Homemade sugar or salt scrub - which one is better?

Both salt and sugar are easily available and very affordable products for preparing homemade scrubs. At first glance the biggest difference is that salt grains have sharper edges, whereas sugar grains are more round and therefore gentler for the skin. Salt grains can be a good choice for rougher areas of the body such as elbows or heels. In the form of a scrub they can easily remove layers of even very hard skin cells. Salt scrubs will improve skins texture, reducing rough skin and dryness. Salt also possess anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties, as well as being a great source of minerals (especially more fancy salts such as Dead Sea sea salt, Himalayan salt or Mediterranean salt).

Sugar grains used as  scrub product are more gentle and less likely to scratch and irritate skin. Sugar scrubs are a good choice when making a face scrub or for persons with sensitive skin. Sugar also dissolves more easily in warm water then salt making it gentler in a scrub. Sugar does not contain the minerals that salts contain, but if you use more natural sugars they also have the nutrients of sugar cane.

To sum up, whether you decide to use sugar or salt as a base for your scrub is a personal choice. For sensitive skin sugar is advised and for rougher areas that need to be regenerated salt is a great choice. But you should try both and decide what works best for you!

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