Those of us who compete must undergo intense exfoliation for several days before competition spray tan is applied. This is easily done at home with a sugar scrub which can be purchased at many drugstores. However, sugar scrubs do not travel well and have a tendency to leak everywhere, leaving an oily, grainy mess in checked bags. My solution has always been to purchase a sugar scrub at my destination.

I recently traveled to New Jersey and assumed that I could easily purchase a sugar scrub at Trader Joe’s. Much to my chagrin, there was no sugar scrub product to be found at the Trader Joe’s in Paramus, so I improvised. Since I wanted to avoid leaving an oily film on my skin, I avoided using almond or olive oil and instead purchased a liquid body wash and a bag of turbinado sugar. When I returned to my hotel room, I employed a system in which I would pour a dollop of body wash into the palm of my hand and then scooped up some of the sugar. If you prefer, you could mix the sugar and the body wash together in equal amounts right before you step into the shower, but I went the lazy route. What surprised me was how well this makeshift scrub worked at exfoliating my skin without irritating it or leaving a greasy film on my skin.

So if you find yourself in need of a sugar scrub and cannot get a hold of a pre-made version (by the way, Liquid Sun Rayz has a fantastic sugar scrub), you can purchase sugar and body wash and make one yourself. Just make sure to get a large grain sugar like turbinado for more exfoliative power.