New Year Body Scrub recipe

 

Well it seems my sewing mojo has just gone right down and I have sewn nothing at all for the last several days. I have cut out a skirt and top, and the jeans I was on about in my last post, but thats it I am afraid.

On top of that I have seriously dry skin - everywhere! so I decided I need to do something about that and so this is not a post about sewing at all, but instead about making a very easy cosmetic. 

So here you will read how I have made a rather nice natural salt-based body scrub.

I made several of these previously when I was writing ( my first book). That was when I was experimenting and making all sorts of interesting stuff and really enjoying myself in what was then my work. But instead of just using the recipe in my book I decided it would be far more fun to just make a totally new version. I have made the vanilla recipe hundreds of times so new year, new recipe. 

At one time I wrote for two DIY cosmetics magazines and I also ran a cosmetics business which really was a soap business that expanded into other products like bath bombs, body butters, moisturisers and even eco-soya candles though there are no candle recipes as yet in either of the existing books. 

For the record, I am not an aromatherapist but just a soap maker with a bit of experience of making this kind of product. So I am very careful with essential oils and not qualified to prescribe so please do not ask me about essential oils. I am not at all the right person. Well, I am actually a chemical engineer by training, so I used to do this kind of thing during my work in the R&D lab for a very well known cosmetics manufacturer as well and then when I progressed in my career it seemed I became more desk based which was a shame and I missed the R&D so much that I started to make cosmetics at home. Later when I started my business, I was approached at a festival and asked to write a column for a magazine and thats how I came to write books. 

Anyway thats my background and why every now and then I just feel a huge need to do a bit of basic chemistry. And this really is an easy one. There is no actual reaction to take place and in this particular case I am just going to give you my very basic ingredients which you should most likely have available in your kitchen, and tell you how to make a body scrub.

Now you can use nice things for this kind of product like rock salt or himalayan salt which makes the end product very pretty but I had none of these, and just wanted some instant gratification and to make something nice right now rather than go shopping so you do not actually need anything special to make this, but it might look nicer if you were for example giving it as a present, to go out and buy some specialty ingredients and maybe a nice container as well. 

I just used a tupperware because that will work fine to keep it in when I want to use this in the shower. I can just grab a handful and use as I want it. So you can upgrade this recipe as you wish - or just make it as I have, for your own use for a bit of home made pampering. And of course you know exactly what you will be putting in it, so it has no hidden nasties. 

Anyway, to make this you need salt, some kind of light oil and if you want, some kind of essential oil. 

My salt was common cooking salt from my kitchen cupboard, so pretty much available wherever you are and in all honesty will work just as well as anything more fancy. Table salt will work but it has extra added ingredients to stop it sticking together in lumps. Cooking salt is just 100% salt.

It just looks nicer when written on packaging if its rock salt or himalayan salt. Here the salt is just an exfoliant. Also as an aside if you prefer you can use a mix of sugar and salt which will be more gentle on the skin. If you want to use this on the face I would probably have around 75% sugar to 25% salt or even all sugar but thats something to have a play with if you want to.

I used a mix of sweet almond oil, grapeseed oil, and fractionated (so liquid) coconut oil. They are all used as massage oils and I had them in the cupboard, but really if you do not have any of these you can make this with ordinary kitchen sunflower oil as well. Olive will also work but it will be slightly heavier because its more viscous, and it makes the bath/shower slippy so be careful if you choose olive oil. If you have any you could also use jojoba oil. Jojoba is what is known as hygroscopic ( it attracts moisture to the skin) so it makes a really good ingredient for soaps, moisurisers and similarly body scrubs. I just went with equal amounts of the three oils though because I have them available.

First you will need a container for mixing. I used a tupperware since it had high sides making it less messy when stirring and was available, and I left my product in this for storage as well which makes this experiment even easier. It also reduced the clean-up!

Add the quantity of salt you want. I never bothered to measure this because its just a "bucket " experiment right now and I do not care because I just want lots of body scrub. It does not actually matter if you have 25g or 250g because its the consistency you make the body scrub that matters and different oils have different viscosity so you need to work this out by stirring. 

Once the salt is in the mixing container you then add your oil.  I never bothered to take a photo of the salt in the bowl because : well its just a pile of white salt. 

Add the oil, Now add this slowly, and stir it in until you get a thick mixture, because you ideally want to waste as little of this as possible and you do not yet know if you will like your product so smaller is probably better the first time you make this.

You need a pretty thick mix.

It will separate when you stop mixing and you will get a thin top covering of your oil over the salt as it settles. You can just about see this in the corners of the container above. You do not need loads of spare oil on top. Its the right consistency when you stir again and the oil seems to disappear but as soon as you stop stirring it appears back on top. Thats how you know you have the correct amount. Having said that though if you do add too much it will still work when you scoop it out because you will just leave the excess behind so its virtually impossible to go wrong with this recipe. If you add too much oil you can just add some more salt. Its that easy!

Stir the extra salt in if you choose to add more. It does need to be very well mixed. Once you are sure its about the right consistency - so a thick mixture when you stir it - then you can add a few drops of essential oils if you want them. This works just as well without them.. 

Now also please note that you really do only need a couple of drops of any essential oil. I used one drop of sweet orange and one drop of lime essential oil and I have around 500g of salt in my mix. 

Once the body scrub has been made and you decide its the right consistency, if you like decant your new hand made body scrub into a pretty jar and label it. Now it will make a lovely gift for a friend or for you.  

Enjoy!

Please note this recipe is used at your own risk and I take no responsibility for any adverse effects. You can be allergic to anything, but assuming you are using a salt and an oil you have in your home the chances are you will not be allergic and if you use the minimum of essential oil you should be fine. If using the body scrub on the face then I would stick with either no essential oil or something ultra gentle like lavender. If you have any adverse reaction to your body scrub then please stop using it and please see a doctor. 

Have a lovely week and hopefully by my next post I will have done some actual sewing.

Take care and thanks for popping over to my blog,

Bracken