A DIY body scrub with plenty of perks

Get soft, nourished skin with this homemade body scrub

Sometimes a scrub just ain’t enough: your skin longs for nourishment too! Enter our latest body scrub recipe, which foams up beautifully and cares for your skin, even as it rids it of dead cells. It’s all thanks to a winning combination of ingredients! Sugar and cranberry seeds provide exfoliation, while vegetable glycerin deeply hydrates your skin. Mango butter nourishes and protects it, and sodium coco-sulfate (SCS) ensures it lathers up beautifully. This easy-to-apply body scrub instantly boosts your well-being, while leaving your skin incredibly soft, smooth, and glowing.

Read on to learn how to make your own!  

How to make a body scrub

Before you begin

• This recipe calls for SCS, which can irritate your respiratory tract in its solid form. Handle it with caution. Work in a well-ventilated space—such as under your oven hood—or wear a dust mask, or both. You should also wear gloves and safety glasses.
• This recipe calls for you to melt two thirds of the SCS, which can take some time. To speed things up, you can reduce it to a powder with a mortar and pestle before melting it. 

Ingredients

Phase A

• 19 g (7.6%) sodium coco-sulfate (SCS)
• 15 g (6%) coco betaine
• 10 g (4%) demineralized water
• 5 g (2%) vegetable glycerin

Phase B

• 18 g (7.2 %) green tea maceration
• 9 g (3.6%) stearic acid (100% vegetable source)
• 4 g (1.6%) mango butter

Phase C

• 159.4 g (63.76%) white sugar
• 4 g (1.6%) essential oil or aromatic essence of your choosing
• 4 g (1.6%) cranberry seeds
• 2 g (0.8%) elderberry extract
• 0.3 g (0.12%) vitamin E

 Optional colourant

• 0.3 g (0.12 %) mineral colourant of your choosing (oxide or ultramarine)

Tools

• Personal protective gear
• Components to make a double boiler
• Scale, accurate to 0.1 g
• Handheld mixer
• Large stainless steel bowl
• Two small stainless steel bowls
• Ramekin
• Small silicone spatula
• A few pipettes
• A few spoons
• PETE plastic jar (240 ml)

Good to know!

• SCS and coco betaine are surfactants. Neither can be replaced without changing the texture of the final product and its foaming power. The SCS strikes a perfect balance between foaming power and gentleness; the coco betaine actives the SCS’s foaming power, while thickening the final product. 
• Glycerin is a wonderful natural emollient (skin softener) that will help your skin maintain hydration and strengthen the hydrolipidic film, which is the natural protective film covering the full surface of your skin. 
• Our green tea maceration offers many skin benefits. It’s rich in antioxidants, so it helps reverse premature signs of aging. It’s also a very effective natural detoxifier. 
• Mango butter helps your skin maintain moisture and leaves it soft and silky.
• Sugar is exfoliating. We advise against replacing it with brown sugar, because in this recipe it will tend to harden, affecting the quality and use of the final product. The cranberry seeds are also exfoliants.

Steps to follow

1. Prepare and disinfect your equipment and workspace.
2. Work under your oven hood or wear a dust mask to pour the SCS into a mortar and use the pestle to grind it into a powder (this step is optional).
3. Weigh all the other Phase A ingredients in the large bowl, then gently add the SCS. Heat on the double boiler for five to ten minutes, or until at least two thirds of the SCS has melted. When they’ve melted, remove the bowl from the heat.
4. In the meantime, weigh all the Phase B ingredients in the small bowl. Heat on the double boiler until the mango butter and stearic acid have completely melted. When they’ve melted, remove the bowl from the heat.
5. Pour Phase B into Phase A (in the large bowl). Use a handheld mixer to mix until milky.
6. If using, add the colourant your choosing now. Mix in using the mixer.
7. Add the sugar and cranberry seeds. Mix with a spoon to avoid spraying the exfoliants all over.
8. Weigh the elderberry extract, scents of your choosing, and vitamin E in a ramekin. Mix to combine, then add to the large bowl.
9. Mix thoroughly using your handheld mixer until the product is thick and homogeneous.
10. Pour the mixture the jar.

Use and conservation

This body scrub is formulated for body use for all skin types. 

Apply a generous amount onto clean skin, massaging it in using circular motions. Rinse off with warm water and proceed with your usual beauty routine. Use it once every week to two weeks, depending on your skin’s needs.

When made in optimal sanitary conditions, this homemade body scrub will keep for about three months.