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3 Scrub Recipes on Soap Queen TV

Filed Under: Soaks & Scrubs

We filmed this Soap Queen TV episode earlier in the summer with Erin Pikor of Naiad Soap Arts. We had so much fun on the set (she’s such a hoot to work with)! We couldn’t fit in all of the hilarious out-takes, but don’t worry, we squeezed a couple in.

In this episode, Erin and I demonstrate how to make (and use) not just one, but 3 scrub recipes! The first is Erin’s Salt Glow Scrub with sea salt and nourishing oils. Next, Erin shows how to make her Gentle Facial Scrub with Lavender and Green Zeolite Clay. And finally, I show my favorite sugar lip scrub with luxurious Shea Butter and the super yummy Buttercreme Flavor.

Ingredients and Tools for Each Recipe

  Salt Glow:

 Gentle Facial Scrub:

 Lip Sugar Scrub:

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84 Comments

  1. Hi!!! One question on the lip scrub. Can I use turbinado sugar? I never buy white sugar and rather use turbinado sugar, if possible. Thank you

    • Hi Nydia!

      Turbinado sugar would be okay, but it does have fairly large granules, so it’s possible that it may be a little harsh for the lips. Regular sugar has finer granules, and is a little more gentle. That being said, it’s a personal preference! Before you try out the whole recipe, I would recommend mixing your sugar with a small amount of oil and trying it on your lips first to see what you think 🙂

      -Amanda with Bramble Berry

  2. In the video AM says to switch out Almond Oil for Olive oil if someone is allergic to nuts. What about in soaps when I mix my colorants with Sweet Almond Oil?? Could the soap be a problem for someone allergic to nuts???

    • Hi Sabrina!

      If you or somebody you know is allergic to nuts, I would recommend using Sunflower Oil to mix your colorants :).Because almonds are a tree nut, it’s very possible that using Almond Oil in soap can cause somebody who is allergic to nuts an allergic reaction. If you or somebody you know is allergic to nuts, I would recommend testing the soap in a small area to check for irritation 🙂

      -Amanda with Bramble Berry

  3. Gentle Facial Scrub:

    If I wanted to add sweet almond oil & Phenonip to preserve to the whole recipe in a jar to sell, how much of each would I need?

    • Hi Debbra!

      If you’d like to add preservative to these recipes, you can use it at a rate of .5%-1% of your total recipe. How much Sweet Almond Oil will depend on what kind of texture you’d like the scrub to have.I would start with a few tablespoons, mix, and see what you think 🙂

      -Amanda with Bramble Berry

  4. I want to use pink sea salt in the body scrub recipe as well as Hello Sweet Thang FO. Since the FO has vanillin, will it discolor the pink salt and oils and do I have to add a color stabilizer to avoid this?

    • Good morning, Emily!

      Because this is a body scrub and not a soap, the discoloration is not going to affect your final product as much. I would suggest making a small test batch to see if you like how it turns out.

      Unfortunately, the Vanilla Color Stabilizer only works well in melt & pour, and marginally well in cold process and isn’t to be used in any toiletry-type products like this scrub.

      I hope that this helps! =)
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

      • That does help. Thank you! One more question, though. How crucial is the orange peel powder to the body scrub recipe? Can I leave it out, or should I substitute it with something else?

        • Hi Emily!

          The orange powder is not super crucial, you could use whatever powder you’d like or just leave it out completely! Hope this helps 🙂

          -Amanda with Bramble Berry

  5. I will be selling Whipped Sugar Scrubs and Whipped Salt scrubs using Ewax and Stearic acid recipes,some with Epsom salt and the others with Dead Sea Salt which I know is partially Sodium Chloride already. But I do not want to use a preservative in my products. will adding Sodium Chloride do the trick to preserve these products? If so, they will be sold in 4oz containers so I’m not sure how much will suffice.

    • Good morning, Jennifer!

      If you are making whipped salt and sugar scrubs and they contain water, we do suggest adding a preservative to make sure that no microbes, mold or bacteria is growing in your product! Sodium Chloride is actually not a preservative and wouldn’t prevent bacteria from growing in your batch.

      For more on our preservatives (and what isn’t a preservative), here is a great blog post that I often refer to:

      Talk It Out Tuesday: Preservatives: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lotion/talk-it-out-tuesday-preservatives/

      If you recipe doesn’t contain water, you don’t necessarily have to add a preservative. Some people do to make sure that any wet or grimy hands don’t cause things to grow in their scrubs.

      I hope that this helps! If you have any other questions, let us know. =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  6. Hi Becky,
    For the gental facial scrub, will Optiphen work as well, I do not have Optiphen Plus yet.

  7. Hi,
    I made the Lip Scrub and I love how it makes my lips feel.
    Question is there away to make it not so hard and thick?
    Thank you,
    Belinda

    • Good morning, Belinda!

      If you want to make the lip scrub a little less hard, I’d suggest cutting down on the beeswax in the recipe by a small amount. The best way to test if your lip scrub is the right consistency and hardness for you is to follow the frozen spoon trick.

      All you need to do is put a couple of spoons in the freezer. When you are ready, you dip the frozen spoons into the liquid mixture and it will harden up immediately on the spoon. That way you will be able to see what the consistency is before it fully hardens. Then you can make any adjustments you need.

      You can see the trick in action in this Soap Queen TV episode: http://vimeo.com/26122357

      I hope this helps! 🙂
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  9. Thank you Becky! I was using way too much fragrant oil than was necessary. I will explain this to my friends. They pretty much wanted it heavily scented and I felt it was way too much. I am glad I asked. Thank you.

