Make your own solid sugar scrubs jam packed with skin-loving ingredients. No more mixing the liquid oils and the sugar before you shower – which can be a bit of a mess! Just grab one of these adorable solid sugar scrub cubes for an easy, mess free, luxurious shower.
Ingredients
2 oz Shea Butter
.2 oz Vitamin E Oil
1.8 oz Sweet Almond Oil
.8 oz BTMS-50 Conditioning Emulsifier
5 oz White Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Cellini Blue Mica
9 ml Tropical Vacation Fragrance Oil (about .3 oz)
ONE: In a microwave safe bowl add the Deoderized Cocoa Butter, Vitamin E Oil and Sweet Almond Oil. Melt the butters and oils in the microwave for about 2 minutes total stirring every 30 seconds until the mixture is liquid. Remember, make sure the container is filled at least a third of the way up, if not half way. Hot, empty, heated space = cracked glass.
TWO: Stir in the Shea Butter, BTMS-50 and Fragrance Oil of choice (Tropical Vacation screams ‘SPRING’). Pop it back in the microwave until the mixture has completely liquefied (my temperature was around 170 degrees).
THREE: Add ¼ teaspoon of Cellini Blue Mica (or any oil-soluble mica of choice) then mix, mix, mix.
FOUR: Stir in 5 ounces of white sugar. Then evenly pour into 3 of the 4 cavities of the Abstract Leaves Mold.
FIVE: Carefully put the mold in the fridge so the oils will cool at the same temperature. This will obviously speed up the cooling process but most importantly, it will also help you get the solid scrub out of the mold.
Do you like the other Spring colors? I used Cellini Blue Mica in the main Recipe. The pink is Red Blue Mica, the yellow is Lip Safe Yellow Mica and the green is Shamrock Green Mica.
SIX: After a couple hours in the fridge unmold and cut into four pieces. You’ll end up with a spring flower in each one!
Alternate recipes (follow the instructions above).
Recipe Two: This recipe is a little softer but really nice in the shower. The combination is 50% Shea Butter so it melts with skin contact. They’re a little messier to handle making them difficult to package. If you don’t plan on selling the solid sugar scrubs and it’s just for personal use, I would go with this recipe.
Ingredients: 4 oz Shea Butter, .2 oz Vitamin E Oil, 1.8 Sweet Almond Oil, 2 oz Deodorized Cocoa Butter, .8 BTMS-50, 4 oz White Sugar, 9 ml Fragrance Oil.
Recipe Three: This recipe is sans the BTMS-50 for a natural sugar scrub alternative. To make it 100% natural use an essential oil instead of the fragrance oil and leave out the colorant. The sugar tends to sink to the bottom of the mold as it cools leaving some extra oils on top but it still hardens up nicely. It’s a great natural alternative and extremely luxurious in the shower. I had such a great time testing all three recipes!
Ingredients: 4 oz Shea Butter, .2 oz Vitamin E Oil, 1.8 Sweet Almond Oil, 2 oz Deodorized Cocoa Butter, 4 oz White Sugar, 9 ml Essential oil.
Hello!
I tried the first recipe last night and it was luxurious! The only problem I had was that the sugar sank to the bottom. I used e-wax instead of BTMS. Could that be the problem? Or should I have used more e-wax?
I tried recipe 3 and it was so oily plus ants came to visit my bathroom after first used.
Hi TT!
That recipe does tend to be a bit more oily but it is because it is all natural. The other two recipes utilize an emulsifier so they aren’t nearly as oily and you might want to try that on your next go round on this recipe. 🙂
Btms- 50 Conditioning Emulsifier: https://www.brambleberry.com/Btms-50-Conditioning-Emulsifier-P3623.aspx
-Becky with Bramble Berry
I made the #3 recipe and loved it, but I want to make them to sell and I’m afraid they may be to soft in the summer months. Someone had mentioned using beeswax to harden them up a little, about how much beeswax would you recommend using for recipe #3? We order all our essential oils and other ingredients for our company off your website and we love them!! Keep up the good work and have a great day!!
