I finally tested that sugar scrub I was telling you all about! It's got to be the nicest scrub in the world - I really mean that. I've experimented with a lot of different scrubs, and don't always like the results... some tend to get oil seperation on top, some leave your skin all oily, some aren't scrubby enough, some have a really weird texture... the list goes on and on.

Anyways, I feel that this recipe tops all that I've ever tried. It's got quite a few ingredients, though, and you'll need a digital scale to make it. Anyone want me to post the recipe and instructions? Steph, Palonia, and Heather, I think you might have all the ingredients...

Ingredients: olive oil, turbinado or white sugar, castor oil, emulsifying wax NF, coconut oil (refined), stearic acid, shea butter, cocoa butter, vitamin e, fragrance, and either liquipar or phoenip.

Rachel

I know I don't post much, but I've started to play around with making my own scrubs/other bath stuff, thanks to seeing so many of y'all talking about it... and I'd love to see the recipe.

So if you don't mind... ^^; I was actually wondering what sort of preservative one would want to use for a scrub.

yes please, rachel. we'd love to try new recipes :)

Ok, I shoulda known! I'll post the ingredients, instructions, and other info related, and feel free to ask any questions, ok?

1.1 oz emulsifying wax NF (polawax)
0.8 oz stearic acid
2.2 oz castor oil
3.2 oz olive oil or sweet almond oil
1 oz refined 72 degree coconut oil
0.7 oz cocoa butter
0.7 oz shea butter
0.1 oz fragrance or essential oil
0.1 oz vitamin e
0.1 oz pheonip or liquipar
2 oz turbinado or white sugar

In a pot, gently warm the emulsifying wax, stearic acid, castor oil, olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter, and cocoa butter together. When all the solids have melted, remove from heat immediately.

Let this oil / butter mixture cool a little bit - not to the point of starting to solidify again, though. When it's cooled but not starting to solidify, then add the sugar.

Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl that works with an electric mixer. Begin mixing it on low while it cools. Eventually, it will turn into a thick paste as it cools. If it's taking a long time to do this, then you may want to stick it into the fridge for a minute or two, just to help cool it down. Continue mixing until it's cool and has formed a paste.

Once it's cooled, you can add the fragrance or essential oil, vitamin e, preservative (liquipar or pheonip). Mix these in thoroughly, using the mixer again.

That's it! Your scrub is done... you can add colourants if you wish, though - I did. You'll need to use ultramarine colourants and use 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of the powder, depending on the shade you want. I used a little over 1/4 teaspoon. Mix it in well.

Ok - for some things you'll need to know. With cosmetics, it's important that the utensils you use are very clean. It's not imperative to be sterile - you can't make stuff sterile in your kitchen - but at least very, very clean. You can do this to all your utensils (like mixing bowls, pots, measuring spoons, spatulas, etc) by ensuring that they're all made out of either stainless steel or plastic (no wood) and cleaning them either in the dishwasher, with lots of hot water, or in a sink full of hot water with a bit of bleach.

Now - like I said, I'm still testing this recipe. I used white sugar, which is what I had on hand, but I found it wasn't scrubby enough for my taste - I love that scrubby feel! Subbing the turbinado sugar for the white sugar will definitely make it more scrubby, if that's the feel you're after, too. Upping the sugar amount could do it as well, although that could have an effect on the end result, as in the recipe might be much thicker.

Either pheonip or liquipar is the preservative you'll need to use. Other preservatives, like germaben, germall, etc, aren't effective in products like this that have no water.

You may find that the 0.1 oz of fragrance or essential oil is a little high for your tastes. I'm sensitive to stuff if it's too strong, so I just add enough to be a comfortable level for me - which is usually less than the 1% every recipe calls for.

Anyways, that's all I can think of! I'll answer any of your questions, if you have 'em... but really, if you can get your hands on the ingredients (stuff like ewax isn't all that expensive, $18 for a kg which lasts a long time) then I'd really suggest you'd try it. Like I said, it's the ultimate scrub - goes on like a creamy lotion, scrubs a bit, and then leaves your skin feeling nicely moisturized.

Rachel

wowww, thanks sooo much, rachel!

questions time :)

- where can i get emulsifying wax, stearic acid, peonip/liquipar. i have remn stuff. are stearic acid and the peonip/liquopar a must?

- whats turbinado and where can i get that? can it be substitued with brown sugar?

- what eo do you normally use? i use teatree or lavender or rosemary ...depending on my mood.

