scrub Archives - Soap Queen

All About Exfoliants

July 30, 2018 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Exfoliation is key to maintaining smooth skin. It removes oil and dead skin, which allows moisturizer to absorb more easily.

The exfoliant you choose depends on your recipe. Fine exfoliants work well for the face and large exfoliants work well for the body, especially dry areas like elbows and feet. It’s also based on personal preference – the best way to find out what you like is to experiment.

Start with 1 teaspoon of exfoliant per pound of product. For cold process soap, add medium and large exfoliants at thin trace and whisk to incorporate. Mix 1 teaspoon of fine exfoliants with 1 tablespoon of a lightweight oil or distilled water first to prevent clumps. For melt and pour, add medium and large exfoliants and stir until the soap is around 125-135F. It needs to be thick enough to suspend the particles. For fine exfoliants, mix 1 teaspoon with 1 tablespoon of 99% isopropyl alcohol.

Fine exfoliants – best for the face, need to be dispersed

Colloidal Oatmeal
Colloidal oatmeal is one of the most gentle exfoliants. It can be used in face masks, soap, and more. We added it to the Oatmeal Bath Bombs and Gentle Oatmeal Baby Soap because of its silky texture and soothing properties.

Bamboo Powder
This natural powder comes from bamboo stems. It starts as a thick liquid, then crystallizes at room temperature. Add it to handmade soap and cosmetics for gentle exfoliation. You’ll love the way it feels in the Black, White, and Gold All Over Soap.

Pumice Powder
Pumice powder is a fantastic gentle exfoliant created from milled volcanic glass. Its fine texture works well in the Pumice and Poppy Seed Melt and Pour Bars.

Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda)
Baking soda is an amazing multi-purpose product. It’s used in bath bombs, bath salts, and natural cleaning products. It’s great for scrubs as well – try it in the Sea Clay Dry Salt Scrub, Walnut Facial Scrub, or Cranberry Seed Foot Scrub.

Medium exfoliants – suitable for both the face and body

Walnut Shells
Along with exfoliation, walnut shells add a natural brown color to handmade soap and cosmetics. We used them for the crust in the Pumpkin Pie Cold Process Soap and the dirt in the Carrot Cold Process Soap.

Salts and Sugar
There are a variety of salts and sugars that can be used for scrubs, bath bombs, and more. Depending on the size, they can offer gentle or more powerful exfoliation. Salt can also be used in cold process soap – it creates really creamy lather. Learn how to use it in the Lavender and Rose Pink Salt Bars tutorial.

Jojoba Beads
This biodegradable exfoliant is made from jojoba oil. The beads come in various sizes and colors, so there’s an option for every recipe. Try them in the Rainbow Jojoba Bead Sugar Scrub or the Cleansing Charcoal Facial Scrub. Learn more about jojoba beads in this blog post.

Shredded Loofah
This exfoliant comes from whole loofah sponges. They’re ground to a fine texture, making it easy to disperse throughout soap or scrubs. Try it in the Lard and Loofah Cold Process Soap or the Gardener Melt and Pour Soap.

Icelandic Black Sand
This product comes from a volcanic beach on the South Coast of Iceland. It has mild exfoliation and a beautiful natural color, as seen in the Coastal Rain Cold Process Soap.

Large exfoliants – best for the body

Coffee Grounds
Don’t throw used coffee grounds away – they’re perfect for recipes like the Simple Coffee Soap. Used grounds are best for cold process to prevent bleeding, but we recommend dry grounds for scrubs. The DIY Coffee Body Scrub leaves your skin feeling fresh and clean.

Loofah Sponge
Loofah sponge is a unique natural exfoliant. They come in long tubes that can be cut down and added to soap like the Garden Melt and Pour Bars. Their texture is great for rough areas like the feet or elbows.

Pumice Sand
This powerful exfoliant will leave your skin feeling clean. It has larger grains and a more intense exfoliation than pumice powder. Try it in the Pumice Body Scrub.

Strawberry, Cranberry, Blackberry, and Broccoli Seeds
These are great for adding intense exfoliation and a pop of color. See how to use them in the Cranberry Sugar Scrub, Wildflower Honey Sugar Scrub, and Blueberry Thyme Soap.

Poppy Seeds
This product adds such a pretty pop of color to DIY bath and beauty products. We love it as a design element as much as we love the powerful exfoliation. Try it in the Raspberry Jam Scrub, Mini Lemon Poppy Seed Melt and Pour Soap, or Lemon Poppy Seed Cold Process Soap.

This post was updated in July 2018.

DIY Salt Scrub Cubes

November 24, 2017 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Soaks & Scrubs

Winter is known for wreaking havoc on the skin. These Salt Scrub Cubes are made with Epsom salt to scrub away dry skin and cocoa butter and avocado butter to leave it moisturized and comfortable.