Hi Ashley!
We didn’t notice too many problems with them being too soft in the summer months. But, you can definitely add some beeswax to help harden them up if you are worried. I’d start out with about 25% of your entire recipe for the Beeswax.
I hope this helps! 🙂
-Becky with Bramble Berry
Hi Anne Marie..
I want to make these scrubs to sell, but im abit scared of bacteria and such.. How long do you think these will last on a shelf?
Regards,
Tone Irene
If you are worried about bacteria, you can always add a preservative to the recipe, though it isn’t necessarily needed because there is no water.
These sugar scrubs are going to have a shelf life of the shortest shelf life ingredient (which is the Sweet Almond Oil ). So I would say about six months to a year. I hope this helps! =)
-Becky with Bramble Berry
I absolutely love these. I am just wondering how to package them for gifts. Drawing a blank please help.
Hi Ke! I’d suggest either a cello bag or shrink-wrapping. Either way I think would make for a fabulous presentation of your gifts!
~Becky with Bramble Berry
There are different quantities for the butters and oils in each recipe for a different consistency.
Recipe one is the hardest consistency, recipe two is a little bit softer, while recipe three is the softest and 100% natural.
The quantities are correct and the measurements are in weight. 🙂
-Becky with Bramble Berry
I have two very quick questions:
Is there a reason why the original recipe calls for 5oz of soap and versions 2 and 3 call for only 4 ounces?
Are these measurements in volume or weight?
Thank you. Great website!
I LOVE THIS READY TO TRY
MY QUESTION IS CAN I ADD GOAT MILK POWDER TO RECIPE #1? BECAUSE I FOUND ADDING GOAT MILK TO CERTAIN RECIPES GIVES A GOOD LATHER!!!
THANKS!!!
These scrubbie recipes are not actually meant to lather up. If you’re looking for a scrub that lathers, try this recipe http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/melt-and-pour-soap/solid-bath-sugar-cubes-tutorial-2/
If you add the goat milk to the scrub it will only last a week or so before it spoils so keep that in mind. It would be a great addition if you want to use the scrub right away.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
Obviously I am playing catch-up here, but I have to tell you that I can’t wait to try these recipes. This is definitely on my to do list for this weekend. I am so excited about trying and tweaking. Such an inspiration for valentines day gift baskets. I LOVE THIS SITE! Not only are you my GO TO for supplies, you are my chosen site for inspiration as well as information. Thank you so much for all you do. I couldn’t do this without you.
Thanks for the positive feedback Gwen. That is SO awesome to read. I’m glad that the projects here have inspired you AND, I’m sooooooo thilled that you’re using Bramble Berry for your supplies (since, eh hem, they do pay to make everything I do here possible). =) Here’s to an insane amount of awesome projects coming out of your kitchen this year!
Anne-Marie, I have to tell you that I made the sugar scrubs this weekend. I used the 6 cavity silicone heart mold instead of the leaf mold which made them a little bigger. I also used your Sleeping Angels FO as the scent (used my last – waiting on order for more). They are WONDERFUL!!!! I can’t say enough about them for their moisturizing. You are the best. I’ll be offering them in gift baskets at a Valentine’s day show.
ps. Was wondering if find dead sea salt could be substituted for the sugar?
OOPS sorry for my fat-fingers. I meant FINE dead sea salt
Salt does not work the same way sugar does. The mixture goes all weird and gooey.
I am SO glad that you made these and liked them. Woo Hoo! =) Thank you for letting me know.
Thanks for the response. Definitely don’t want weird and gooey. I love them the way they are anyway.
Oops forgot to ask. I was wondering about making these with brown sugar – would that work instead of white sugar? recipe 1
What mica would you recommend? honey beige?
What fragrance oil? warm vanilla sugar?