- another general question for you rachel, since you are very knowledgable in body scrubs :) some commercial foot scrubs gives a glow after we use them on footsies. there's a visible difference. the darkness on the joints on the toes are gone after we use. do these scrubs use bleach or can some eo or natural ingredients do the same magic? any idea..... my roommate went for a pedicure and came back with heavenly feet. i'm not going to spend 60 bucks for somebody to wash my toes with a scrub i can do myself. i use salt or sugar scrub almost everyday and this puzzles me.

wowww! guess i dont have any need to apply moisturizer or body oil after this scrub.

thanks so much again!

1.1 oz emulsifying wax NF (polawax)



What does the emulsifying wax do? I thought it would emulsify water and oil, but I only see oils in the recipe.

This looks great, btw! Now, I just need to get a pesky scale... ;-)

Cheers,
Jonobie

<b>Smiles</b> - You can get the ingredients from any of the following suppliers:

www.snowdriftfarm.com has the ewax, pheonip, and stearic acid.

www.fromnaturewithlove.com has the ewax and stearic, but not preservative.

www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com has the ewax, stearic, but not preservative.

www.thesage.com has the ewax, stearic, liquipar, but not the pheonip.

Yes, the stearic and the preservative (pheonip or liquipar) is a must. Without the stearic, the texture won't be the same - it won't feel like a lotion on your skin, afterwards. The preservative is a must, too - without it, you'll get dangerously high levels of bacteria (since it will get exposed to moisture and humidity in the hot regions of a shower) and could cause infections if got into a cut, nick, scrape, etc. Cosmetics without preservatives are definitely not adviseable.

Turbinado sugar is basically raw cane sugar - the really unprocessed stuff! You should be able to find it in your grocery store, or maybe health food store. It's got larger crystals, and is a lighter golden colour. Yes, you can sub brown sugar for it, but I prefer white - I think that white sugar is more scrubby than the brown. Besides, it lends a much nicer colour.

I use any combination of eo's or fo's (fragrances) depending on what mood I'm in! For this one, I scented it with a gorgeous Heather &amp; Hyacinth fragrance from www.brambleberry.com. I've been waiting to use it in soap, but haven't got around to making any lately (not that I need more soap - I must have 50 bars sitting around) so I just poured a bit of the fragrance into it.

If you prefer essential oils, and are looking for some blend ideas, then check out my site at www.makebathsalts.com. In the aromatherapy section of bath salts, there's tons of blend ideas!

About the "glow" - I don't have the darker skin areas that you mention, so I can't tell if it will help that. I could guess that it's some exfoliation involved, as well as some action from the sugar - although maybe some miracle whip would help that, too!

As for feet being incredibly soft after spas and stuff - yes they exfoliate, but a lot of times they do paraffin dips, which is when you dip your skin in paraffin wax. Of course, it feels smooth after that! But you're not feeling your skin, you're feeling the wax.

For ultra soft foot skin, I recommend exfoliating, doing a good job with pumice, and then applying an extra heavy, oil based creme overnight, with some socks. Works wonders!

<b>Jonobie</b> - While emulsifying wax does bond oil and water together, it's also a main ingredient in lotions just because of the way it feels! That's the primary ingredient in this recipe that's responsible for the great way it feels afterwards.

Yeah, the scale... I found mine at Staples for $79... but I've been hearing from my soaping friends in the US that you can find postal scales either on Ebay or Walmart and other places for MUCH cheaper, and they still weigh to at least 0.1 oz. So, of course I was kicking myself... but I can say that my scale has served me very well. There's so much more open in the way of formulas, than if you're going by cups and tablespoons!

Rachel

<b>Jonobie</b> - While emulsifying wax does bond oil and water together, it's also a main ingredient in lotions just because of the way it feels! That's the primary ingredient in this recipe that's responsible for the great way it feels afterwards.

Interesting; I hadn't realized it was also useful on its own. Neat. Thanks for the info on the scales, too -- I'm sure I'd find lots of uses for it if I had one. :)

Cheers,
Jonobie

thanks so much rachel for taking so much time. this is all very interesting. i'll try it out.

and yes, i'm already a big fan of your site. you have done a wonderful job. kudos to u!

and i'll try the daily ultra-smooth-leg treatment you mentioned.... thanks again.

Thanks, Smiles!

Thank you so much Rachel for the amazing recipe and information!

You're welcome, Sheba!

Bumpety Bump for LongRed!