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By request!

Materials: granulated sugar or sea salt; suitable light vegetable-based oil (avocado, sweet almond, grapeseed, jojoba, macadamia nut, pumpkin seed, safflower, sunflower, or wheat germ will work nicely);decent fragrance oils; disposable plastic container

Time: 5 minutes.

Cost: Less than $1 per batch

I've been disappointed in the quality of drugstore body scrubs recently. In my mind, a good scrub should do two things: 1) scrub, and therefore be sufficiently rough and granular -- none of these "exfoliating beads" thrown into bar soaps and body washes, thanks; and 2) be oily and moisturizing, not just soapy. And while making high-quality soaps and lotions at home requires a significant initial financial outlay for supplies, body scrubs are surprisingly easy, quick, and cheap to make at home without any shortcuts or compromise in quality.

Let's use the ever-popular ginger body scrub by Origins as a model. This page (scroll halfway down) breaks down its ingredient list nicely:

Ginger Body Scrub Ingredients: sea salt, soybean oil, cardamom essential oil, coriander e.o., eucalyptus e.o., ginger e.o., clove e.o., lime e.o., orange e.o., bergamot e.o, grapefruit peel, lemon e.o., grated ginger root, macadamia nut oil, kukui nut oil, avocado oil, almond oil, vitamin E. By law, ingredients have to be listed in order of predominance, so I would start with:

1 cup sea salt
1/2 cup soybean oil
1 tb. dried ground grapefruit peel
1 tsp. dried, ground ginger root
1 tsp. macadamia nut oil
1 tsp. kukui nut oil
1 tsp. avocado oil
1 tsp. almond oil
1 tsp. vitamin E Mix and set aside.

Mix the scent blend statrting with:
10 drops cardamom e.o.
10 drops coriander e.o.
5 drops eucalyptus e.o.
5 drops ginger e.o.
3 drops clove e.o.
3 drops lime e.o.
3 drops orange e.o.
2 drops bergamot e.o.
2 drops lemon e.o.

Dip a toothpick in and sniff. Does it need (for example) more lime or cardamom? Add each oil accordingly, test again. Repeat until the scent seems right to you. Add a total of 30-60 drops scent blend to the mixed scrub.

I think that the above breakdown is fairly accurate, and it illustrates that you basically need a whopping 3 main ingredients...

Scrubby thingies. Endless debates rage about the virtues of salt vs. sugar, but they're all but interchangable to me. I like a mixture of white and brown sugars because they have a nice texture, are dirt cheap, and you won't discover any accidental scrapes or cuts on your skin as you rub salt into them. Depending upon the size of your container, 1 cup is a good starting point.

Oil(s). Olive oil works better in your pantry than it does on your skin (largely because of price), and the same goes for any ubiquitous canola non-stick spray. But there are tons of other common oils that work well in these kinds of products, so check out an online catalogue for more detailed lists and descriptions. You'll notice that Origins uses soybean oil, which isn't even that great -- you can get better stuff for your scrub in the supermarket. (Our corner market carries a bunch of suitable oils near the olive oil, and the biiiig grocery store carries them in the organic/vegetarian section.) Regardless, you'll probably be able to find 12 oz of some oil or other in the store for under $5, which is cheaper than ordering it online unless you really like paying shipping. Stir the oil of your choice into the sugar to taste -- I usually shoot for the consistency of the kind of sand that would make good sandcastles.

Fragrance. Don't skimp on this part -- cheapo fragrance oils from your local big-box craft store or Wal-Mart will most likely be nasty and leave you smelling like the worst kind of synthetic air freshener. There are a number of soapmaking suppliers online who carry a mind-boggling array of high-quality fragrance oils. Alternatively, you could be adventurous and check out some place like BPAL, or do as the recipe above suggests and combine essential oils. Regardless, a little bit goes a long way, and I usually use less than 1/8 teaspoon per batch of scrub.

Use. This is where I should note that sugar and oil, stored in a warm and humid environment, are a perfect breeding ground for all manner of icky things. For this reason, I only make a week or two's worth of scrub at a time, and use a fresh container for each batch. (The resealable plastic tubs that our local Thai and Laotian restaurants use for leftovers are perfect, and I tend to have happy associations with squash tofu curry when I see them as well.) If you've put a lot of oil in your scrub, the sugar will inevitably settle at the bottom; give it a good stir before you use it, but be careful not to drip water into the container. Also, beware of the state of the bottom of your tub after you use this -- it'll be incredibly slippery, so consider yourself (and any subsequent users) forewarned.

Happy scrubbing!