
Many women these days are switching to all-natural products for their skin, and with good reason. Homemade products are cheaper and better for you! If you’re looking for a good skin exfoliator, this vanilla and orange DIY body scrub is easy and affordable to make, and it smells delicious.
Homemade body scrubs work like magic. In my experience, store-bought scrubs are way too harsh and filled with an insane amount of chemicals, which is just not good for my skin. I switched over to all-natural products about 2 years ago, and my skin has never been happier. My wallet thanks me too!
Nowadays, I always recommend that women make their own DIY body scrubs: they’re so much cheaper and have tons of benefits that can help your skin shine. Once you start, you’ll never go back to store-bought. I guarantee it.
I’d like first to discuss the benefits of homemade body scrub and then share this amazing vanilla sugar scrub recipe.
The Benefits of Homemade Body Scrub
Using a homemade body scrub has many benefits, which is why I shifted from chemical bundles of goop to whipping up my own batch.
- They help unclog pores. You can safely use this DIY body scrub on your face, too (once a week is fine!).
- They help prevent ingrown hair. As much as we like to deny it, ingrown hair is a very real and painful experience, so it’s best to kill the problem before it begins.
- Say goodbye to razor bumps. Ladies, you know what I’m talking about when I say this is an annoyance we don’t need in our lives.
- They help remove dead cells that accumulate over time. Sloughing off these dry cells with a homemade body scrub helps promote new and healthier skin cells.
- They don’t have all the chemicals that damage your skin like store-bought alternatives, which leads to healthier skin.
Ingredients for Vanilla and Orange DIY Body Scrub
I love to experiment and research some of the best and safest household products to use in every DIY body scrub I make. It’s important to do a skin patch test before you try anything, though. These are the ingredients required for this amazing vanilla sugar scrub recipe.
Sugar
Sugar is a mild exfoliating agent that helps remove dead cells without causing abrasions. All the gunk and dirt stuck in your pores just melt away, making your skin shine like never before.
Sugar also helps with anti-aging because it doesn’t allow toxins to attack you. It hydrates your skin and helps maintain a good moisture level.
But which sugar is better for body scrubs? The answer depends on your skin type. Using more fine brown sugar is better if you have extra sensitive skin. However, for women with thicker skin, organic sugar can do wonders. Ordinary white sugar lies between the two.
Almond Oil
Almond oil’s anti-inflammatory properties can help with reducing razor bumps. For people who experience redness with store-bought scrubs, almond oil can really help prevent that from happening. The oil is also known for the regeneration of cells, which will help you with premature wrinkles.
Vanilla Bean Powder
If you don’t have vanilla bean powder, you can use vanilla essence. I would go for the powder more than the essence because it offers skin toning and tightening, making your skin look much better.
Since you’re going to be adding essential oils, opting for the powder instead of a double dose of extract and oil will also help with the overall consistency. We want a homemade body scrub, not a puddle of ingredients.
Vanilla Essential Oil
Out of all the ingredients, this one has to be my favorite because of the many benefits it provides. It’s a great oil for undereye wrinkles and also helps people suffering from acne. This essential oil has antibacterial properties that really go and target those stubborn pores, letting your skin take a breather.
Vanilla oil contains Vanillin, known as an anticancer agent, and is neuroprotective, meaning that it helps with brain health. It offers healing to your aging skin and makes you feel beautiful. The divine smell also adds to skincare’s therapeutic aspect because it helps soothe your nerves.
Orange Essential Oil
Orange oil has so many healing properties that it’s almost impossible to list them all here, but I’ll share a few of them with you now.
- fights germs and bacteria
- improves skin health
- whitens and brightens skin
- stimulates collagen
- helps fight the signs of aging
While this vanilla sugar scrub recipe does call for orange essential oil, the beauty of making your own DIY body scrub is that you can add whatever essential oil you want!
Here are a few suggestions you might want to try when you make your body scrub:
- lavender oil
- rosemary oil
- frankincense oil
- rosehip oil
So, you don’t have to use vanilla if you prefer not to.
You can also substitute the almond oil for any of the following:
- avocado oil
- jojoba oil
- grapeseed oil
- coconut oil
- light olive oil (not extra virgin!)
How to make vanilla orange DIY Body Scrub
Below is a list of the ingredients and the amount you need for your delicious DIY body scrub. Following that are the simple instructions to make your sugar scrub.
