# Emulsified Sugar Scrub - where to start?



## BlackDog (May 4, 2016)

I tried a sugar scrub (commercially bought) for the first time and I'm in love.  So of course the first thing I think to myself is "I bet I can make this."

So I've been poking around online a bit for a basic recipe to get my feet wet, but I can't find anything that explains what I need as a minimum and why.  Like, everyone's recipe has 25 different fancy ingredients in it that I don't really want to buy when I don't know what they bring to the recipe.  I just want to exfoliate!

It looks like I'm going to have to buy e-wax and stearic acid, but other than that, do I need anything other than what I use for soap?  I have the following ingredients on hand:

Olive Oil, Coconut Oil (76), Sweet Almond Oil, Avocado Oil, Castor Oil, Lard, Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, and a host of essential and fragrance oils.  And, of course, sugar.  

I'd like to start with a basic recipe that I can use to experiment with and tweak.  Can anyone point me in a good direction to start?


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## shunt2011 (May 4, 2016)

You could make a nice scrub with what you have on hand. But will need stearic and ewax.  Spicy pine cone and Ariana Arsenault have YouTube on making emulsified scrubs. You can tweak it with what you have on hand. I watched several videos then went from there with mine. I use 3 oils and Shea.


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## DeeAnna (May 4, 2016)

Check these threads out:
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?p=580947
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=17500


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## BlackDog (May 4, 2016)

Thanks for replying, shunt.  I checked out the Spicy Pinecone recipe, which is:

30 oz granulated sugar
9.5 oz sweet almond oil
1.65 oz avocado oil
1.35 oz pumpkin seed oil
3 oz coconut oil
2 oz e-wax
1 oz soy wax
12.5 grams Optiphen plus
fragrance

Questions:

Her recipe totals 12.5 total oz of some soft oil combination, plus 3 oz of hard oil (coconut) but no butter, plus a 2:1 e-wax to soy wax.  That seems like a lot of soft oils, but since I've never made it before, is it the addition of the soy wax that makes it harder?  Could I replace the soy wax with, say, shea butter?  Or beeswax (my neighbor keeps bees and it's easy for me to get)?  

I'm assuming the Optiphen Plus is used since water will get in the container in the shower.  Since Sarah uses grams for her preservative and ounces for everything else, is there a good guideline to go by when adding preservative in case I resize the recipe?  Kind of like IrishLass' equation for adding EDTA to CP? 

Sorry for all the questions, I'm the type that needs to research every stupid detail before I jump in!


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## DeeAnna (May 5, 2016)

Don't work in mixed units of weight. Not sure why people do that, meaning publish recipes in mixed units. It's a great way to screw up.  

Convert the ounces weight to grams. There are 28.4 grams per 1 ounce. When making the product, set your scale to grams and stick with grams. Far less chance of making a mistake than working with mixed units. 

Go back to the supplier and hunt up the information about your chosen preservative to properly calculate the dosage rate. They're all different, so you're not going to find a single guideline for this. Once your recipe is in grams, you'll get a preservative amount in grams and can move on without getting lost in the math of converting units and all that.


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## shunt2011 (May 5, 2016)

I agree with DeeAnna.  WSP has a calulator that you can figure batch size and will convert to ounce/grams etc.  I too work in grams.


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## BlackDog (May 5, 2016)

Oh hey DeeAnna!  Somehow I missed your post when I wrote my reply.  The formula you posted in that first thread is suuuper helpful.  I didn't necessarily want a recipe so much as a guideline for how much of each component.  Now I can start with some basic oils and go from there.  

I always hate when people put multiple measuring types in a recipe too.  Pick one!  But the .5% in your post is what I was looking for - just needed to know a percentage since the only body product I've ever made is CP soap and I've never dealt with preservatives before.


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## Seawolfe (May 5, 2016)

In my two forays into sugar scrubs I have learned things. 

The scrubs that aren't emulsified (just oils and butters with sugar) are really good for my hands, arms and legs when I've been brutalized by the outdoors, but they DO need anti oxidants and a preservative like phenonip or they can go funky. And they certainly arent for every day use. These are easy to make - add oils to sugar till it looks right.

The emulsified scrubs are lovely for my face and body, and can be used more often - especially if I don't want to use lotion after I shower  For emulsified scrubs use the formulas already posted and get thee to the Swifty Crafty Monkey blog!

Now sugar scrub cubes with soap? Ive made them with soap scraps and Im still not convinced...


