awesome exfoliant. I had my coconut oil on the counter a few weeks back and as I was scooping some out, I dropped a blob into my fruit basket that was sitting right there. It landed right on top of a lime and that’s when I heard the choir of angels and wondered why I hadn’t thought of this scrub before. I made it right then and immediately texted Kate to tell her how amazing it was. This would be the perfect little gift to whip up for Mother’s Day for a friend, a Mom, or just yourself! Chances are, many of you have all of the ingredients right in your kitchen already. It’s a tropical escape that will leave you feeling all silky and smooth.
Place some coconut oil in a bowl. Depending on the temperature of your surroundings, you may need to heat it in the microwave to soften it. Right now, it’s is the 80’s where I live and my coconut oil stored at room temperature is super soft and stir-able, but in the winter time I definitely have to zap it in the microwave to soften it up.
Next add some granulated sugar. Sugar is a great, gentle exfoliator. If you like a little more umph, you can use a natural coarse grain sugar, but plain ol’ white sugar works great.
It seemed only fitting to pair bright, fresh lime with the smooth creamy coconut.
The natural oils in citrus are found in their peels, so just zest a lime right in there. A microplane grater will produce super fine bits, so if you don’t have one you might want to grate the peel with a fine-hole grater and then run a knife over it to chop it up even more.
Then just stir it all up.
The consistency of a sugar scrub is really a matter of preference. I usually start with a 2:1 (sugar:oil) ratio and then adjust from there. I like my mixture to hold together like a paste, as opposed to crumbling, which I feel usually just makes a mess. So generally I start with that 2:1 ratio (pictured below, you can see it’s rather thick), and then add another scoop of coconut oil.
The lime zest adds a bright fresh scent, and the coconut oil has a light scent to it, but I still love to add a little boost with some oils. I just use the oils I have for cooking and baking. They only cost a couple of bucks, and a little goes a long way. (Please note: I will burn the first comment that tries to sell Do Terra oils on this post. Does that sound overly-dramatic?) You can use lime and/or coconut; I like a little of both. Just add it to taste. And by “taste” I mean smell. Okay, that’s a lie, I totally taste it. It’s amazing, and totally edible. I buy my oils from Orson Gygi; they literally have every flavor you could ever imagine.
Just pop it in a cute jar and you can store it at room temperature for weeks.
I keep a little jar in my shower. Just take a palm-full and massage it all over.
The sugar exfoliates and the coconut oil is uber-moisturizing. Just rinse with warm water and then massage in the oil left on your skin. Or you can rinse with soap if you don’t like the feeling of the oil, it will still leave you silky smooth.
The cute jars in my post are from Hobby Lobby and only cost a couple of bucks. The brown labels are made by Avery in the Martha Stewart collection and I picked them up at Staples. (Fun fact: I’m obsessed with office supplies. Every September I buy ridiculous amount of “school” supplies. For myself.) They don’t make that particular kind anymore, but here are some similar ones you can grab from Amazon. I just wrapped a piece of washi tape around the jars and tied some twine on and these little gifts were seriously SO quick, easy, and cheap to whip up. Also it smells (and let’s face it- tastes) amazing.
You can get the same look by printing off these labels on plain paper and just cutting out the shape. Just use double stick tape to attach them to a jar, or print them on card stock and tie them on with a string. Easy peasy! Little mason jars like these are great for sugar scrubs, too.
Click Here to download Printable Labels
Print
Coconut & Lime Sugar Scrub
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- zest from one lime
- optional: Lime and/or coconut flavoring oils
Instructions
- Place oil, sugar, and lime zest* in a bowl. *If you’re not using a microplane grater to zest the lime, you may want to use a knife to chop it even more finely before adding to the mix. Stir to combine, and if desired, add additional coconut oil to reach desired consistency. Add lime and/or coconut flavoring oils to taste (or smell :))
- You may store at room temperature for several weeks (I like to keep a jar in my shower). Use scrub to gently exfoliate skin. Rinse skin clean with warm water and then massage in oils left on skin for a soft, silky finish.
- Yield: about 3/4 cup sugar scrub.
Now, if you’ve got a hankering for lime-coconut and you don’t want to eat your beauty products, here are a few things you must, must make. Soon. These are probably 3 of my all-time favorite recipes.
Lime-Coconut White Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies
Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze
*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.
Questions & Reviews
AMEN, sista! Upon reading the unexpectedly hilarious bit about the DoTerra, I got my computer screen a little messy…note to self: don’t read Our Best Bites posts when eating. Am I the only one out there that thinks those essential oils smell UBER-bad??
Do you think it would be ok without using the essential oils? I don’t have any and not even quite sure where to buy them?
This looks awesome and I LOVE the labels. What fonts did you use for the labels?
Thanks Dee! The first font is “Penelope Ann” and the script is “Kayleigh“
Just made it and used it and I love it! Used it lightly on my face (in addition to everywhere else in the shower) and YUM! Sorta like butter/sugar on beaters while making cookies. Had to force myself not to take finger full and eat it.
