This invigorating and incredible-smelling vegan body scrub recipe comes from The Compassionate Chick’s Guide to DIY Beauty—a book packed with 125 do-it-yourself natural and cruelty-free beauty recipes by Sunny Subramanian from Vegan Beauty Review.
We don’t know about you, but we love making our own DIY vegan recipes in our plant-based kitchen. Not only does it give you the satisfaction of creating something completely on your own, but you also save money (now and in the long run) and save the planet by reducing the plastic packaging, as well as the impact of transportation. It’s a win, win, win!
Check your pantry for ingredients (including mason jars or cleaned out jam jars for storing your brilliant body scrub) before embarking on this delightful DIY recipe. You may have all of the ingredients already or you might have to take a quick trip to the grocery store to stock up. Once you have your mixture made up, get ready to scrub-a-dub-dub till your skin is smooth as toffee from the vanilla-scented coffee. Yum!
Why You Must Make This Vegan Coffee Body Scrub
- Quick and easy
- Smells heavenly
- Almost good enough to eat! (but probably don’t)
- All natural
- Uses commonly found kitchen ingredients
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
- Preservative-free
Benefits of Coffee Scrub
The superstar ingredient in this vegan body scrub is coffee, which is chock-full of antioxidants that squash nasty free radicals and prevent signs of premature aging, wrinkles, sun spots and fine lines. The caffeine in coffee also improves circulation in the skin and reduces swelling and inflammation.
How To Make a Coffee Scrub
Seriously, it’s so easy and fun to make a vegan body scrub out of coffee grounds. Just mix up one cup of fresh or leftover coffee grounds with one cup of sugar and a half cup of your favorite oil. In this case, we’re making a coffee coconut scrub, so we used coconut oil. Then, add in some favorite essential oils, mix, and store in an airtight jar with lid. Voila! Coffee as a body scrub complete!
You can also make a facial coffee scrub by substituting the coconut oil for a more facial-friendly oil such as:
- Oily Skin – jojoba or grapeseed
- Dry Skin – almond or marula
- Acne-Prone Skin – pomegranate or rosehip
- Normal Skin – argan or jojoba
- Sensitive Skin – sunflower seed or moringa
If in doubt, go for jojoba oil. It’s the closest to your skin’s own natural sebum.
Coffee Scrub Disadvantages
While not incredibly common, there may be possible disadvantages to using a coffee scrub on your body. These include:
- You are allergic or sensitive to coffee on the skin. For this situation, it’s best to do a small test on the inside of your inside wrist first before using it on your entire body. If you do have a reaction, swap out the coffee grounds for more sugar instead.
- Your skin is sensitive and the scrub may be too harsh. In that case, use more oil and less coffee grounds and sugar. Scrub the area much more gently and do not leave the scrub on your skin for longer than a minute or two.
Note: If neither of these applies to you but you’re still having a bit of irritation, there’s always a slight chance that the oil you’re using in the recipe may be the culprit. Best to use a base oil that you know works well with your skin. You can always leave out the vanilla powder, as well.
Fully Vegan Body Scrub Brands
When you’re not up to whipping up your own body scrub, try these brands. They’re not only cruelty-free, but also completely vegan. These companies are rockin’ it in the beauty and skincare arena!
- Bella & Bear
- Herbivore
- Human+Kind
- KylieSkin
- Mizz Bloom Organics
- NCLA
- Osea
- Pacifica
- Petal Fresh
- The Seaweed Bath Company
Cruelty-Free Body Scrub Brands
Though these brands are not 100% vegan, but they do offer many vegan-friendly products. Just double-check the ingredient list or look for the vegan symbol before purchasing.
- Bodhi Organics
- Erin’s Faces
- First Aid Beauty
- Giovanni
- LUSH (The coffee scrub at LUSH is worth a try!)
- Raw Sugar
- Shea Moisture
- The Body Shop (The Body Shop body scrub is vegan, but all other products be 100% vegan by 2023!)
How Long Do Body Scrubs Last?
For homemade coffee scrub recipes like this one, they should last about 2 months in the shower area or up to 6 months stored in the refrigerator. Just make sure to use clean fingers or spoon when scooping it out of the jar and always keep the lid close firmly. If you can store the coffee ground scrub in a dark and cool location, even better!