Also how much does the recipe yield? (I know it depends on the size of the mold – but a ball park please). Thanks so much!
Brown sugar is usually a little bit stickier with larger granules (depending on the type that you get). I think it would work great though. The rest is up to you. I love the idea of Warm Vanilla Sugar and Honey Beige Mica! Or maybe Sparkle Gold Mica? http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lip-products/labeling-your-products-lip-balm/
This recipe yields about 13.8 ounces of product.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
Thanks so much! You’all are so very helpful and answer quickly. I appreciate that!
Could I use the 25 cube silicone mold for these? Thanks
Since the sugar scrubs are not rock solid (like soap), I think they would be a little difficult to unmold from the 25 bar silicone. Definitely try it first with a small batch before jumping into mass production!
Courtney from Bramble Berry
Thanks Courtney – I wanted a plain mold (no design) – and I am new to soap and scrub making – so what would you recommend instead? Thanks in advance.
Dear Soap queen!:)
HAve been meaning to make a sugar scrub for ages.. so tried your recipe no three… with kokum butter, which is a hardish lump, some white chocolate.. which I presume is cocoa butter..not sure… and almond and olive oil, melted the the hard butters and then mixed in the rest and oput it in the freezer. When half soft whipped itup and added the sugar. Its holding well, a creme sugar scrub… I even put in a little of the liquid soap jelly tahts before its dissolved with water for liquid soap. that I make at home so it was there…
tried using it, quite greasy, does scrub well with the sugar and doesnt alther… maybe some more of the soap? I live in India and dont get cocoa butter or shea butter so have to make do. Is it fineif the mixture scrubs well, but feels a little greasy?
thank you , still trying!
Elaine
It sounds like you’re having trouble getting all the ingredients that I recommended in the recipe. Is that accurate?
If you cannot get all the ingredients, then yes, the recipe and the results will be different than my results but still, you have a scrub. I wouldn’t expect the recipe to lather because there is not much soap in your revised recipe but yes, you could add more soap if you wanted to but with all that oil, I don’t even think that will make the soap lather up much at all. Oil cuts down on lather.
This is meant to be a moisturising solid scrub that provides scrub and leaves your skin feeling dewy and soft. It’s not designed to lather much.
I hope this helps =)
I spent the afternoon browsing through your tutorials – love them all! For recipe #1, what is the expected shelf life? And, an earlier commenter said it took 2 weeks for her scrub to harden – is that typical? (I haven’t made them yet, but want to be prepared!) Thanks!!
I’d say 9 months for shelf life. And no, that’s not typical. Mine harden up almost instantly! =) Like within 15-20 minutes? Enjoy it! You’ll hopefully love the recipe. =)
I would love to make these and have everything but deoderized cocoa butter! 🙁 Can I use all Shea Butter?
Thanks,
Lori
Unfortunately, this recipe won’t work the same. Cocoa butter is what makes the sugar scrub hard. If you only use shea butter you’ll end up with a super soft bar. You could replace the cocoa butter with mowrah butter, they have a similar hard consistency. Here’s the link https://www.brambleberry.com/Mowrah-Butter-P4738.aspx.
Your other option would be beeswax.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
Question 🙂 How hard are these bars supposed to get. After 12 hours mine are soft. They’re holding their shape and are awesome in the shower, but I was wondering if the longer they sit that eventually they’ll get harder? Or if they’ll always be very soft to the touch and easily “squish-able”.
Thanks
Jennifer 🙂
Which recipe did you decide to use? The main recipe is pretty hard. I just ran to the soap studio and poked the original scrubs that we made and they’re really hard, but I don’t think they’ve gotten harder. Recipe 2 and 3 are definitely soft.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
I used recipe 1 and they’ve gotten much harder over the past two weeks. I think they were just initially soft and I was too impatient to wait and see if they’d harden before I asked the question! Thanks!
Thanks Anne Marie!
