Many of the natural ingredients used to formulate scrubs are terrible for skin. For example, salt, nuts, and fruit pits are all natural but each of these is too rough on skin. In contrast, some natural ingredients like jojoba beads, oatmeal, silica, and rice bran can be incredibly gentle and effective. But even then, it comes down to the overall formula, including how fine the scrub particles are, whether they’re formulated to dissolve during use to avoid overdoing it, and whether the formula also contains hydrating and soothing ingredients.