face scrub recipes please?

I've been using the mild original cetaphil on my face since I was a teen, and then use a scrub about twice a week. It's been St Ives apricot scrub for many years now which works for me just fine. I'd like to try to replace these products with my own recipes eventually, so I started trying various scrub recipes. I found a bunch online but most of them just involved an oil like olive or coconut with some type of exfoliant in it like sugar, salt, oatmeal, etc. I found these types of scrubs to leave my skin way too greasy. I don't have particularly dry or oily skin. Maybe slightly on the dry side. Maybe olive or coconut oil would be ok for the rest of my body, but it's just too much for my face. Does anyone have any facial scrub recipes that involve more than oil plus exfoliant? Something that won't require me to wash my face again?

I highly recommend checking out swiftcraftymonkey.com. There is a plethora of information and recipes for formulating just about anything.

shunt2011 said:

I highly recommend checking out swiftcraftymonkey.com. There is a plethora of information and recipes for formulating just about anything.

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Great site and Susan even has a dupe of Cetaphil on her blog. As for the face scrub, polysorbate 80 will help the oils rinse better.

Ditto from me.

Ahh I finally figured it out! I have to go to swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com. Not swiftcraftymonkey.com.

Wow, what an amazing amount of info! I'm just getting into soap and this will be another world for me to dive into! As daunting as some of these ingredients sound, I'm definitely going to try out some of these recipes.

Thanks for the link!

Here's more: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=58468

you are wrong she is Canadian and her address is : http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.ca/

swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com or swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.ca both work, Dahlia.

yeah DeeAnna they do, a months ago or so, It took me to some strange pages, when I went on .com , but it is working thanks

Please correct me if I am wrong on what I think I've learned so far. As I said in my original post my goal is to replace my St. Ives apricot scrub I use for my face, (but I have a feeling curiosity and fascination with other possibilities will derail me before I get there!) After reading from various posts on swiftcraftymonkey as well as the suggested thread on the forum, I think my first step should be to attempt an "emulsified sugar scrub". I'm guessing that the apricot scrub is some type of emulsification? I'm planning to work with the proportions that was posted on the recommended thread by DeeAnna below:

Base --
liquid oil ... 46.7%
solid fat ... 31.2%
e-wax ... 17.3% (can vary up or down 1-2% depending on the skin feel you want)
fragrance ... 3.0% (may vary from 1% to 3%)
clay ... 1.3% (used for color)
preservative ... 0.5%
Add sugar to the base at 150% of the base weight. (Example: 100 g base + 150 g sugar)

I saw the recipe on swiftcraftymonkey that doriettfarm from this forum suggested for "emulsified sugar scrub with black cocoa butter" and found that recipe to be similar to DeeAnna's proportions. Except it asked for 10% stearic acid or cetyl alcohol, saying "5% of each is very nice". I believe I've seen stearic acid in soap making for solubility. I was considering adding some to this recipe. Any thoughts?

I'm a newbie soap maker, so while some of the ingredients I came across were familiar, some were foreign to me. Knowing from cooking that "emulsify" means to combine oil and water into a homogeneous substance (like mayo), I figured out that "E-wax" is the essential ingredient that allows this scrub to become emulsified. I looked up what "E-wax" was and learned that it is a wax that has been treated by other chemicals to allow it to combine oil and water. I read on wikipedia that:

The ingredients for Emulsifying Wax NF are: "Cetearyl Alcohol, Polysorbate 60, PEG-150 Stearate, and Steareth-20"

Then I went on amazon to try to order it and saw one of the products title as this:

"Emulsifying Wax Nf/ Polysorbate 60/ Polawax/ E-Wax"

Then on Coopcoco.com the INCI for Polawax was "Cetylstearyl Alcohol (and) Polysorbate 60. OR Emulsifying Wax NF"

I understand INCI to be the scientific names for substances?

So.... Is Polywax the same as E-wax? If not, how are they different and which one should I get for this recipe? I also happen to have sodium lactate for soap making. Would that work as a preservative for this scrub?

Again, this is my first attempt, so I agree with anyone who says I should keep it as simple as possible. As some of you know, I definitely made that mistake with soap making!

Polywax is a brand name while e-wax is the generic.

Your recipe looks good to me, but I will say that I'm also pretty new to the emulsifier thing

I also find emulsifiers a bit confusing. I think there is some proprietary information here, which is why they are described somewhat vaguely. Honestly, there's a bit of guess work. I had a lotion recipe I liked using something called "conditioning e-wax" - well, I ran out of that bag and that supplier isn't around any more, so I ordered some more e-wax, thinking, "E-wax is e-wax." Nope. I've had to tweak my lotion recipe a bit to get it back to where I like it.