What a great idea! Going into coconut oil promo mode. I LOVE the stuff. Have been using it for several years now (before pintrest). First, for cooking you ‘need’ the UNREFINED version. It costs more but that is where all the nutritional and health benefits are located. Refined coconut oil has been bleached with harsh chemicals and stripped of all the good stuff. What good stuff? Well I’m going to tell you! UNREFINED coconut oil is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal! I put it on minor cuts and burns. I rub it on the dogs itchy skin. I rub it on the kids’ itchy skin. I rub it in that, um, ‘area’ (blush), when it feels a little off and I know a trip to the drug store is in my near future. Works great! I use it in place of almost all the times I would use olive oil (but not for eggs-gag:P). If it is soft enough for scooping I bake with it. I use it in the popcorn maker-double yum! I stir it in my morning coffee or tea. It increases your metabolism for loosing weight and keeps me full to lunch. I use it instead of butter on bagels or toast. Topped with a shake of cinnamon YUM! My kids love coconut oil topped with a little PB on a bagel or hard roll. I buy the gallon jug at Costco and go through it in less than a month.
Love this idea, just one more thing for my coconut oil! Thank you!
Oh, really liked the ‘real mommy’ post yesterday. My kids are 14, 14 and 11 and I cannot tell you how many times I have run into parents with elementary age kids who are killing themselves trying to be what they see in the media. When I was a kid it was the Huxtubols on TV, or the Brady Bunch. Now it is things like pintrest. Having you post about how your photos are for the blog and not real life is great. NO ONE actually lives in pintrest-world! And the Mom you see over there but don’t really know that well but she is always well put together and her kids are and her home is a showplace, blah, blah, blah is either breaking her back to appear that way and will crash and burn soon (behind closed doors) or has millions of dollars so others can do it for her. That is not real life. Real life is doing is sometimes for fun!
Wow, I’m on a roll this morning LOL. Keep up the good work ladies. I refer to your blog several times a week and my family always likes it when I make something from OBB.
I love your bread containers! Where can I pick up a few of those. Awesome idea! My family will be getting these lil jars of treasure for their birthdays!
Ummmm, what are Doterra oils?
Lol, you can Google it 😉 It’s a multi-level marketing company that sells essential oils.
Thank you!!! I’ve been saving my baby food jars all month to make scrubs for little pedicure kits for my sisters on Sunday and this will work perfectly.
For anybody who doesn’t know, Hobby Lobby has a glass sale every other week (or maybe every 3 weeks?) where glass is 50% off. If you’re buying from there, wait til it’s on sale! It’s such a shame to buy stuff full price when you know it will go on sale. At the very least, use one of their 40% off 1 item coupons 🙂
Guilty! Yes, I have a ridiculously large container of coconut oil that is just waiting to be used (or rather until I figured out how to use it!) I’m so glad I stumbled upon this. I will make this next week!
I love coconut lime anything. I recently made pina-colada sherbet from ‘A Perfect Scoop’. It was basically coconut milk with crushed up pineapple, lime juice, and a teaspoon or so of rum (I’m sure vanilla would work just as well). It was awesome, and so great for the warm weather we seem to finally be getting here.
I’m trying to think of ways I could actually eat this concoction. Spread it on toast? I LOVE lime and coconut, smells and tastes. Great idea, and much cheaper than store-bought scrubs, I’m sure. I’ve been wanting to try cooking with coconut oil, so now I have a use for it if I don’t like it!
I laughed so hard at the Do Terra comment! I’m a blogger too and I get some of the craziest comments from people trying to slyly throw their affiliate link or business venture in. You girls make me giggle.
For those asking what kind of coconut oil to get, Costco sells the Nutiva brand for crazy, crazy cheap and it’s amazing. It does have a slightly yellowish tint to it though. If you’re looking for white white, try the Tropical Traditions Gold Label oil like they have pictured in this post. I swear it was scraped straight from the coconut. While you’re at it, try their organic raw honey. It’s like crack in a jar.
And P.S. I swear I look at Pinterest a zillion times a day and never make anything because I’m just not crafty. I started reading this post ONLY because I think you guys are great and now you’ve convinced me to make it. You gals are like crack in a jar! 🙂
where did you get that super-white coconut oil Sara? mine has an unappealing yellowish tinge and yours look so white and fresh.
Look at 16.2 as I responded about the coconut oil just in case they do not get back to it.
Yeah, just google the brand in my photo, I got mine in the mail so you can definitely order it! And like someone else mentioned, Costco has the best price on coconut oil I’ve ever seen. My store has a couple different kinds, they do have an organic one that’s quite a bit more expensive, but I think it’s lighter in color. The one I am using here has an awesome coconut flavor.
Coming back to add: I was just at Whole Foods and they too had a reeeealy bright white brand. Didn’t note the name, but that would be a good place to check too.
