Sugar Scrubs

Big deal, right? Right. Folks tend to underestimate the value of a good, nourishing sugar scrub. Salt scrubs, however, seem to get all the praise and adoration of the masses. Yeah. But salt scrubs hurt! Heaven forbid you have a scratch or cut somewhere you don't know about and nonchalantly stick salt in them. Ow. Sugar doesn't do that. Sugar won't dry out your skin the way salt does either, and sugar melts a little quicker than salt so there's less junk on the bottom of your shower or tub when you're done scrubbing.

Here are the facts about sugar skincare -- sugar contains glycolic acid. That's an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) the stuff that was in every anti-aging serum on the market a few years back. And it's still out there in the hundreds, Alpha-this, and Alpha-that, promising to turn your leathery elephant skin into a baby's fragrant and sweetly soft bum. Apparently this stuff packs quite the punch as it is used in amounts of less than 10% in products and still works by dissolving the upper layer of skin to reveal the fresh, new, baby butt stuff underneath. So, sugar's got this.

Sugar is a natural humectant. Remember what I wrote up there earlier about salt drying out your skin and sugar doesn't do that? This is why. Sugar attracts moisture, which explains the brown sugar brick in your pantry that you're chipping away at to make those really good shortbread cookies. So, sugar's got this too.

Sugar is exfoliating. What? Who'd have thunk it? All joking aside, sugar is a much gentler scrub than salt, and one I've preferred over salt for these past 15 years or so for all the reasons above, even though I didn't know about the alpha hydroxy thing until about 5 years ago. Sugar's got it.

Sugar scrubs are great in baths. Just like salt baths, sugar can be dissolved into your bath water and you can reap all the benefits of sugar, except for, obviously, the scrubbing part. Because you've melted the sugar into the tub water. But won't it be sticky? No. You'd have to put a couple of bags of sugar in your tub for it to become sticky. Watch, a couple years from now some obscure scientific study will show that putting exactly 2 four-pound bags of plain sugar into the bath will turn a woman into Venus when she bathes with it.

Needless to say, but I will anyway, lush, fragrant, botanically enriched organic sugar scrubs are on the work list for today. Two types -- one for your face, and one for your body, in a couple of flavors, including rose. Watch for it.