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## BlackDog (May 5, 2016)

Seawolfe said:


> For emulsified scrubs use the formulas already posted and get the to the Swifty Crafty Monkey blog!


 
omg this blog is amazing.  How did I not know it existed??


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## Dahila (May 5, 2016)

I make one I had learned from Susan The videos I had seen show not exactly emulsified sugar scrub.  Emuslified sugar scrub is lotion (kind of ) the consistency of pudding plus sugar.  Very easy to make, quick and rewarding ) 
I just tweak Susan's for my needs, and because I can )


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## doriettefarm (May 6, 2016)

I love the black cocoa butter sugar scrub on swiftcraftmonkey's site (her blog is amazing)!  It's a really nice recipe . . . whips up light and fluffy, not oily so no separation issues.  I'm not sure how much better it would be with actual black cocoa butter but I use undeodorized cocoa butter and it turns out just fine.


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## BlackDog (May 8, 2016)

I've noticed a lot of recipes, including the SCM one, include stearic acid.  How does this affect the recipe? And why would I want or not want to use it?


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## cmzaha (May 8, 2016)

Optiphen Plus useage rate is .5-1.5% and I would use the max in a scrub, since wet hands will probably be go into the scrub. I would use 20 grams of Optiphen Plus.


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## Navaria (May 8, 2016)

Steric is kind of a B&B powerhouse. It's a lubricant, and emulsifier, and a surfactant, depending on what it's used with. It also helps form a protective barrier to hold the moisture in your skin.

ETA:http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2010/02/e-mail-question-why-include-stearic.html 
She explains it much better than I do


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## nframe (May 14, 2016)

doriettefarm said:


> I love the black cocoa butter sugar scrub on swiftcraftmonkey's site (her blog is amazing)!  It's a really nice recipe . . . whips up light and fluffy, not oily so no separation issues.  I'm not sure how much better it would be with actual black cocoa butter but I use undeodorized cocoa butter and it turns out just fine.



I agree with you about the recipe.  It's very good.  I tried it with black cocoa butter and my towel was full of dark brown stains afterwards.  The only way it can be used is if you wash with soap afterwards.  I will try it again but with "normal" cocoa butter instead.


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## snappyllama (May 14, 2016)

Like Deanna, I convert every recipe into grams (thanks spreadsheet programs!). It makes it easy to resize and be much more accurate with measuring. Once my recipe is my spreadsheet... a quick cell value change is all I need to recalculate a 150gm personal batch into a 2409gm gift batch. 

1 oz = 28.3495 grams

Modifying the carrier oils is a great way to change up the feel. When I wanted a lighter feeling scrub: I replaced the Avocado with Hazelnut. I've made a bunch of variations of my scrub but try to keep the percentages the same for the body feel of each component once I found the proportions that worked best for me. So Sweet Almond has gotten replaced with Apricot Kernel, etc. 

Another thing to consider is the shelf life of your components. I wouldn't make a huge container of scrubs with hemp and grapeseed since they go off so quickly.

I'll gush on scrubs for a minute: Scrub scrubs are great. They are incredibly easy to make, incredibly hard to entirely mess up, inexpensive to make, cost a lot to buy pre-made at a store, can be used right away, and lovely on the skin. Best of all: friends are impressed by them (a.k.a. make nice quick gifts).


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## kumudini (May 14, 2016)

snappyllama said:


> Like Deanna, I convert every recipe into grams (thanks spreadsheet programs!). It makes it easy to resize and be much more accurate with measuring. Once my recipe is my spreadsheet... a quick cell value change is all I need to recalculate a 150gm personal batch into a 2409gm gift batch.
> 
> 1 oz = 28.3495 grams
> 
> ...



And Snappy makes awesome sugar scrubs. I'm saving that jar of sugar fairy from the last winter swap, until I make my own.


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## snappyllama (May 14, 2016)

kumudini said:


> And Snappy makes awesome sugar scrubs. I'm saving that jar of sugar fairy from the last winter swap, until I make my own.



Aww, thanks!


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## Aline (May 14, 2016)

DeeAnna said:


> Don't work in mixed units of weight. Not sure why people do that, meaning publish recipes in mixed units. It's a great way to screw up.



Ha, I was just thinking about that. Looking at lotion bar recipes I quickly realized that people who don't do this for a living mix up all sorts of units, including teaspoons and tablespoons! Gaah.