This scrub is so fun! I would love to make some for the moms in my life! I am a coconut oil virgin, and am wondering if there is a certain kind to buy? Is there one for cooking and one for not? Haha, I know, I sound dumb. I am seeing stuff about extra virgin and unrefined? If I go out looking for this stuff today, I want to make sure I know what to get! (:
And while I am at it, if you aren’t into…um, uh, er…those oils that may or may not be essential, where can you find the oils you mentioned?
I’ve seen LorAnn oils at my local grocery store and my drugstore. They might even be at Walmart. I’d simply ask someone at your favorite store!
The coconut oil in her picture is from Tropical Traditions. Google it and you will find their company. The one she used has a coconut taste. You cook with it also. There is one that is Expeller Pressed that does not taste like coconut. This is the one to cook with if you do not want your food to taste like coconut. This company is wonderful to work with and has special often.
Glad I’m not the only one who “tastes” my scrubs while I make them 🙂
You guys think you have a lot of coconut oil – try having a husband who works for a vitamin company and that is one of their products and he has to do quality checks on it. He can take home opened containers after they have cleared lab, so I think I have 5 containers. This is perfect for using up some of it and end-of-year presents for teachers!
Yesterdays post is exactly what i needed at the exact right time. I have been feeling so down on myself as a working mother/wife of two little ones. It was reassuring to hear from two women that are so put together thats its about the small moments. I am OBSESSED with EVERYTHING coconut and lime recently, so that you 🙂 Do you think this would work with Epsom salt?
OK, I’ve tried to use sugar scrubs in the shower before, but it makes the floor of my shower/tub dangerously slippery (I’m klutzy enough as it is!). Does anyone else have a problem with this? Will it still be a problem with this recipe? I’m assuming it will…
I saw somewhere on another DIY sugar scrub that you could sprinkle baking soda on the floor of the shower before you step in that will help.
I loved your post about motherhood and I’m so glad you shared your thoughts with us! My favorite scent of all time, I just put it on, is the Coconut Lime Breeze (or whatever they changed it to) from Bath and Body Works, so I’m definitely going to make this scrub! Thanks!
Yum! I’ll be whipping this up. LOVE coconut oil. Slather it on before almost every shower ( i mainly have baths. so showers are pretty rare. ok is that TMI?) Anyways. I LOVE anything coconut and/or lime, but mainly coconut lime. ahhh
Ok, and cilantro. and mint.
Also- I wanted to comment yesterday, but i was too emotional to even formulate a comment. but thank you. LOVED that post
Off to make a scrub before this 3 year old wakes up!
Oh girl, we have matching taste buds. Those are all of my favorite flavor combos, too!
These are so cute. Another way to use coconut oil is pop popcorn in it, instead of canola/veg oil. It tastes really good!
Oh my goodness thank you so much for this post! I just finished my scrubs for my mother and grandmother’s gifts! They’ll go perfect with a new pair of summer flip flops. Such a great idea and thank you for sharing the labels – too cute!
Super cute idea to pair them with flip flops- what a fun gift!
Now that’s a cute idea!
My daughter goes to preschool at a high school and the high school kids are her teachers. So we need teacher gifts for the 4 teachers that were “hers” plus the regular teacher, plus teachers for my 4 older kids, plus all the specials teachers and I have been trying to figure out what I can do that will be nice but not too expensive because there are so many of them. This will be PERFECT for the high school girls — and maybe the rest of them, too. Plus, I have kind of been looking for a good enough excuse to buy a ridiculously large container of coconut oil and I think this is it. Thanks!
I make something similar and shave my legs with it. If you shave twice with it at the same time (yes, shave then shave again) you will have the softest, smoothest legs ever!!!
I *never* leave comments on blog posts (except to enter contests….don’t hate) but I just have to start here. I love you two so much, and you crack me up every time your posts grace my feed reader. Keep it up….I’m so trying this scrub!!
First of all, LOVED yesterday’s post. So moving and exactly what I needed to hear (or read!). Second, coconut lime is my fave flavor combo. One of my favorite summer desserts is a coconut lime granita that is so easy and refreshing. I cannot wait to try this scrub so I can smell like that!
mmm…coconut lime granita sounds so good, you’ll have to send us the recipe!
ROFL about the DoTerra comment. So over it!
Lol. I have nothing against anyone who’s into that, but it drives me crazy that we can’t even mention oils without 20 different people using our comment section as their personal advertising board, haha!
Haha, I thought the same thing!!???
I was going to ask how you kept yourself from eating it, but I guess you didn’t! I was cracking up at your “taste” comment! I can’t wait to make this and use it. I have been looking for something I can use since I am allergic to most lotions. This sounds like a great alternative.
So I totally saw a recipe like this on Pinterest and I was sad that I didn’t have any essential oils to add to it like it suggested (and it didn’t use the lime zest), so I love that I can go pick up some of the cooking oils and use those instead!! Yippy!! (P.S. I like your recipe better than the one I saw on Pinterest and will be using this one instead. LOL)