Re face scrub - don't use harsh or sharp exfoliants on your face. I read about a lady who washed her face with Lava soap every day. Her complexion was beautiful for years, but because the pumice bits were give her little micro- scratches on her face EVERY DAY, there's a build-up of scar tissue on her face that makes her look MUCH older. I would not use salt, pumice, walnut hulls, etc on my face. Oatmeal is nice.

"...stearic acid in soap making for solubility..."

You have it rather backwards. Stearic acid is used to thicken lotions if used as-is. It makes a nearly insoluble soap if reacted with NaOH.

You can add stearic acid to an emulsifying scrub to add thickness if you don't get the right texture and performance without it. Beeswax is acting as a thickener, if you see it listed in other people's emulsifying scrub recipes. Bottom line -- there's no magic to beeswax or stearic acid. You can use either one, both, or neither of them as you think is best.

Polawax is the brand name for a type of emulsifier made by the Croda company, if memory serves me correctly. Polawax has one and only one INCI. It's the "Kleenex" of facial tissues.

E-wax is a generic emulsifier. If you see "E-wax NF" then you know the product adheres to a minimum standard of performance, but the "NF" (national formulary) designation doesn't mean there is one single fixed recipe. This means the composition can vary somewhat, and that's why you're seeing the different INCI variations. "E-wax" is the "facial tissue" of facial tissues.

Which is best? IMO, use whatever emulsifier you want. Susan (swiftcraftymonkey) prefers the results she gets from using Polawax, but it's not carried by the suppliers I prefer to use and I've had good results with generic e-wax, however it is formulated. So just pick one and get used to how it works for you. That's really the key -- stick with one product, at least while you're a rookie, and learn how it behaves.

E-wax is not the same as conditioning emulsifier. E-wax is based on the emulsifier Ceteareth 20 or Polysorbate 60.

Conditioning emulsifier is based on the emulsifier Behentrimonium Methosulfate. BTMS is the brand name for a specific type of conditioning emulsifier. There are several flavors of BTMS -- I know of BTMS 25, BTMS 50, and BTMS 225. There may be others. You can also buy generic versions of BTMS, and they are just called "conditioning emulsifier."

Sodium lactate is used as a preservative in meats, but it is NOT an effective broad spectrum preservative for bath and body products. Use Phenonip or Liquid Germall Plus or other broad spectrum preservative formulated for this specific use.

Ewax or Emulsifying wax NF is a generic form of Polawax , Ewax; INCI: Cetearyl Alcohol (and) Polysorbate 60, I think wikipedia is wrong

The INCI for generic e-wax (or generic emulsifying conditioner) will vary somewhat. Wikipedia's INCI may well be right for the particular product the author was looking at. The correct INCI for YOUR emulsifier is whatever YOUR supplier says it is.

DeeAnna said:

"...stearic acid in soap making for solubility..."

You have it rather backwards. Stearic acid is used to thicken lotions if used as-is. It makes a nearly insoluble soap if reacted with NaOH.

You can add stearic acid to an emulsifying scrub to add thickness if you don't get the right texture and performance without it. Beeswax is acting as a thickener, if you see it listed in other people's emulsifying scrub recipes. Bottom line -- there's no magic to beeswax or stearic acid. You can use either one, both, or neither of them as you think is best.

Polawax is the brand name for a type of emulsifier made by the Croda company, if memory serves me correctly. Polawax has one and only one INCI. It's the "Kleenex" of facial tissues.

E-wax is a generic emulsifier. If you see "E-wax NF" then you know the product adheres to a minimum standard of performance, but the "NF" (national formulary) designation doesn't mean there is one single fixed recipe. This means the composition can vary somewhat, and that's why you're seeing the different INCI variations. "E-wax" is the "facial tissue" of facial tissues.

Which is best? IMO, use whatever emulsifier you want. Susan (swiftcraftymonkey) prefers the results she gets from using Polawax, but it's not carried by the suppliers I prefer to use and I've had good results with generic e-wax, however it is formulated. So just pick one and get used to how it works for you. That's really the key -- stick with one product, at least while you're a rookie, and learn how it behaves.

E-wax is not the same as conditioning emulsifier. E-wax is based on the emulsifier Ceteareth 20 or Polysorbate 60.

Conditioning emulsifier is based on the emulsifier Behentrimonium Methosulfate. BTMS is the brand name for a specific type of conditioning emulsifier. There are several flavors of BTMS -- I know of BTMS 25, BTMS 50, and BTMS 225. There may be others. You can also buy generic versions of BTMS, and they are just called "conditioning emulsifier."

Sodium lactate is used as a preservative in meats, but it is NOT an effective broad spectrum preservative for bath and body products. Use Phenonip or Liquid Germall Plus or other broad spectrum preservative formulated for this specific use.

