Being Nordic, one of my favorite Christmas treats are pepparkakor, a traditionally Swedish ginger cookie. They are made with a combination of spices and orange zest, and are traditionally served on St. Lucia Day. You might be familiar with Anna’s Thins found in grocery stores and IKEA…those are pepparkakor cookies. =) I was inspired by the flavors of this delicious cookie to create this Cleansing Orange Spice Salt Scrub. It’s super easy to make and smells just beyond yummy.
The base of this scrub is made from fine grained Dead Sea salt, Stephenson Liquid Soap Concentrate Base and a little bit of olive oil. The liquid soap base gives the scrub a nice thick texture and lathers slightly when applied to the skin. It’s definitely a more exfoliating scrub, so I would recommend it for your hands, feet and legs. If you prefer gentler exfoliation, simply swap the Dead Sea salt for granulated sugar or a finer grained exfoliant. Read more about exfoliant options here. In addition to orange peel and Racing Stripe Orange Mica, I added a bit of ground cinnamon to the scrub for appearance. Because cinnamon can be a skin irritant, you may want to omit it if you have very sensitive skin or are allergic to cinnamon.
As a bonus, you can save $10 off any Stephenson purchase of $20 or more with the coupon code: SAVETEN. Browse through Stephenson products here.
What You’ll Need:
4-5 4 oz. Plastic Bail Jars
24 oz. Fine Grained Dead Sea Salt
3 oz. Stephenson Liquid Soap Concentrate Base
1 oz. Olive Oil Pure
2 Tbs. Orange Peel
.5 tsp. Racing Stripe Orange Mica
5 mL 10X Orange Essential Oil
4 mL Cinnamon Sticks Fragrance Oil
Dash of ground cinnamon (optional)
Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!
ONE: In a large mixing bowl, add the fine grained Dead Sea salt. Add the orange peel to the salt and stir to mix in. Add the Racing Stripe Orange Mica and stir until completely blended.
TWO: In a small container, mix together the Stephenson Liquid Soap Concentrate and the olive oil. The mixture will soon turn into a creamy, opaque color.
THREE: Add the liquid soap mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until completely combined. If you prefer a more liquid scrub, feel free to add more Liquid Soap Concentrate or olive oil.
FOUR: Add the Cinnamon Sticks Fragrance Oil and 10X Orange Essential Oil and stir until completely combined. If you’d like to add ground cinnamon, add a dash to the mixture and stir until completely combined. I didn’t measure exactly how much I added, but it was about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. of ground cinnamon.
FIVE: Transfer the scrub into jars, using a spoon to press the scrub into the jar to fill completely. Enjoy! I recommend using this scrub on the hands, feet and legs. Fine grained Dead Sea salt is a little bit harsh for the face. =)
NOTE ABOUT PRESERVATIVES: Because this scrub does not contain any water, I did not add a preservative to this scrub. In addition, liquid soap has a pH that does not allow for bacteria or mold to grow. That being said, if you wanted to be on the extra safe side you could use an oil soluble preservative like Optiphen in this recipe at 1%. Click here to learn more about preservatives.
What is your favorite Christmas treat to eat? The Bramble Berry Cookiepalooza is coming up and I’m looking for suggestions on what to make!
- 4-5 4 oz. Plastic Bail Jars
- 24 oz. Fine Grained Dead Sea Salt
- 3 oz. Stephenson Liquid Soap Concentrate Base
- 1 oz. Olive Oil Pure
- 2 Tbs. Orange Peel
- .5 tsp. Racing Stripe Orange Mica
- 5 mL 10X Orange Essential Oil
- 4 mL Cinnamon Sticks Fragrance Oil
- Dash of ground cinnamon (optional)
- In a large mixing bowl, add the fine grained Dead Sea salt. Add the orange peel to the salt and stir to mix in. Add the Racing Stripe Orange Mica and stir until completely blended.
- In a small container, mix together the Stephenson Liquid Soap Concentrate and the olive oil. The mixture will soon turn into a creamy, opaque color.
- Add the liquid soap mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until completely combined. If you prefer a more liquid scrub, feel free to add more Liquid Soap Concentrate or olive oil.
- Add the Cinnamon Sticks Fragrance Oil and 10X Orange Essential Oil and stir until completely combined. If you'd like to add ground cinnamon, add a dash to the mixture and stir until completely combined. I didn't measure exactly how much I added, but it was about ¼ to ½ tsp. of ground cinnamon.