I love challenges so I remade the recipe only this time I put it in the freezer and kept whisking it until it stayed all incorpoarted.
It was a bit thick to pour, so figured I had left it too long so I put it in the microwave for a few seconds and it poured beautifully.
IT WORKED! And they are truly lovely!!!!
Thank you!
Awweeeeesome! We have one customer that has a commercial chocolate operation. She has these cool freezer tables that she is able to do the same exact concept with … but, since most people don’t have that, I didn’t suggest it! LOL! But you figured out how to do it on your own – you are very patient (more patient than I am, I will admit).
Thanks for the update – I’m so glad you like them – and kudos for being so super diligent! =)
I made recipe #3 as well – unsuccessfully. The oils and sugar did not want to combine at all, no matter how cool I got it. It went from the fridge to the freezer and I stirred it with a whisk continually trying to get it to blend.
Wasted some good butters/oils, sadly.
Yes, when I said “The Sugar tends to sink to the bottom” in that description, I meant just that. It does not stay all nicely together like the original recipe. The product is all natural but the product will not suspend the sugar.
I still think it’s a lovely product – one side exfoliates and the other moisturizes – but it’s definitely not as good as the main recipe in my opinion but for my natural friends.
I loveeeeeee your Blog and I purchase my supplies from Bramble Berry 🙂
I was wondering if I can substitute water for melt and Pour soap?
Yay! I’m glad you like us and thank you for your orders!
There isn’t any melt and pour in this recipe. Could you be thinking of this post http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/melt-and-pour-soap/solid-bath-sugar-cubes-tutorial-2/ ?
If so, the answer is no. Melt and pour is what makes everything stick together.
-Courtney from BB
I would really like to try making these, but I’m wondering about the colorants. I don’t have these micas, but will all micas work, or only certain ones? Also, what about pigments and Labcolors?
Thanks!!
Technically oxides will work. Just make sure you use teensy amount. They could potentially sink to the bottom since they’re a little heavier than micas so just make sure to stir, stir, stir. Other micas will work just fine.
Labcolors, on the other hand, so they won’t mix in properly. And of course you could leave the colorant out all together for a beautiful white.
-Courtney from BB
Hello!
I did las night the recipe No.3 but it didn’t go well, the sugar didn’t mix properly so the oils where on top (like you say) but I didn’t expected to be so extreme. I added more sugar and let them dry, but in the jar the oil part was melted and the sugar part hard so it is like a slush now. After using them I had to shower again because they where really greasy, also my husband and tube. I would like to do No.1 but I´m not familiar with BTMS-50 Conditioning Emulsifier.
In the other hand I did the other recipe from the 4th of July and that was perfect also my husband liked it (he is my guinea pig). I would like to make a honey variation of this one what do you recommend me?
Thank you for posting so many recipes so we can always find one the works for us.
If you want to use honey, you’ll definitely want to use the BTMS-50 (or emulsifying wax) with this because the honey will “fall out” of just a straight oil/wax mixture (similar to using that in a lip balm – the honey will drop out).
The cooler you get recipe No. 3, the better chance you have of the sugar suspending but it is really hard to make it suspend because of the naturalness of the recipe.
This might be a dumb question – do you use these instead of soap or before soap or after soap in the shower? I am interested in trying these but not sure when or how to use them properly.
I’d use them AFTER soap because they really leave your skin feeling baby soft and leave some oils on your skin. They are luxurious on the skin and leave skin feeling fantastic, IMO.
I may have to give this a try! I did a recipe with grated CP soap and used ice cube trays for the mold. It worked pretty well, but the scrubs seemed to alternate between scrubby and smooth as you used them. I figured a nice exfoliating soap achieved the same purpose.
This recipe is pretty gosh darn swell. It’s like a lotion bar with scrubby in it. Skin is left super soft and absolutely lovely.
i traid it with e-wax and all the suger sink to the bottom,do you think if i add more suger it will work?
