I've got a serious sugar craving, but it has nothing to do with a sweet tooth.

Instead, I want creams, scrubs, lip balms, body butters, shower gels, and all sorts of other skin care products that are loaded with sugar.

My cravings started when I got free sample of Sugar Face Polish and Brown Sugar Body Polish, both from Fresh. I have to admit that, along with smelling wonderful, these sugar-laden products did an amazing job of softening up my skin. They even managed to revive the perennially dry patches on my heels and elbows.

But I didn't fully grasp how powerful a beauty secret sugar can be until I leafed through a Whole Foods brochure. It turns out that sugar cane is a natural source for the real muscle in modern-day cosmetics: Alpha-hydroxy acids or (AHA).

Several years back, I switched to a moisturizer with glycolic acid (one type of AHA) and became an absolute convert because, to put it simply, I started to get carded when I order a cocktail.

After discovering that sugar is a natural source for the AHAs, I understand why so many organic beauty products sound so tasty. Especially when it's combined with cherries, apricots, pumpkins, grapes, and many others for added boost of citric or fruit acids.

For instance, Alba Botanica has a complete line of all-natural spa products that blend sugar cane enzymes with pineapple, mango, papaya, and other tropical fruits and nuts for products that exfoliate and soften skin.

Sugar is also part of the secret recipe at Archipelago Botanicals, which makes yummy-sounding products like mango sugar hand cream and lip gloss that has both brown and vanilla sugar.

Before I splurge on one of these luscious but expensive treats, however, I'm going to raid my kitchen. There are lots of intriguing recipes to make your own sugar bath products online. In fact, I'm always looking for an opportunity to dip into the still-full five-pound bag of white sugar that I bought a few years ago.

Some of the recipes seem complicated (just where does one find chocolate cherry scented oil, anyway?) But a few sound good and basic, like this one for a vanilla sugar body scrub that requires nothing more than sesame oil, vanilla extract, and a cup of sugar. (It also calls for a teaspoon of coconut oil, but I'm not worried about leaving it out.)

The best part about whipping up this delicious-sounding treat? No calories. No guilt. And no sugar crash after I've indulged.