The color and fragrance of these cubes are inspired by gemstones. The batch was split into three containers and scented with Amethyst Fragrance Oil, Moonstone Fragrance Oil, and Jade Fragrance Oil. A dash of coordinating mica was added to each container to complete the gemstone appearance. If you want to make one large batch you can – just add 6 mL of one fragrance oil and one mica to the entire batch.

These scrub cubes took plenty of testing to get a solid cube that was also soft enough to spread on the skin. Because they are on the softer side, they need to be stored in a dry and cool place. Once the mixture is poured into the Small Cubes Mold & Package, we recommend popping them in the fridge for several hours to get very cold and firm. We found the cubes stuck to the mold when they weren’t extremely cold.

To use, apply the cubes to wet skin and massage in. Rinse off and pat dry – no need to wash after. You could also break these cubes under the faucet as you fill up the tub. They are essentially buttery bath salts.

The polysorbate 80 in this recipe helps prevent an oily residue on the skin, but the butters do leave behind a moisturizing feeling. If you prefer a scrub that washes away completely clean, you may prefer the DIY Sugar Scrub Cube recipe. It contains melt and pour soap to cleanse the skin.

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DIY Coffee Body Scrub

July 7, 2017 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Soaks & Scrubs

Made with coffee grounds, coffee butter and coffee oil, this easy scrub is perfect for any coffee-lover. Coffee grounds exfoliate away dead skin, while the coffee oil and coffee butter leave skin feeling smooth. A touch of potassium cocoate prevents an overly-greasy feel.

This scrub can be used with fresh or used coffee grounds. If you add used coffee grounds, make sure they are completely dry to avoid bacterial growth. Any product that contains water needs a preservative to prevent mold. While this scrub is only made with oil and potassium cocoate, the recipe does contain Optiphen because it may come in contact with water in the shower. It can be omitted if you prefer.

Coffee oil is the star of this scrub. It is extracted directly from roasted coffee beans and has a thick texture and dark color. The combination of the coffee oil, coffee butter, and coffee grounds gives the recipe a nice coffee smell. We added a touch of Espresso Fragrance Oil to give the scrub slightly sweeter notes. If you’re using quality, fresh coffee grounds, you may find you don’t need to use any fragrance oil at all.

This scrub is quite “dry,” but leaves behind a light oily-feel on the skin. While the coffee oil is quite dark, the scrub doesn’t leave any color on the skin, thanks to the potassium cocoate. You could also use a liquid soap base if you prefer.

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Cleansing Charcoal Facial Scrub DIY

January 27, 2017 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Soaks & Scrubs

Leave your skin feeling smooth with this Charcoal and Clay Face Scrub. Made with a liquid soap base, it has a gentle lather. Additional tamanu oil and hazelnut oil are added because of their amazing skin benefits. In particular, they are great for oily skin types. If you prefer different oil for your skin, feel free to swap them out. Just keep in mind it may change the consistency a bit!

The Natural Castile Liquid Soap Base is made exclusively from olive oil, resulting in a very mild soap. It has a light lather and gentle cleansing properties so it’s suitable for delicate facial skin. If you have extremely dry skin, this recipe may not be the best as it contains kaolin clay and charcoal, which may be drying. Decreasing the amount of kaolin clay and charcoal may help make it suitable for dry skin types; a small test batch may help you find the right ratio for you.

Medium sized jojoba beads give this scrub a gentle amount of exfoliation. Jojoba beads are great for the face because they are round and won’t scratch delicate face skin. The amount of scrub in this recipe is light; if you prefer more exfoliation feel free to add more jojoba beads. Don’t get jojoba beads confused with micro-beads – they are quite different! Learn about the difference here.

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Cucumber Melon Sea Salt Scrub DIY

October 6, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Soaks & Scrubs

Cucumber is such a soothing and refreshing fragrance. It’s the perfect scent to relax and rejuvenate. Earlier this week, I mixed it with lavender to create Cucumber & Lavender Bath Bombs. Now that our skin has been treated to a hot bath, the next step in the home spa experience is to scrub away dead skin. This Cucumber Sea Salt Scrub does the trick.

The base of this scrub is Foaming Bath Butter. It’s a premade base that when whipped with a hand or stand mixer, transforms into a light and fluffy consistency. It is made of gentle surfactants that mildly cleanse the skin. To the base, a combination of Fine Grained Dead Sea Salt and Forest Green Jojoba Beads are added. The jojoba beads add a light green color and gentle exfoliation. Learn more about jojoba beads here, and how they differ from microbeads.