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## DeeAnna (May 14, 2016)

I'd never make anything right if I had to switch from grams to ounces and back again. If I just stick with grams, I'm pretty safe most of the time. I even convert teaspoons and tablespoons to grams so I don't have to dirty up a measuring spoon.


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## Dahila (May 15, 2016)

I finished my Emulsified Sugar Scrub, scented with Be Delicious Blossom.............I do not want to brag about it,...............well I deserve to brag about it.  I just want to show the real emulsified sugar scrub so , I took a pic of two of it


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## shunt2011 (May 15, 2016)

That looks lovely. Nicely done!


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## Dahila (May 15, 2016)

Snappy posted that video, emulsified sugar scrub in not mixing wax and beeswax together with the spoon and just adding sugar, It needs some work to be properly emulsified


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## snappyllama (May 15, 2016)

Those look lovely, Dahlia! 

Sorry, I'm going to disagree with you though on definitions. The emulsified part of scrubs comes from adding an emulsifier into a scrub recipe such as an ewax. During use, the products will emulsify into a lotion-like consistency when the oils in the product come into contact with water. The ingredients themselves do the emulsifying while it's being used - no whipping required.  

In an emulsified scrub, the product just needs to contain oils + an emulsifier. The oils and waxes can be whipped before adding scrubbies (sugar/salt/whatever), but that's personal preference. I like a less fluffy scrub since I'm used to a wet sand type consistency / get a weird thrill out of watching the the transformation of oils and water combining on my skin. I cannot see that as well with whipped scrubs. But that's just my own goofiness.


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## sudsy_kiwi (May 16, 2016)

I've made plain ol' sugar/salt scrubs before, and even made some with an emulsifier added (more to help prevent slippery shower stall syndrome) but hadn't tried making an actual "emulsified scrub".  This was something new for me to try 

I've made a really nice Blood Orange emulsified sugar scrub, I'm happy with the way it feels and smells...but not so much with the appearance.  It's got a layer about 5mm thick on top that is soft and more oily than the rest of it.  I'm not 100% sure what caused the separation, and figured I'd ask here for pointers to cut down on the trial end error (and wasted ingredients lol).  Did I pour while it was still too warm?  Would more sugar have helped? (O suspect not, it's already pretty sugar-heavy and scratchy).


Sugar  274g
Sunflower Oil  67g
CO   23g
E-wax 15g
FO  14g
OO  12
Stearic 11g
Hempseed Oil  9g
Soy Wax  7g
Pres 3g


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## Dahila (May 16, 2016)

Sudsie this is why I whip it, My kitchen aid does the job beautifully,
Snappy I made ones the sugar scrub without wiping, and I was not happy with it.  My daughter is so critical that when she likes the product, it must be good. So far she likes the sugar scrub,  Body Butters and  soap withCoconut milk and oatmeal.  I wish she would try more of it.


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## BlackBoar (May 17, 2016)

I'm sorry to be a bother but I'm so confused right now.

I'm really frustrated trying to figure out what preservative to use. Liquid germall plus and optiphen plus seem to be not suited for anhydrous products. I'd like to use optiphen but it doesn't have mold and yeast activity and bacteria are the least likely to grow in a water sugar solution. So I'm left with phenonip as the main option and it has parabens. 

I'm also trying to figure out why people are using the amount of e wax they are and I know it's a self emulsifier but I'm trying to find patterns in recipes that work. I found an HLB program for excel. http://www.makingskincare.com/hlb-calculator/

The pattern I've noticed seems to be hard oil % x 2= soft oil %, soft oil % x 3= water and soap together (in any proportion). 

The amount of e wax people are using seems to be similar to the total amount of both primary and secondary emulsifiers in the HLB calculator by % of weight. 

I read that fractionated coconut oil has an HLB of 11, then I read it was 5. There is a recipe in the forums that, when put into the HLB calculator, seems to be operating under the assumption that the HLB is 11. 


What I don't understand is why e wax has an HLB of 14.9 when the target of most of these recipes is about 8-10 or why part of the e wax is something that could be used by itself in the oil phase (cetyl alcohol). Do you even have to increase the % of e wax NF when the HLB target is higher?

