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Emulsified Scrub Problems


AnnaSS

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I am having one heck of a time with my scrubs. No matter what I do, I just can't get them to stay creamy. They start out looking great, but then I don't know...little elves must come in and mess around with them!

In the salt scrubs, the cream just seems to disappear. In one recipe it almost seems dry. To the touch it's like wet sand. The other recipe turns out almost the same. Does salt not work with emulsified scrubs? I tend to like really scrubby scrubs, maybe I'm using to much salt? Plus when used you don't get the "lotion" effect at all, just salt & oil. --On the plus side, it leaves the skin feeling very nice.

In the sugar scrubs, again the cream seems to disappear. It starts out looking perfect, but just like the salt, I don't know what happens. It doesn't get dry like the salt scrubs do, and they do have the "lotion" when water is added. Again, maybe too much sugar?

This is really driving me crazy. I would love to make a really nice creamy scrub. Any suggestions?

One of the recipe's I've tried is Kat's sugar bubble scrub. This one gives me the best results so far, but still doesn't stay creamy looking.

The other recipe is from Aussie soap supplies.

Any help you have is greatly appreciated!

Thanks :)

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I would try less sugar, just see what results you have. Have you tried this recipe? http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?73425-Scrub-Class-July-26 I've played around with it quite a bit, its a good starting recipe. You can adjust the butters, oils, and sugars to suit your needs...

This is the recipe I use (well, a tweaked version anyway) and it is AWESOME!!! It is a very good starter recipe, as LuminousBoutique said. Try it! You will love it! :)

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Anna - tell us what amount of butters, oils, water, wax, etc you are using - I think that will help us help you better. What I have learned to keep my scrubs creamy and frosting like - is always using shea butter in my scrubs. I pretty much make a creamy whipped body butter and fold the scrubbies into it. I have used sugar, salt, ultra fine pumice, apricot seeds, vanilla bean seeds, cornmeal, almond meal....but it just depends on your skin type and how rough you want your scrub. Sometimes I formulate with a water phase and then other times just stick to the whipped body butter with scrubbies folded in. I could go on and on!! I love making scrubs! Hours of practice and tons of money... I have made some great ones!!!

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Thanks Beanstock23, here's the 2 recipe's I've been using

1st from Aussies:

10% Sweet Almond Oil (80g)

8.5% Shea Butter (68g)

5% Frac Coconut Oil (40g)

3.5% E-wax (28g)

2.5% Cetyl Alcohol (20g)

58% Turbinado Sugar (464g)

10% Cane Sugar (80g)

The 2nd recipe I tried from here - was a modified version of Kat's - & i had to sub a couple items out

40% RBO

10% Sunflower Oil ***didn't have sunflower used grapeseed

5% Coconut Oil

5% Shea

20% shredded cp

10% e wax

8% stearic ***didn't have stearic used cetyl alcohol

3% fragrance

I made an 8oz batch so I started with 4oz of sugar, but I like a scrubby scrub so I added more. I could swear I read somewhere that you could use cetyl alcohol in place of stearic...so since I didn't have any stearic I used the cetyl alcohol. I'm going to try these again today when my order of stearic comes in to see if it makes a difference.

I like your idea of a whipped butter and adding the scrubbies, but when I make my whipped butter & it sets it is the consistency of cream cheese. Maybe add more oils to the butter than I am to thin it out for a scrub?

Thanks so much everyone for all the help!

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When I make emulsified scrubs, I do not factor in the sugar as part of the formula. I also use a combination of ewax, stearic and cetyl that add up to 20% of the formula. My formula is something like this:

20% combo of ewax, stearic and cetyl

10% butters

40% soft oils

27% hard oils (coc 76, pko)

1% preservative

2% fragrance

I then add my sugar once the mixture has been blended to be nice and creamy. I use just under 50% of my total weight in sugar. So if my formula makes 50 oz, I would use around 20 oz of sugar ( combo of white and turbinado).

This makes a wonderfully creamy scrub that washes clean every time.

Ann M

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