Coconut oil in a liquid sugar scrub?

[PuddinAndPeanuts]

Hey! Currently, grape seed oil makes up about 1/9 of the oil in my sugar scrub. (Which is liquid, not emulsified, by the way). All of the oils I currently use are completely liquid at room temperature. Can I melt coconut oil and use that instead of my grape seed oil? Clearly, it would change some of the qualities of the scrub, but what I'm worried about is whether the coconut oil would somehow not properly disperse and then congeal and create a weird layer of firm oil or chunks of some kind. Any thoughts? As always, I appreciate all of your feedback!

 

[DeeAnna]

Up to a point, a blend of coconut oil with liquid oils will remain a liquid and you shouldn't see separation at normal room temperatures. I'm not quite sure where that point is -- it depends on the blend of oils. If I'm following you correctly, the CO would end up being 1/9th of your oil blend. Right? That's pretty low, really, so I'd think it's a fairly safe bet that your idea will work.

 

[PuddinAndPeanuts]

Up to a point, a blend of coconut oil with liquid oils will remain a liquid and you shouldn't see separation at normal room temperatures. I'm not quite sure where that point is -- it depends on the blend of oils. If I'm following you correctly, the CO would end up being 1/9th of your oil blend. Right? That's pretty low, really, so I'd think it's a fairly safe bet that your idea will work.

Thanks so much DeeAnna! I appreciate your input. I'll give it a try then. Making a candy cane sugar scrub!

 

[DeeAnna]

Like I said, I'm making an educated guess, so I sure hope it works for you. Please let me know how it turns out!

I've been playing around with a recipe for an emulsified anhydrous sugar scrub. At the moment, I'm messing with a blend of meadowfoam oil that needs to get used up, lard because people are really liking it after they get over the "ick" thing, e-wax, preservative, fragrance, and table sugar.

It's been confusing about how to balance all the ingredients to get just the right amount of scrubbiness, the right amount of oils after washing off the scrub, and all that, but I think I'm finally starting to figure it out. I love the feel of my skin after using a scrub -- I really get it now why people like this stuff so much.

 

[PuddinAndPeanuts]

Like I said, I'm making an educated guess, so I sure hope it works for you. Please let me know how it turns out!

I've been playing around with a recipe for an emulsified anhydrous sugar scrub. At the moment, I'm messing with a blend of meadowfoam oil that needs to get used up, lard because people are really liking it after they get over the "ick" thing, e-wax, preservative, fragrance, and table sugar.

It's been confusing about how to balance all the ingredients to get just the right amount of scrubbiness, the right amount of oils after washing off the scrub, and all that, but I think I'm finally starting to figure it out. I love the feel of my skin after using a scrub -- I really get it now why people like this stuff so much.

The scrub turned out pretty well- the coconut oil was definitely fine at that %. Not sure I'll do candy canes again.... They seem to firm everything up a whole lot.

 

[DeeAnna]

Good for you! Am I understanding you correctly -- did you use actual candy canes in the scrub? Like smoosh them up into bits and mix them in?

 

[snappyllama]

That. Is. An. Awesome. Idea.

I wonder if they would be too sharp or powdery if pulverized though? Hrmn... I'm slated to make some emulsified scrubs after I get back from Vegas this week. I have candy canes. I have a peppermint FO. The stars are aligning... I just might have to try this out.

 

[PuddinAndPeanuts]

Hey! Yes, I used candy canes as about 10-15% of my sugar. That's just enough to give the scrub the speckled effect I was going for. Pulverized them virtually to dust in the food processor. If you don't get them fine enough, they ARE sharp. They abdorb more oil- I ended up needing to add about 10% more oil than usual- I guess because it's ground so fine? I'm on the fence about whether I'll do it again. Seems to firm up a lot- not quite hard, not quite gummy, but not as far off either of those descriptions as I'd like either. I suspect it would work very well in an emulsified scrub though,

 

[shunt2011]

I love my emulsified scrubs. They sell really well. I've not thought of adding candy canes pulverized...might have to make a test batch and see how it works. Not sure I'd sell it but would make great gifts for Christmas for friends and family.

 

[PuddinAndPeanuts]

Hey! Just thought I'd add a quick update. If any of you all are thinking about trying the pulverized candy cane in a scrub, be aware that the candy cane and honey do NOT play well together! It seems to be that combination that goes too firm. If you take the honey out, it stays a normal consistency.

 

[snappyllama]

Thanks for the advice! I ran out of time to try and make the candy cane scrub. I do have candy canes... in the most horrible flavors imaginable: pickle and bacon. Someone (my daughter) thought it would be fun to use those for the tree this year. I haven't worked up the courage to even unwrap one yet. Blech

 

[DeeAnna]

Oh, you've got to be kidding! Pickle and bacon??? Wowser....

Okay, so you're not kidding..... http://www.nola.com/eat-drink/2014/12/i_ate_pickle_bacon_wasabi_srir.html