Fine grained Dead Sea salt is great for the body, but can be a little scratchy on gentle facial skin. The amount of salt in this recipe provides gentle exfoliation. If you prefer something “scrubbier,” feel free to add more salt to suit your preference. We also created free printable labels for this scrub! Simply add download the label and print the labels on waterproof label paper.

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Wildflower Honey Sugar Scrub DIY

August 16, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Soaks & Scrubs

Sugar scrubs are a favorite of mine; they are easy to make and sugar feels refreshing and nice on the skin. Using up the sugar in my pantry also prevents sugar temptation! 😉 To give this Wildflower Honey Sugar Scrub a little extra “oomph,” I added strawberry seeds. They are a mild tan color and are a little rougher than granulated sugar. Because of this, I recommend this scrub for the body and not for the face. As a bonus, we designed free downloadable labels for this scrub. The template includes labels for the Pure Honey Cold Process Soap and Beeswax Lotion Bars (coming later this week). Find them here.

A combination of jojoba oil and potassium cocoate are added to the dry ingredients for a soft, wet sand texture. Jojoba oil is a luxurious liquid wax that is produced from the seed of the jojoba shrub. Click here to learn more about jojoba oil. Potassium cocoate is the potassium salt of coconut fatty acid, and acts similar to liquid soap. In this scrub, it helps give a mild lather and leaves skin feeling clean rather than oily.

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Kauai Red Sea Salt Scrub DIY

June 28, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Soaks & Scrubs

If your skin is feeling flaky and dry, exfoliation is key. Exfoliation gets rid of the rough texture and helps your moisturizer absorb. This Kauai Red Sea Salt Scrub is made with salt from the Pacific Ocean. The salt is covered in red alae clay from Kauai to give it a gorgeous burnt orange color. The fine texture of the salt makes it perfect for scrubbing off dead skin from the legs and body.

Jojoba oil and fractionated coconut oil are added for skin-loving properties. To help prevent a greasy feeling on the skin, I added potassium cocoate. Potassium cocoate is a natural liquid surfactant made from coconut oil. It acts like liquid soap and gives the scrub light cleansing properties. The scrub will not bubble or foam on the skin, but the potassium cocoate makes the skin feel clean rather than oily. It also prevents the red alae clay from sticking to the skin. To see what this scrub looks like on the skin and how it washes off, scroll to the bottom of the post.

This scrub is part of the #SoaptheRainbow series and contest. All week long, share your photos of red projects on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with the tag #SoaptheRainbow for a chance to win a $10 Bramble Berry gift certificate.

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Apple & Sage Salt Scrub DIY

May 17, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Soaks & Scrubs

With summer quickly approaching, now is the perfect time to prep your skin for swimsuits and tank tops. Scrubs help get rid of dry winter skin. They also help moisturizer absorb, leaving your skin soft and smooth. Handmade scrubs are even better because you can customize the ingredients and create a fun design, like the green and white layers in this Apple Sage Salt Scrub.

The recipe features the new Apple Sage Fragrance Oil, which has notes of juicy apple, sage, pineapple and coconut water. It’s a perfect blend of sweet and herby. Evergreen Mica and Apple Moss Green Mica complement the fresh notes in the fragrance. The scrub also has Epsom salt, avocado oil and Stephenson Organic Liquid Castile Soap for a cleansing, gently exfoliating texture that also moisturizes the skin.

This scrub works great for the body. In our tests, we found the micas wash off and don’t stay on the skin. Epsom salt is finely grained, so the recipe may be gentle enough for the face. If you have sensitive skin, you may prefer to use it on the body only. Because the scrub will be applied near the nose, you may want to decrease the fragrance amount so it’s not as strong.

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Blueberry Jam Sugar Scrub Easy DIY

April 12, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Soaks & Scrubs

$This Blueberry Jam Fragrance Oil contains skin loving fractionated coconut oil and gentle jojoba beads for exfoliation.$
Fragrances are a great source of inspiration for handmade products. Often, a scent gives you an idea of the colors and designs you want to use. As soon as I smelled Blueberry Jam Fragrance Oil from the new Spring Fever Fragrance Collection, I immediately thought, “This would make a great scrub!” The fragrance features notes of sweet blueberry, orange zest and just a pinch of spice.

$This Blueberry Jam Fragrance Oil contains skin loving fractionated coconut oil and gentle jojoba beads for exfoliation.$
This Blueberry Jam Sugar Scrub will get your skin exfoliated and ready for shorts and tank tops. Sugar, Jasmine Jojoba Beads and Sierra Sky Jojoba Beads exfoliate and leave the skin feeling fresh. The jojoba beads also add a lovely blueberry color to the scrub. To lightly cleanse the skin, it contains potassium cocoate. Fractionated coconut oil adds some moisture to the recipe.