In the recipe I've been using the 24 percent total for soft oils could be split up between soft oil, water and liquid soap (like the BB recipe)


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## DeeAnna (May 17, 2016)

This kind of product breaks the rules. What's perhaps confusing you is the scrub in the jar isn't emulsified at all. It's an anhydrous product so it can't be emulsified -- you need oil phase and water phase to create an emulsion. The emulsifier honestly serves no purpose when the scrub is in the jar. It is when you _put the scrub on your skin and add water_ that causes the emulsifier to become useful and form an emulsion.

As far as the preservative goes, there are two ways to think about it. First is -- add an oil soluble preservative to protect the anhydrous product. Second is -- add a water soluble preservative so it will be able to migrate into any water-borne contamination from wet fingers and control any microbial growth there. I'm of the second school of thought.

E-wax is a complete emulsifier system, so HLB doesn't apply. If you're trying to use HLB for formulating this product, you are over complicating the problem like using calculus to solve an algebra problem. If you wanted to use just cetyl alcohol, for example, then sure you'd need to use HLB to find a suitable co-emulsifier, but you don't need to do that if using e-wax.

I determine the amount of emulsifier based on skin feel of a test sample. I want the emulsifier to leave a thin lotiony film of fats on my skin when the product is used with tepid to warm water. I absolutely don't want any visible traces of fat, but I don't want my skin to feel dry either. So my goal is to determine what % of emulsifier with a given blend of fats will provide that kind of skin feel. That's my criteria, plain 'n simple -- no HLB or math involved. In the recipe I currently am happy with, I went through about 7 trials to find the right emulsifier %. See http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=58468 post 18.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (May 18, 2016)

It is actually an odd name for it - it is an emulsifying sugar scrub, only emulsified when used


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## DeeAnna (May 18, 2016)

Yeah, you are right, Gent. I suppose it is technically accurate to say "emulsify_ing_ sugar scrub" because it has the future tense ability of being able to emulsify at the moment when water is added. But that misleads people into calling it an "emuslif_ied_ sugar scrub" which has the past tense meaning that an emulsion has already been formed in the product. The English language is slippery.


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## BlackBoar (May 18, 2016)

DeeAnna said:


> Yeah, you are right, Gent. I suppose it is technically accurate to say "emulsify_ing_ sugar scrub" because it has the future tense ability of being able to emulsify at the moment when water is added. But that misleads people into calling it an "emuslif_ied_ sugar scrub" which has the past tense meaning that an emulsion has already been formed in the product. The English language is slippery.



I joined a facebook group and read through some conversations about this and they said the same as you about the water soluble preservative plus emulsifier. I assume the emulsifier pushes the preservative into the introduced water when it does actually emulsify. 

I asked them what I'd ask here which is would there be value in adding an expected amount of water to the product and then doing a home microbial test/leaving it out to challenge test it with liquid germall plus?


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## DeeAnna (May 18, 2016)

"...adding an expected amount of water to the product and then doing a home microbial test/leaving it out to challenge test it with liquid germall plus? ..."

Maybe we're saying the same thing, BlackBoar, but I'm not quite sure I'm following your words here ^^^ so I'll share my point of view --

If an anhydrous product can be used in a way to ensure no water or other contaminants will be introduced to the product during its lifetime, then a preservative is optional. If you cannot ensure that the user will strictly keep the product sanitary and anhydrous, then IMO a preservative is mandatory. Water + fats + no preservative => microbial growth.


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## BlackBoar (May 18, 2016)

DeeAnna said:


> Maybe we're saying the same thing, BlackBoar, but I'm not quite sure I'm following your words here ^^^ so I'll share my point of view --.



What I'm saying is that you can buy home microbial tests to test that your preservative works and I can't see a reason to test the product while 100 percent dry after making as it is only a danger when water gets in by accident. If water isn't introduced, obviously the product would pass the microbial test (unless the test introduces water). I use my test scrubs in the shower. I'd think it'd be better to test after "typical use" ie, with a bit of water in it, to make sure the preservative works in a typical bathroom situation. 

I'll have to research how the home tests work (do they test for already established colonies in your product or to they test the potential for growth? Do you test after making, or after typical use) It could be that the home microbial tests introduce water to the samples themselves.

edit: nvm the home tests are not challenge tests. I found a link that explains it but it's more for business level stuff.


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## BlackDog (May 22, 2016)

Thanks everybody for helping me out! I made my first batch tonight. It's scented with BB Juicy Couture, something I got in a sample and liked but there wasn't enough to make a batch of CP soap. I was happy to have something to use it up with!  Also added some pink mica because reasons 

I can't wait to try it out; I'm looking forward to much exfoliation.


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