I like to save money whenever I can, and I also like to use products with natural ingredients (and no yucky stuff that I can’t pronounce!), so saving money by making my own all-natural bath and beauty products is a no brainer. Lately I’ve been partial to this spa inspired rose petal sugar scrub that made a great re-use of one of my birthday gifts.
It all started a few weeks ago when The Bouqs sent me this gorgeous bouquet of flowers for my birthday. All of the flowers from The Bouqs are shipped directly from their eco-friendly sustanable farm, and this bouquet was packaged with water gel on the flower stems, so upon arrival they were as fresh as can be. This arrangement is the Desperado (original sized), and it was simply incredible.
The roses were a creamy white with stunning bright magenta tips, accented by wispy purple dianthus. I have to say that this was one of my most favorite flower arrangements I’ve ever received, so I was really excited that my flowers lasted for a full week before finally starting to wilt. I was headed out to the compost bin with my 10-day old droopy flowers when it occurred to me that I could dry the pretty petals and incorporate them into a sugar scrub.
I removed the heads of the roses and spread the petals out on a wire rack for a couple of days until they dried out. As the petals dried they took on a purple-pink gradient hue that I can’t get enough of.
To make the sugar scrub, start with 1 cup of dried rose petals.
Pulse the petals in a food processor until they become teeny tiny flakes.
Combine the crushed petals with 2 cups of sugar, 2/3 cup coconut oil and 6-8 drops of your favorite essential oil for fragrance (optional) – lavender, lemon and vanilla all blend nicely with the light rose scent. This time around, I added a few drops of my favorite Serenity blend to my sugar scrub mixture.
Mix well and then spoon into a storage container. This recipe makes about 16-18 ounces of sugar scrub, so it fits nicely into a pint sized mason jar. Just add a cute fabric jar topper and a ribbon, and it would make a wonderful gift idea!
This scrub turns every bath or shower into a luxurious spa experience, and it leaves your skin silky smooth!
A BIG thank you to The Bouqs for sending me the incredible birthday bouquet that inspired this entire project! I highly recommend giving The Bouqs a look the next time you’re looking to send fresh flowers – with low prices that include shipping, you really can’t beat the quality and value!
I’ll bet it smells so great!
Beautiful flowers! Love love love this! this is so do-able. Simple with fantastic results! I want to make some. 🙂
Looks amazing! Didn’t know you can make scrub using roses.
Pretty Makes Pretty. Now, someone needs to send me a bouquet of roses so I can try this recipe.
That is so cool! Added it to my Christmas gifts to make list!
I love love love this idea!! Now I feel incredibly guilty for all the flowers I’ve thrown away over the years. I’ll be making this from now on!
What a fun idea! Now I just need my husband to get me flowers… 🙂
This looks amazing!!!
Those flowers are TO DIE FOR! And what a great way to make sure they didn’t go to waste!
Wow looks beautiful! Bet it smells so goood! 🙂
Great idea!!! And just what I was looking for on Pinterest for my dried roses I have waiting to be used for some homemade something or other!! I will be trying this and giving out for Christmas gifts this year! Thanks so much for the inspiration!!! 🙂
Hi Heidi, How long does this scrub keep for?
Hi Amanda,
I honestly can’t tell you how long it will keep since I’ve never had mine longer than 3-4 weeks (I’ve just used it all up before then!), but it keeps perfectly for that amount of time! 🙂
Do you add to bath water to soak in or use on bath scrunge to scrub with or both? Is there an amount recommended per each use?
Hi Heidi, if I wanted to use olive oil instead of coconut oil and vanilla extract in place of essential oil, would that be alright?
Yes, that should work as well, Nadia! 🙂
What type of sugar did you use? I’ve seen on other recipes that they recommend raw sugar. Can this recipe be done with granulated or brown sugar?
Hi Katrina, this recipe was actually made using granulated sugar, but I do prefer Sugar In The Raw when I have it available. Brown sugar may also be used, but it will alter the fragrance. 🙂
Can you us any type of rose for this? Thank you
Can you use cocanut milk instead for oil? or canola oil?
Dont want to go to the store again…. lol..
Do you use the coconut oil in liquid form, or do you just mix it in as is in the solid state?
I use it in a softened state, not liquid, but more of a smooth semi-solid. That tends to be the natural state of my coconut oil due to the temperature of the cabinet where I store it. It will work in either a softened or melted liquid form. 🙂
Never thought that rose petal can be a good ingredient in making a scrub. Its so relaxing to see, feels like having a scrub in a spa. Its so easy to do and having sugar as an exfoliating agent is a great choice. It effective in removing dead skin cells in your body making your skin smooth and fresh.
I had leftover anniversary flowers and pulled the roses apart to make this. Mine didn’t look quite as pretty as yours, I didn’t have any pink ones. I think the red ones aren’t too bad, but yellow don’t do any favors haha. I added a drop of red food coloring to make the scrub itself pink ish and I liked that okay. I also used jasmine for my scent because I love it and it smells nice with the rose I think. Thanks for the idea!
Hi just wanted to ask the shelf life of the rose petal scrub… also if there are scrub recipes that could last for months.. thanks
How do you apply in shower or tub just grab a handfuls and rub on ?
Just scoop out a small amount with your fingers and rub it on! 🙂
Can we use fresh rose instead of dried?
I have never actually tried using fresh roses, but I’m sure it would also work (though it may have a shorter shelf life). If you try it, please let me know how it works out!
I just love your idea and thank you so much for sharing this.
I just have to make this scrub! I would love it if you would post more scrub recipes.
This recipe is so cool!!! I will try it today! I am just using petals from our rose bush, so they aren’t as big and pretty as yours, but I think they should work just fine:) Thank you so so sooo much for this recipe Heidi!
Would love to make as a favor for a bridal shower. How long does the scrub last?
I recommend using this one within 2 weeks. 🙂
I just made this scrub exactly (but aside from the list, which I followed, I added amaranth oil, a single spray of perfume, a pinch of body glitter, lavender and peppermint oil drops and I put it in a regular container for an hour before I found a mason jar. But for some reason, only an hour after making it, whilst I was switching it over to the mason jar, some of the petals were already a brown yucky color..
Did I do something wrong? Did I add too much coconut oil?
This is Katarina again. Also, a side note. Some of the rose was actually still new and not dried out because I was peeling it. The outside was dried and perfect but the inside was still new. Is this was happened? Were the brown pieces the newer ones? Should I only use old roses?
Thanks!
Yes, if the rose petals aren’t entirely dry before you use them, they might turn brown. Just be sure to use petals that are completely dried, and they should preserve much more nicely in the scrub. 🙂
hi how much sugar scrub does this recipe make ??
This recipe makes about 16-18 ounces of sugar scrub. 🙂