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DIY Soaking Salt & Scrub Wedding Favors

March 17, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Soaks & Scrubs

If you have a lot of wedding favors to create, the task can seem a bit daunting. I recommend keeping the project simple to avoid unwanted stress. When you need to make a lot of individual favors, soaking salts are a great option. Simply mix the salts with colorant, fragrance and a small amount of oil to create adorable gifts. Best of all, you can make them well ahead of time or days before if need be.

For this project, I created ten jars at once using two different scent and color combinations to make five jars of each. One combination features Sweet Pea Fragrance Oil and Rose Gold Mica for a feminine option. The other combination uses King’s Gold Mica and Tobacco & Bay Leaf Fragrance Oil for a more unisex or masculine choice. These soaking salts can also be used as a body scrub by applying it to damp skin rather than adding the salts to bath water.

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Caramelized Copper Brown Sugar Scrub

September 29, 2015 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Soaks & Scrubs

With winter approaching, the sun-kissed summer glow will start to fade from the skin. Rather than watching it go, I decided to get the glow a different way – by creating radiantly soft, supple and moisturized skin. This Caramelized Copper Brown Sugar Scrub is the perfect way brighten up your skin for fall and winter months.

The scrub uses Copper Sparkle Mica and King’s Gold Mica to add a subtle shimmer. Brown and white sugar gently exfoliate the skin, and give the scrub a warm brown color. Burnt Sugar Fragrance Oil goes perfectly with the golden copper hues. The scrub is cleansing and non-greasy from the added potassium cocoate, and moisturizing from the avocado butter. Best of all, the scrub is easy to make!

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Walnut Facial Scrub for Men

May 14, 2015 Filed Under: Soaks & Scrubs

Many men are no-fuss when it comes to bath and beauty products. While women can have a routine five steps long, many guys like simple and quick. This Walnut Facial Scrub is just that…truly simple! With only four ingredients including fragrance, this scrub offers plenty of exfoliation. The new Bramble Berry Made to Measure Type Fragrance Oil is a fantastic masculine scent, based on the popular cologne. The combination of walnut shells, baking soda and kaolin clay create a neutral appearance that’s not too fussy or feminine.

To use, apply the dry scrub directly to wet, clean skin. Or, place the scrub in your hands and add a few drops of water to make a paste. People with dry skin might prefer mixing the scrub with oil before each use. Avocado oil, argan oil or sweet almond oil would work well. Apply the scrub 2-3 times a week. If you’re a lady, you can still use the scrub! But, you may want to use a different fragrance or omit the fragrance oil altogether. Because this recipe does not contain water, you don’t need to add a preservative to this recipe. Read more about preservatives here. [Read more…]

Shimmering Sea Salt Scrub Recipe

March 11, 2015 Filed Under: Soaks & Scrubs

With spring quickly approaching, it’s time to get skin in tip-top shape. This Shimmering Sea Salt Scrub is created with exfoliating dead sea salt and moisturizing shea butter and coconut oil. The sea salt removes dead skin, while the oils leave skin feeling hydrated and smooth. The end result is moisturized, extra soft skin! Because this scrub is made with hard oils that become liquid when heated, the texture of the scrub will depend on the temperature of your room. When using this scrub in the shower be cautious as the oils will create a slippery surface.

Inspired by mermaids, Gold (light) Mica is added to give skin a subtle shimmer. A combination of LabColors give this scrub a light aqua color, reminiscent of the ocean. Crisp Cotton Fragrance Oil gives this scrub a fresh, slightly sweet scent that’s great for spring.

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Rainbow Jojoba Bead Sugar Scrub

February 16, 2015 Filed Under: Soaks & Scrubs

Jojoba beads are perfect for scrubs. Along with adding gentle exfoliation to your recipe, they also add a gorgeous color. The Fresh Rain Sugar Scrub gets its blue hue from Ocean Blue Jojoba Beads. Using different colors and layering them creates a fun rainbow effect in this Rainbow Jojoba Bead Sugar Scrub.

The Rainbow Jojoba Bead Scrub uses five different colors of jojoba beads. Sugar adds more scrubbiness to the recipe, which gets rid of dead skin and helps your moisturizer absorb. Spring Meadow Fragrance Oil adds a scent that is reminiscent of a bouquet of fresh flowers. Potassium cocoate gives the scrub lather and leaves your skin feeling non-greasy. Potassium cocoate is the potassium salt of coconut fatty acid. It’s an all natural liquid surfactant made from 100% whole coconut oil and potassium hydroxide. It works great in scrubs, shampoos and liquid soaps.

This scrub works great for your body. It is also gentle enough to use on your face. The scrub is strongly scented, so you may want to use less fragrance if you use this scrub for your face.

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