Ingredients for DIY Body Scrub
●¾ cup sugar (brown sugar for a softer DIY body scrub and regular or cane sugar for a coarser scrub)
●⅓ cup sweet almond oil
●⅛ tsp vanilla bean powder
●15 drops of vanilla essential oil
●20 drops of sweet orange essential oil

Instructions to make vanilla orange dIY body scrub
Once you have all these ingredients and measurements down, you need to follow these steps to make this homemade body scrub:
1. Add the sugar, sweet almond oil, vanilla bean powder, and essential oils to a small bowl and stir well to combine. If you want a fluffy consistency, you can even use an electric whisk to mix your ingredients, but it’s really not necessary if you don’t have one.
2. Transfer the mixture to an airtight container for storage.
There you have it—the vanilla body scrub recipe of your dreams. It’s too simple not to try it out, and there’s nothing to lose. Trust me on this, ladies, this will change your life.
How To Use a DIY Body Scrub
First, I’d like to emphasize that you should not use a body scrub daily. Over-exfoliation is real and can damage skin cells, which prevents natural restoration. For the best results, it’s best to use your body scrub 1-2 times a week.
One of the primary reasons people don’t see the results they want is that they’re just not doing it right. But I’ve got you, girl, because I will tell you how to use this homemade body scrub correctly.
1. Soak your body in water
Before you begin exfoliating, it’s best to wash your body with body wash or soap to ensure your body is supple. You need to give it at least ten minutes in mild water.
2. Massage it in
Don’t be shy when it comes to using your DIY sugar scrub. Take a handsome amount and rub it into your body in circular motions. Cover your entire body with it, even the back of your legs.
3. Use a brush for extra exfoliation.
This helps you reach areas that aren’t accessible while also adding to the removal process. Put some of your homemade body scrub on a brush and get the hard-to-reach areas on your back.
4. Scrub thoroughly
This is the most important part that people often miss. For optimum results, you must scrub for at least 30-45 seconds. Honestly, this is the best feeling in the world.
5. Wash and dry
Once you’re all done, rinse the scrub off and dry your body gently with a towel.
6. Moisturize
I like to add a light moisturizer to my skin after the shower/bath. It’s best to do this when your body is damp to the touch but not wet.

Why Is It Important To Use a Homemade Exfoliating Scrub?
I’ve ranted on and on about homemade body scrubs, but I also wanted to tell you why scrub in the first place. For many people, scrubbing seems like a secondary thing because if I’m washing my skin, why should I scrub it?
But scrubbing has numerous advantages that benefit you immensely. When using other products on your skin with countless dead cells and dirt, you just wash the top without getting to the part that matters. Other products will work better when you scrub and unclog those pores and let your skin utilize your skincare to the maximum.
Spending hundreds on skincare but not reaping its benefits seems pointless. Give your skin the nourishment and care it deserves and needs with this DIY body scrub.
DIY Body Scrub Tips
To help you on your DIY body scrub journey, here are some tips that could help you feel more at ease.
- Shave before you scrub. When you have hair (on your legs or groin area), the scrubbing process is much more challenging and ineffective because you’re not reaching your skin.
- Don’t sunbathe after exfoliation. Our skin is slightly more sensitive to sunlight after using a sugar scrub, so avoid being in direct sunlight right after your shower.
- Avoid the sauna. If you’ve just exfoliated, you shouldn’t go straight to the steam room because it can irritate your skin.
- Don’t exfoliate when you have a sunburn. You’ll make it much worse.
- Avoid using hot water. It is better to use lukewarm water so that there’s no risk of irritation for sensitive skin types.
- Be gentle. You don’t want to peel your skin off; you’re just removing dirt and dead cells. Being extra aggressive will do you more harm than good. If using this scrub on your face, be extra gentle!!!! Don’t rub too hard.
- When drying your skin, be gentle. If you rub the towel hard against your skin, your skin will get agitated.
More DIY Recipes to Try
If you love making all your own skincare products, here are a couple more recipes you might want to try:
Final Words
The process of exfoliating and making your DIY body scrub isn’t tricky, but many of us succumb to laziness and forget to take care of ourselves.
The older you get, the more you realize that doing all these things is not only a want but a need. It’s important to use the best all-natural ingredients for our aging skin. Once you start, you’ll never go back to store-bought products.