E-wax should act the same as BTMS-50. Maybe stir until it gets thicker as it starts to cool down and that should solve the issue? I made looooots of batches before we finalized the blog post and I didn’t have any sinking ones with the BTMS-50 and in theory, BTMS-50 and e-wax act very similar in the recipe.
I don’t love the m&p sugar scrub cubes, but adore sugar scrubs, so I’m intrigued by this recipe–the best of both worlds. I’m off to go try this! Thanks! 🙂
I can’t wait to hear what you thought of it! Let me know =)
Looks like I’ll be making another order from Bramble Berry! 😀 I’ve been wanting to try out sugar scrubs for a while now.
Yay and thank you for your business – I so appreciate it.
What I meant to say is that
“It” would seem reasonable…..
that the Heat in the emulsion would begin to
break down the sharp sugar crystals……”
Sorry…
Yes! i was thinking the same, but i wasn´t secure …thank you for you answer 😀
These are beautiful, Anne-Marie.
I would be interested to see your response to
Natalia on her cosmetologist’s comment about the
sugar. I would seem reasonable to me to think that
maybe the emulsion would also begin to break down any sharp sugar crystals; thus making them more rounded as per her comment.
What do you think?
XO!
I definitely notice that sugar crystals tend to dissolve way faster than salt for me in the shower.
I have to try these! I have a client that didn’t like the hard sugar bar made with melt and pour, but doesn’t want a goopy sugar scub, either. These will be perfect. But now I want the mold too, so cute!
These won’t be gloppy at all so I think your client will like them – I hope ! keep me posted! =)
Is the recipe correct in Step 1 now? I was reading about the cocoa butter and shea butter and would like to try this recipe but wasn’t sure if it was correct.
Thank you!
Yes – you’re golden! Sorry about that. =)
I use a different recipe. I think you have as well using m&p which does larger a little. But I was gonna experiment and try to make a good lather sugar scrub. If you find one please share. These are very cute!
We have two posts with melt and pour based sugar scrubs so I’m betting yours is similar =) This is really fun because it’s more like an exfoliating lotion but both definitely have their place.
I will try recipe #3 this weekend, I have all of those items. I don’t have BTSM but I have plenty of E-Wax.
How did it work out for you with the e-wax? Would love to hear!
dear anne marie, a cosmetologist friend told me that little sugar cube are imperfect shape…so it damage the skin. And explained me that cosmetologic dust (like apricot seed…etc….) are rounded to be safe. I was sad because i love sugar scrubs. Is this true?? Because i want to keep using my regular sugar, cause is cheaper jeje…Thank you.
Interestingly enough, that’s not been my experience with any of the fruit powders. We sell a bunch of them and they are sharp little buggers! But, the more grinding you do, the finer in texture you can get. If you want to do a scrub for the face, I would 100% say stick with the Bamboo: https://www.brambleberry.com/Bamboo-Extract-Powder-Light-Exfoliant-P3714.aspx
It is entirely possible that your cosmetologist friend is working with a different grain (or size) of powder than we’re selling so keep that in mind. There are many different sizes of grains for almost everything out there that you can put on your body. =)
Those solid sugar scrubs jam certainly look like they are infused with skin-loving ingredients. Great tutorial. The photo is very nice. Thank you!
Thank you! We are so in-love with these scrubs right now. They are just super fun to make and incredibly easy to use.
Will it lather well? Mine never lather when I add shea butter:/
These won’t lather at all. They’re more of a solid lotion that exfoliates.
Can’t wait to try this! I don’t have the BTSM but I think I can fake it with E-wax? But, hmm…I think you may have gotten the shea butter and cocoa butter mixed up in step 1…I thought cocoa butter got microwaved and shea butter was added to already melted oils?
Yes – I think that e-wax would work perfectly.
Totally messed up the Cocoa/Shea thing. Hilarious. I had TWO people read over my post too.
I’m off to fix that ASAP. Good eagle eyes Angie!