- Transfer the scrub into jars, using a spoon to press the scrub into the jar to fill completely. Enjoy! I recommend using this scrub on the hands, feet and legs. Fine grained Dead Sea salt is a little bit harsh for the face. =)
hi there,,
this might be a silly question but,,, i have liquid crystal concentrate(stephenson’s cosmetic base)is that the same as what your using in the recipe sorry not sure if it’s the same base.
You can use that in place of the Liquid Soap Concentrate Base! They are very similar. Both will add nice cleansing properties to the scrub. You may want to make a small test batch with the substitution just to make sure everything works well. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi,
Thanks for all the great recipes, hints and help.
I just made this scrub and the liquid is separating from the salt mix. I measured all the ingredients by weight and I know I only added 1 lb (16 oz) of olive oil as I barely had enough oil for the recipe. I’ve even added an extra 9 oz of salt and it is still very runny. I have siphoned off about 5 oz of liquid so far and more is pooling on top of the salt. I followed the recipe except I left out the mica and added .58oz of phenopip.
Any ideas or suggestions on how to salvage the scrub? I have a lot of Christmas shows coming up and really wanted to add this to my product line.
Thanks,
Yvette
Hi Yvette! Did you increase the recipe size at all, or just the olive oil amount? If you added 16 ounces of olive oil to this recipe instead of the 1 ounce it will be quite wet! You’ll need to add at least another pound of salt to get it to a more dry consistency. I would recommend adding 5 ounces of salt at a time until you get a consistency you like. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Good grief! I read the recipe wrong. How embarrassing.
At least I know how to fix it.
Thank you.
No worries, that happens to all of us! The good news is it’s a fairly easy fix – more salt will get you that dry consistency you’re looking for. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Can i use castile soap in this recipe in place of the suspension soap?
You can! Castile soap would work well in place of the Stephenson base. It adds some cleansing properties to the scrub. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Natural Liquid Castile Soap Base: https://www.brambleberry.com/Natural-Castile-Liquid-Soap-Base-P4609.aspx
I’ve just recently started making scrubs and this recipe sounds fabulous… just one question… will the orange peel turn brown and/or go “bad” in the mixture? Thanks…!
Hi Mei!
Over time, the orange peel may eventually turn brown. However, it does take a really long time! We have one of these scrubs in the lab from last year and it’s still a beautiful orange color. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi,
I have been making a simple sea salt boy scrub with fine and coarse sea salt, coconut oil, sweet almond oil and fragrance oil. However I just noticed that after 1 or 2 months teh Fragrance oil smell fades and I just smell an oily scent. ( almost an old oil smell… )
What can I do to keep the smell as nice as strong as in the beginning?
Thank you
Christina
Hi Christina!
There may be several factors that are causing the scent fading! The old oil smell makes me wonder if the oils are rancid. Oils have shelf lives, and after that date they can go bad. You can read more about shelf lives here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/shelf-life-bath-products-ingredients-rancidity-vs-mold/
How old are your oils? How much fragrance are you adding? Where are you storing your scrub? Let me know and we’ll get this figured out. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
The oils still have a shelf life till 2017. It is just coconut oil and grapeseed oil with the sea salt.
FO is aded at a 2%
Store them in a room that has a room temp. of about 15-17 Celcius ( 59-62,6 Fahrenheit) away from direct sunlight.
8 out of 10 fragrances have faded. The 2 that havent are 1 that is a footscrub which has mentol crystals an Eucalyptus/spearmint FO teh other is a perfume dupe FO that is slightly stronger that most of the others… )
Thank tiy Kelsey
Thanks so much for the great information Christina! It sounds like your oils are nice and fresh, and you’re storing the scrub exactly how we recommend to. Because of that, I’m a bit stumped. I have a scrub in my shower now that was made in December that still has a scent to it. Even stored in a humid bathroom environment, it’s still quite strong!
I would recommend adding a bit more scent to the mix. With scrubs, you can add up to 3% fragrance to the mix. That extra 1% may help the scent last a bit longer. To find out how much scent to add, you can use our Fragrance Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
Select “salts” from the drop down menu. 🙂
If that doesn’t help, let me know. You may also try stronger fragrances to see if that helps. For instance, peppermint essential oil is nice and strong, and a little goes a long way: https://www.brambleberry.com/Peppermint-Essential-Oil-1st-Distill-P3828.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Kelsey,
I have 1 more question about my strange problem. Could it be, because I used fine and coarse sea salt from the grocerystore? Just the same as we would use for cooking? And I did not include any optiphen because I did not include any water in the recipe.