Commercial brands usually have an expiration date somewhere on the container, so keep an eye out for that. Otherwise, similar rules apply for long-lasting storage. Since many store brand scrubs contain some type of preservative (natural or chemical), they might last a little longer.
The most important thing is to take care to dispose of the scrub if it looks or smells weird. Sometimes, the oils will become rancid and might smell “off”. In other cases, the coffee body scrub may form mold or other bacteria on the surface. Definitely time to stop using it and either make a fresh batch of the recipe or buy a new container.
Equipment You’ll Need
While you can probably eyeball the amounts for this recipe, it’s best to measure them out carefully to get the texture just right. As long as you use clean (better yet, sterilized) jars, you can use anything you like. If you only have plastic jars, that will work, too. Just make sure that the lid fits on firmly.
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Small Saucepan
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Spoon
- One Large or 2 Medium-Sized Glass Jars (such as mason or jam jars)
DIY Vanilla Latte Coffee Body Scrub
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut oil, 125 ml
- 1 cup freshly ground coffee or leftover coffee grounds, 250 ml
- 1 cup vegan granulated sugar, 250 ml
- 2 teaspoons vanilla powder, 10 ml
- large jar with lid
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over low heat, melt coconut oil.
- In a large bowl, stir together coconut oil, coffee, sugar and vanilla powder until well combined. Spoon into jar.
- Using hands, massage a small amount of scrub all over skin in the shower, using circular motions.
- Rinse skin with warm water and pat dry with a towel. Follow with your favorite body moisturizer.
- Store in the shower for up to 2 months.
Notes
- Bone char is used to process many types of sugar, including granulated, brown and confectioner’s (icing) sugars. Health food stores often have specially labeled vegan sugars you can buy. Beet sugar is usually a vegan-friendly option.
Coffee Scrub FAQs
You can easily use this vegan coffee body scrub on your lips as well! Just scoop a small amount out and place into a very small jar with a lid. Use a clean finger or small spoon to apply to lips, scrub gently, and then rinse well. Always apply a nice layer of rich, moisturizing lip balm after using a scrub. If you find that your lips are getting too dry or chapped, discontinue use for a while or only use 1-2 times per week.
You certainly can, but the result would not be a vegan scrub. Find out more about honey here. It’s totally up to you what you feel comfortable with. But technically, yes, it is possible to swap the sugar for honey.
From all that we’ve read and researched, coffee is great for the skin. There are some antimicrobial properties in the coffee grounds themselves that help to cleanse the skin, while the inherently rough texture gives the skin an exfoliating treatment naturally.
If you try this vegan coffee body scrub DIY, let us know what you think by leaving a comment and rating below! Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for even more vegan recipe inspiration.
More Fun Vegan DIY Beauty Recipes to Try:
- Vegan Essential Oil Perfume
- Keep-It-Dry Deodorant Paste
- Luxury Vegan Gift Guide
- Ultimate Vegan Gift Guide
- Conscious Gift Guide – Gifts Everyone Will Love
- Mother’s Day Gifts Guide
Courtesy of The Compassionate Chick’s Guide to DIY Beauty by Sunny Submaranian & Chrystle Fiedler ©2016 www.robertrose.ca Reprinted with publisher permission. Available where books are sold.
This article about cellulite coffee scrub was written by Gina House and Michelle Cehn. Grounded coffee scrub photography and editing by Michelle Cehn. Please note that this article may contain affiliate links which supports our work at World of Vegan.
Updated on: 11/10/22
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Leave a Comment
This body scrub smells absolutely delicious! Love it!
This is so easy, and who doesn’t love smelling like coffee?!
I can’t testify to how this DIY Coffee Scrub works on the whole body, but it worked so well on my feet I’m almost embarrassed. I always wore socks because my feet were so dry and cracked (I work outside and spend a lot of time walking). Now I have fresh baby feet, and I don’t care who knows.
I love this DIY recipe! I already had everything in the house to make it and it makes my skin super smooth!
This scrub truly leaves your skin feeling amazing!
Love the smell of this coffee scrub! I had no idea it was so easy to make this at home!
This coffee body scrub is so easy to make and smells so good! I prefer it to store-bought, as I know all the ingredients going into it!