Deflating Sugar Scrub! Help!

[DisneyMom]

Hi all! I made a batch of emulsified sugar scrub last night. They looked absolutely perfect when I put on the lids and put them away for the night. This morning, I noticed that a couple of them had a small amount of oil that had leaked out around the top. I took off the lid to clean off the oil, and I noticed that my scrub head shrunk down and I can only describe it as looking deflated. I filled these completely to the top, and now I have none left over and jars that are only 3/4 of the way full. I want to try to prevent this in the future. Any ideas of what might’ve happened or what I might’ve done wrong? I’m attaching a picture so you can see. The jar on the left is what it looked like before hand. The jar on the right is how it looks now.

 

[Cellador]

Can you provide your recipe?
My first thought is that your emulsification failed or was not thickened enough (sugar sunk to the bottom). If you had a oil leak, it doesn't sound completely emulsified.

 

[DisneyMom]

Can you provide your recipe?
My first thought is that your emulsification failed or was not thickened enough (sugar sunk to the bottom). If you had a oil leak, it doesn't sound completely emulsified.

Hi Cellador! Thanks for your input and help. Here's the recipe I used:
Ewax: 9.83%
Cocoa Butter: 14.85%
Shea Butter: 14.85%
Rice Bran Oil: 29.69%
Vitamin E: 1.09%
Optiphan: 1.09%
FO: 1.97% (though I rounded up to 2%)
Sweet Almond Oil: 24.66%
Beeswax: 1.97%

I began whipping it once it was starting to harden on the sides of the glass bowl and was starting to thicken. I whipped for about 5 minutes, until it was the consistency of pudding. When I finally added in my sugar and whipped again, I did so for quite a while, and it fluffed up and looked gorgeous. I'm so confused! I'm guessing it must be my recipe...?

 

[shunt2011]

It looks like it dried up. You don't say how much sugar you added. It deflated, you whipped too much air into it. When I make mine I whip it until it's fairly thick, then add my sugar and mix it in well. I leave it sit for a while to harden up then I whip it again after adding my color & FO. Then into jars. I add stearic to mine so may make a difference.

I think you whipped too much air and it got too warm and not emulsifier/beeswax.

You used 84% Oils butters and only 11.8% Beeswax/emulsifier. I generally use 77.51% Oils/Butters and 15% Beeswax/Emulsifier plus added stearic acid which is a thickener as well.

 

[DisneyMom]

This is so helpful! Thank you, shunt2011! I thought I'd written down how much sugar I added, but I guess I didn't record that. Drat! I used about 150 grams, though, if I remember right.

I'll try your method of whipping and then waiting and whipping again. I have used Stearic in another version I made and liked that, but it didn't use beeswax, and I wanted to see if I could create a more waxy feel on my legs for the winter months. Do you use Ewax and Beeswax both in your recipe, shunt2011?

Time to tweak the recipe.

Thanks!

 

[shunt2011]

This is so helpful! Thank you, shunt2011! I thought I'd written down how much sugar I added, but I guess I didn't record that. Drat! I used about 150 grams, though, if I remember right.

I'll try your method of whipping and then waiting and whipping again. I have used Stearic in another version I made and liked that, but it didn't use beeswax, and I wanted to see if I could create a more waxy feel on my legs for the winter months. Do you use Ewax and Beeswax both in your recipe, shunt2011?

Time to tweak the recipe.

Thanks!

Yes, I use Beeswax, Stearic Acid and Emulsifying Wax. 5%-7.5%-10%

 

[DisneyMom]

Okay, so...I just noticed something. I picked up another jar of scrub I made that hadn't seemed to deflate like the others, and I kinda shook it around. As soon as I did--BAM! Instant and significant deflation. What once filled up a 4 0z jar suddenly looked only 1/3 of the way full, and it turned much more liquidy. Is this normal behavior? I'm assuming not, and guessing it's because I had too much oil/butter in the recipe I used?

 

[shunt2011]

I would say no, not normal. I make mine in 8 oz. jars. The only issue I have is if it's too hot outside the will melt and separate a bit. Not much but a little.

 

[Cellador]

I'm guessing it's not enough emulsifier. I use about 10% emulsifier & 10% thickener (stearic acid or cetyl alcohol). So, although you are using about the same amount of emulsifier, you have an extra 10% oils/butters.

