Help with my first body scrub recipe?

CherryTree · Nov 30, 2010

I am new here and have been learning a lot by lurking, reading posts, researching recipes, etc. Tonight, I tried my first body scrub recipe. Can you tell me what you think, and perhaps give me some advice? I would greatly appreciate it.

Here is the recipe that I used:

Peppermint Body Scrub

2 oz. powdered silica gel
10 oz. jojoba oil
8 oz. regular white sugar
1 tsp ultra refined shea butter
1/2 tsp titanium dioxide
1 oz Peppermint Kiss FO
0.2 oz. Optiphen Plus preservative

It turned out pretty nice, but here are my questions...

1) I mixed all the ingredients by hand, and then used an electric mixer to make it a little more "whipped." Would mixing it longer with the electric mixer make it even more creamy and whipped? Anything else I can do to give it that nice, fluffy, whipped texture?

2) I tried to keep this a very white color scrub, but it still turned out very ivory - almost pinkish. Is there anything I can do to help it stay as pure white as possible?

3) Next time, I think I'd like to add red jojoba beads (or maybe green or blue jojoba beads?), since it's a peppermint scent. Which color would you suggest?

4) It left my skin a bit oily - is there anything I can do to cut down on the leftoever oily feel?

5) I bought pretty containers to fill with my scrub, but I had a hard time getting the scrub into the containers, and still making it look nice. Do you have any tips or tricks to get the containers filled nicely?

Hmmm...I think those are all my questions. I would love to hear what you guys think. But please be gentle - I'm a total newbie and still learning!

Thanks so much!

soapbuddy · Nov 30, 2010

I use to use a similar recipe some time ago. I found out that over time the sugar and oil separated and it was very greasy. I have since switched to an emulsified one. I think there's a recipe in this forum somewhere. I'm sure if you search you will find it.

PS. I would also convert the teaspoons into grams. You will get more accurate measurements this way.

CherryTree · Nov 30, 2010

Thanks for the tips!

As for the scrub separating, I specifically used powdered silica gel to prevent this from happening. I have read that silica gel will prevent scrubs from separating, is this not true?

I will go ahead and change the tsp measurements to grams. Does the rest of the recipe look okay?

Also, can anyone answer my specific questions in my original post? Thanks!

soapbuddy · Nov 30, 2010

The silica helps in the beginning, but over time, the scrub will separate. I would halve your recipe and see how you like it first.

carebear · Nov 30, 2010

sorry, don't know the answers.

HenleyNatural · Nov 30, 2010

Q: Would mixing it longer with the electric mixer make it even more creamy and whipped? Anything else I can do to give it that nice, fluffy, whipped texture?

A: I whip body scrub to a butter like texture. To achieve this your recipe should be 12 oz shea butter and 10 oz jojoba oil. The recipe should be roughly 1/2 hard oils (shea butter) and 1/2 soft oils (jojoba oil). However, there needs to be more hard oils than soft oils to get the fluffy whipped texture. (Experiment with amounts to get the correct texture.)

• Melt the shea butter before you combine it with the jojoba oil.
• Add the other ingredients except for the peppermint FO.
• Mix batch with hand mixer for 3 minutes.
• Put bowl in refrigerator for approximately 15 minutes.
• Mix again with mixer
• Bowl back in refrigerator 15 minutes
• Eventual the batch will firm up in the refrigerate. You want the batch hard but not rock hard.
• Mix with hand mixer for 20 minutes and you will get a wonder whipped texture.
• Add the essential oils during this last mix.

** Refrigerator times are just guesses. I make a bigger batch (4X) so my refrigerator time are longer. Experiment with the times**

**There is no water in a body scrub so you do not need a preservative. Preservative kill the micros in the water. So leave out the 1/2 tsp titanium dioxide and 0.2 oz. Optiphen Plus preservative. Just a suggestion. **

Q: I tried to keep this a very white color scrub, but it still turned out very ivory - almost pinkish. Is there anything I can do to help it stay as pure white as possible?

A: Perhaps the peppermint kiss FO is turning your batch pink-ish. If all the oils are clear or white the end result should be a white color.

Q: Next time, I think I'd like to add red jojoba beads (or maybe green or blue jojoba beads?), since it's a peppermint scent. Which color would you suggest?

A: Red reminds my of peppermint candy canes.

Q: It left my skin a bit oily - is there anything I can do to cut down on the leftover oily feel?

A: I use silica powder and rice powder. For a 12 oz shea butter and 10 jojoba batch I would say 3/4 teaspoon silica powder and 1½ tablespoon rice powder. I not familiar with powder silica "gel".

Q: I bought pretty containers to fill with my scrub, but I had a hard time getting the scrub into the containers, and still making it look nice. Do you have any tips or tricks to get the containers filled nicely?

A: Use a pastry bag. Pastry chefs use pastry bags for decorating cakes. You can make your own pastry bag. Cut the bottom corner off of one end of a large plastic zip-lock bag and fill it with your body scrub. The opening in the corner should be large enough for you to squeeze the body scrub out of the bag and into your small containers.

I scent my body scrubs with lemongrass EO and they are wonderful!.