  10. When making a facial scrub, how much essential or fragrant oil do you use? Is there such a thing as putting too much.

    • When adding fragrance or essential oils to any of your products we really like to stay in a small amount for the face, typically .1 oz per 16 ounces of product, keeping it very mild and barely there since it is going to be so close to the nose. And, if you are worried, it’s always better to use less than more in a facial scrub! I hope this helps. 🙂

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

    • Good morning, Elaine!

      We always use fragrance oils on your face or skin with a carrier oil because they should never be used straight on the face or the body. When using Essential Oils (EO’s) or Fragrance Oils (FO’s), we like to stick to the usage rate of .1 ounce per pound of product. And remember not to use any skin-irritants like cinnamon, clove, peppermint, or spearmint on the face! 🙂

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  12. Thanks for the answer – can you verify, though, if it is better to add water or oil to create the right consistency for the benzonite clay scrub. This is the face scrub from the soap making tutorial and it does not say. Thanks, Shelley

  13. I have sold some of the rose clay and dead sea salt scrubs and everyone has been very pleased with them. I did have a question on the face scrub though. I sold those in a 4oz jar dry because I did not want to have to add a preservative. A customer has come back and asked me what would be a good oil to add to this to make it easier to use. Is it better to add water with a preservative (Optiphen?) or can I just add something like Sweet Almond oil with no preservative. I didn’t want to do the wrong thing. Thanks!

  14. I can’t ver hear your videos for the video stops and I miss words. Does this scrub haveto be regrigerated? When putting in jar do we haveto keep air out.

  16. Thanks Becky :-). Sea salt & the salt used in the kitchen, are they both different. Pls excuse my ignorance.

  17. Is the facial scrub recipe for one jar? I apologize if this question is answered somewhere on this page. I couldn’t find it.

  19. Really excited to try the face scrub! I’ve been reformulating my recipe for a face scrub bar and it’s not going so well, so maybe this will be better. Is the Green Zeolite clay optimal? Or will some of the other clays like Rose, Rhassoul, or Sea clay work fine too?

  20. Quick update: I made the scrub again with more Polysorbate 80 and it did the trick! It’s all holding together and the scrub is super easy to rinse off. Now I need to master the Tapioca Powder in my body butter. 🙂 Thanks Becky!
    ~Evie

    • I am so happy to hear that it worked for you, Evie! And, I know you can totally master the body butter, I’d start out with about 1 tablespoon of Tapioca Powder per ounce of product and go up from there until you like the feeling and consistency! 🙂
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  21. would the sweet meyer lemon or lemon verbena fragrance oil, or lemon essential oil be good alternatives for the lavender in the facial scrub recipe?

    • Hi Elizabeth!

      We used Lavender in our scrubs because it has been known to help calm the skin and is a great essential oil to work with. You can totally use any of those lemons as an alternative, and Lemon Essential Oils is great for facial cleanser. Just be aware that Lemon Essential Oil is a photosensitizer. I hope this helps! 🙂

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  22. Hi Becky! Yup – I used the Polysorbate 80. I even used a little more than the recipe called for. I think I will add just a bit more and, as you suggested, not fill it up so much. Thank you!
    ~Evie

  23. Hi! I finally had a chance to make the salt glow recipe. It’s terrific but I noticed that the oil settles to the bottom of the jar. When the jar is full it’s hard to shake or stir to redistribute. Is there anything I could do or add to make it stay more mixed together?
    ~Evie

    • Hi Evie!

      When you made the salt glow recipe were you including the Polysorbate 80? The Polysorbate is a super great emulsifier that helps to keep those oils from settling to the bottom of the jar. But, if you are still having problems, I’d suggest not filling the jar as full so that you would have room to shake or stir it up if that happens again.

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  24. Love the video! Could you substitute the green zeolite clay with white kaolin? Does kaolin have exfoliating properties? I have everything on hand but the zeolite. I can’t wait to try these recipes. Thanks for being such a fantastic resource!!

  25. I can’t wait to make these. Just wondering if I could sub the Orange peel powder with something else that isn’t citrus?

  26. Another neat project.
    Does Brambleberry still sell the bail jars? It was not listed on the website.

  29. To make the lip scrub vegan could I use Carnuba or Candelilla and would i use half the amount of beeswax?

  31. Hi Becky
    Just loved these scrubs – had a thought – have you every tried making a scrub using dried lemon verbena.

    Regards
    Mae

    • We haven’t made a scrub with dried lemon verbena, but it does sound super scrumptious and should work just fine! If you do try it, you’ll have to let us know how it turns out. 🙂
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  33. I’m also curious about which preservative could be used in the salt glow and at which percentage. I have Germaben.

  35. Just wondering…can we go without the Polysorbate 20, or is there something else that can be used in place of this. What about a preservative?

    Thanks.

  36. I’ve never made scrubs before, but I ddefinitely want to try one now! Such a fun video. 🙂

  39. The scrubs sound great. The only problem is that the sugar, and the amount needed, were left out of the list of ingredients for the Lip Sugar Scrub. Sorry to be fussy but I just thought you should know.
    Loved the outtakes!!

      • Does the amount of sugar show above in the text following these ingredients;

        4 mL Lip Smackin’ Sweetener
        Classy Black Lip Pot

        I don’t see it either just thought I’d mention that. Perhaps the amount of sugar is only on the video?

    • Hi Suzanne!

      The text might be a little hard to see, but the sugar amount on the blog post is listed at 3 ounces. We really appreciate you pointing it out to us, sometimes things can be a little hard to see. =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

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