 

[DisneyMom]

Okay, I've played around with numbers and such, and here's what I'm thinking I'll try next. Would love some input on this if anyone has time. Shunt2011, I based this off of the percentages you've mentioned above. It was a great starting point, so thank you!

Ewax: 10%
Beeswax: 5%
Stearic Acid: 7.5%
Cocoa Butter: 18.5%
Shea Butter: 18.5%
Oils: 36%
FO: 2.5%
Vitamin E Oil: 1%
Optiphan: 1%

 

[DeeAnna]

This type of recipe isn't a true emulsion in the jar -- all the emulsifier is doing at this point is providing a firm structure to the product. I agree with Cellador that you don't have enough emulsifier, beeswax, and other ingredients with a high melt temperature. You need more stuff that's solid at room temperature so the product can hold its shape. This is especially true if you're going to whip air into it (I don't whip mine.)

Also you probably need to make sure the product is close to room temperature and fairly firm before you stop whipping so the whipped product will be as stable as possible. You said you stopped when the product was pudding-y. That texture might still be too fluid and soft to hold its shape, especially with the high % of ingredients that are liquid at room temp or that melt near room temp.

 

[DisneyMom]

Thank you for chiming in, DeeAnna! So would you recommend tweaking that version I just posted to have even more emulsifier (Ewax and Stearic)?

Also, when working on these recipes, I have been adding everything up to 100% WITHOUT the sugar. I thought I'd read somewhere that that is the way to do it, but is that wrong? Should I be calculating these with the sugar added in?

 

[shunt2011]

No, I don’t include sugar in the calculation.

 

[DeeAnna]

Same here -- I make the base product and then add sugar to it, just like you're doing.

I posted my last post about the same time as you posted yours, @DisneyMom, and I was looking at the recipe in your post #3. Haven't given a lot of thought to your revised recipe in post #10, but it looks like it's going in the right direction.

If I were you, I'd try your revised recipe and see how it works. I can't give you much advice about the whipping part of it, but once you get a texture you like, you'll still have to do a little more tweaking to get the right skin feel after washing with the product.

If your skin stays too greasy after rinsing, add a percent or so more emulsifier and reduce the stearic acid and/or wax by the same amount. More emulsifier means more fat will wash off when you rinse. If the product rinses off your skin too much, reduce the emulsifier and add more stearic and/or wax so more fat is left on the skin after rinsing.

 

[DisneyMom]

If your skin stays too greasy after rinsing, add a percent or so more emulsifier and reduce the stearic acid and/or wax by the same amount. More emulsifier means more fat will wash off when you rinse. If the product rinses off your skin too much, reduce the emulsifier and add more stearic and/or wax so more fat is left on the skin after rinsing.

Okay, this has helped me understand things sooo much more. Being new to all of this, I wasn’t exactly sure of what properties each ingredient was bringing to the table. Now that I understand that the stearic and wax will help leave more fat on the skin, and the emulsifier will help rinse it, I have a clearer picture of what I need to do. Thank you!

 

[DeeAnna]

"...the stearic and wax will help leave more fat on the skin..."

No, no ... the stearic and wax don't do that at all. It's the emulsifier alone that controls how much fat washes off or doesn't wash off. The other two have nothing to do with that function.

What all three do together is increase the melt temperature and viscosity of the mixture. If you reduce any one of these 3 ingredients, you need to increase one or both of the other ingredients to compensate. If you don't, your melt temp will drop, the texture and thickness will change, and you could go back to the "deflating whipped scrub" problem you're currently having.

 

[DisneyMom]

Oh my. Just when I thought I was starting to get a handle on all of this...

Thank you for the further explanation, Deanna!

 

[DeeAnna]

I know it's confusing and can take awhile to get it all puzzled out. You're doing fine, @DisneyMom.

 

[DisneyMom]

Okay, so...I feel like everyone must be so tired of seeing this thread, but I have one more question.

What's the best way to calculate how much sugar to add in? If I want to add sugar at 130% of my total batch volume (let's say the base volume, without the sugar) is 8 oz. What is the math to figure that out? Is it 8 x 130? Math/numbers has always been a bit of a foreign language for me...

 

[earlene]

No! 100% = 1 x 8. 30% = 0.3 x 8. So your calcualtion will be 1.3 x 8.