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Thanks you for this! and for correcting me with the stearic acid and sodium lactate. It's embarrassing to make dumb mistakes like that especially as a newbie. I did see BTMS as well. I will stick to an E-wax for now and try out your recipe. Do you have any specific oils you recommend? Susan used mostly soybean oil with 20% black cocoa butter in that recipe I referenced. I don't really know what to shoot for with this kind of product. I would also like to use a different exfoliant instead of sugar, like oatmeal as dixiedragon suggested. I'll use a well blitzed oatmeal or maybe even a collodial or instant as suggested by fellow soapers. I made the mistake of not blitzing my old fashioned oats in soap and it was like little rocks. I had to soak it in hot water before I could use it. Thank you again for replaying with so much generous information!

dixiedragon said:

I also find emulsifiers a bit confusing. I think there is some proprietary information here, which is why they are described somewhat vaguely. Honestly, there's a bit of guess work. I had a lotion recipe I liked using something called "conditioning e-wax" - well, I ran out of that bag and that supplier isn't around any more, so I ordered some more e-wax, thinking, "E-wax is e-wax." Nope. I've had to tweak my lotion recipe a bit to get it back to where I like it.

Re face scrub - don't use harsh or sharp exfoliants on your face. I read about a lady who washed her face with Lava soap every day. Her complexion was beautiful for years, but because the pumice bits were give her little micro- scratches on her face EVERY DAY, there's a build-up of scar tissue on her face that makes her look MUCH older. I would not use salt, pumice, walnut hulls, etc on my face. Oatmeal is nice.

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Gosh that's scary. I hope I haven't been doing the same with this apricot scrub. It's definitely not as harsh as sugar. I don't even know if crushed apricot seeds are even available. Probably is somewhere. I absolutely love oatmeal and plan to try that. There's all kinds of exfoliants I'd like to experiment. I tried poppy seeds in one of my soap batches that turned out nice. I was thinking of trying wheat germ next. But what might work for a bar of soap to be used on the body won't necessarily translate into a facial scrub. That lava pumice story is something to keep in mind though. Thanks for sharing that with me!

I don't have any strong recommendations for the fats because everyone is different. I have used shea, lard, or tallow for the solid fat and jojoba, meadowfoam, rice bran oil, high oleic sunflower, or coconut oil for the liquid fat. But the animal fats are a turn-off for many people. The jojoba and meadowfoam are on the exotic side. But most of these fats (excluding jojoba and meadowfoam) are ones I keep on hand for soaping. I like "multi-taskers!"

Try rubbing a dab into your skin of the various fats you have on hand. See which ones feel best to you -- silky, dry, greasy, light, heavy, etc. -- and choose accordingly. I like fats that tend to be light and dry on my skin. You might like fats that create a heavier skin feel or something else. Hard to say!

DeeAnna said:

I have used shea, lard, or tallow for the solid fat and jojoba, meadowfoam, rice bran oil, high oleic sunflower, or coconut oil for the liquid fat.

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Do you add any extra preservative if you use an animal fat?

It's not something I ever considered because of the refrigeration thing but sounds like it could be a fun experiment someday.

dixiedragon said:

Re face scrub - don't use harsh or sharp exfoliants on your face. I read about a lady who washed her face with Lava soap every day. Her complexion was beautiful for years, but because the pumice bits were give her little micro- scratches on her face EVERY DAY, there's a build-up of scar tissue on her face that makes her look MUCH older. I would not use salt, pumice, walnut hulls, etc on my face. Oatmeal is nice.

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I feel silly that I'm just noticing this now, but I'm pretty horrified to learn that the 2nd ingredient (after water) in my "apricot" scrub I've been using all these years is WALNUT shells!! Then the 4th ingredient is corn meal! The only apricot in there is the 2nd to LAST ingredient that is apricot extract. Yet another scam where they barely put some in just so they can claim it on the label. Ugh, what a disappointment. But I suppose also a relief that I'm finding this out earlier than later. I'm 38 and I've been using this stuff on and off for the last 20 years, maybe consistently about twice a week in the last 5 years. I'm gonna whip me up a batch as soon as my Ewax and Germaben II arrives! I'm going to split it into 2 batches to try different exfoliants. Maybe instant oatmeal in one and poppy seeds in the other. Any more suggestions for a facial exfoliants? I think I do like it rougher than most. I find the store brands with "mirco-beads" to not be enough at all. I used to love the smoothness I felt after scrubbing with the apricot scrub I'm not going to be using anymore. And for oils, I was thinking of trying sunflower oil and shea butter.

I thought that might be the one! I think the Apricot mostly refers to the scent. I strongly encourage you to step away for the harsh exfoliants on your face - you may be irritating your skin, causing it to produce more oil to defend itself. To get the same smoothness, use a mild, exfoliant-free cleanser or soap and move your fingertips in gentle circles all over your face for one minute. It will feel just as smooth and is MUCH easier on your skin!