I still had some premixed salt scrub without FO. Just the salt and the oils and that one also has that old ‘musty” smell…
I remembver that the foothscrub I made, with almost teh same recipe has 2 things added to the mixture. that is Epsom salt and the menthol crystals.
Could it be the need of Epsom salt
The foot scrub recipe is:
500 gr Coarse sea salt
500 gr Fine sea salt
300 gr Epsom salt
20 gr Coconut oil
20 gr Grapeseed Oil
5 gr Menthol Crystals
2% FO
The body scrub is without the Epsom and the Menthol but the same for the other ingredients.
Just want to solve the problem, Or we will have enough Sea Salt to last me a lifetime LOL
Thanks again for your help
Because that scrub still smells without the fragrance oil, I’m wondering if it’s the oils! It sounds kind of odd, but I would recommend smelling each of your oils. It may be that one of them has a natural scent that’s a bit strong. If you notice one of the oils has a scent you’re not a fan of, you can switch it out with another one. 🙂
The salts may also be it! Salts naturally absorb moisture and odor from the air, so if they were next to something at the grocery store they may have picked up some of the scent. I would recommend smelling those as well!
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Can the concentrated liquid be substituted with potassium cocoate since that’s all I have? If so how much? Thanks
You can definitely use potassium cocoate! It’s very similar to liquid soap. I would recommend using the same amount (3 ounces). If you’d like the scrub a bit more wet, you can add more in .5 ounce quantities. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Potassium cocoate: https://www.brambleberry.com/Potassium-Cocoate-P5902.aspx
Can this recipe still be preservative free if I use Potassium Cocoate?
Absolutely! Preservatives are optional in this recipe. When stored in a shower, the scrub can get water splashed in it. The preservatives help protect against any mold or bacteria. They’re an extra precaution but not necessary. Just make sure to store your scrub in a dry part of the shower. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I see. Would it be ok to leave the preservative out and just make a note in the label if I want to sell it? Thanks a lot!
You can do that if you like! A note with the shelf life and how to store it would be a good idea. That being said, even with a note on how to store it, your customers may not do so. That’s why we recommend a preservative for products you’re selling – just in case it’s stored in a really wet area. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble berry
I love this scrub. I made it with sugar instead of salt. No colorant was added, the natural color reminded me of cookie dough. It smells so good, makes my skin super soft, feeling very moisturized & invigorated. Really perks me up & leaves me feeling refreshed. I just love it. I had my husband try it and he is impressed. I am going to give a big jar to each of my children for Christmas. I am sure they will love it as much as I do. Thank you for the great recipe.
You’re welcome Ginny, so glad you love the scrub! The natural cookie dough color sounds warm and lovely. I think your children will love it! 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Just wondering – with all the new micas you just introduced (I bought a bunch of them :-)), why didn’t you also come up with a nice red-red for CP?
Thanks so much for ordering those new micas Michael! Which one is your favorite? 🙂
We are definitely looking for a nice red colorant! Thanks so much for your suggestion. You can also find some great combinations for red in cold process in this post: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/the-perfect-red-in-cold-process-soap/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
16 new colorants: http://bbshare.co/k
One more question- why is the concentrate not diluted? Isn’t it too “concentrated”? Thanks.
Probably because if you added water to dilute it, then it would be too runny. Plus you’re introducing water into it so, then you need a preservative.
Hi Martina!
We wanted the soap and oil mixture to be nice and thick, so we kept the soap undiluted. It feels great on the skin though! It’s essentially diluted by the 24 ounces of salt and orange peel. 🙂
If you’d like, you can dilute the soap base! It can be diluted up to 5:1 water to soap. As Michael said, it will make the soap and oil mixture a bit thinner. The good news is, liquid soap doesn’t need a preservative because it has a pH level that doesn’t allow mold to grow! Read more about using preservatives here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lotion/talk-it-out-tuesday-preservatives/
Read more about working with the base here: https://www.brambleberry.com/Stephenson-Liquid-Soap-Concentrate-Base-P6287.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I have everything for this! I think I’ll make it. 🙂
Can I use Phenonip?
Thanks!
Absolutely! You can use Phenonip at .5-1% in this recipe. Have fun giving it a try Martina! 🙂
Phenonip: https://www.brambleberry.com/Phenonip-P4038.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I love orange spice! And since you guys don’t carry the FO anymore, at least now I have a way to make my own mixture 🙂 And I’m Swedish as well, you betcha sure.
I love that scent too! It always puts me in a festive mood. Thanks so much for reading and commenting Michael. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry