How To: Compose your own Scrub with Infused Oils and Herbs

I've done about a trillion of these simple scrubs lately.

You: exaggerate much, Lise?

Well, ok, lots and lots.

They're quite old fashioned, and that's part of the appeal. But before you think "oh no! Not that old fashioned greasy stuff?!", let me give you a little spoiler alert: there are a couple of things you can do to make the old fashioned 'oil and exfoliant scrub' rinse off more easily and feel less greasily.

If you already make your own herbal infusions, you're well on the way, but even if you don't, there is a workaround for that too.

Basic Ingredients for Composing Your Own Scrub

Infused oils of choice
Herbal matter of choice
Exfoliant of choice
Turkey Red Oil

The basic idea is to combine salts/sugars/exfoliants, oils, and suitable plant-scrubby material together, stir and enjoy in the shower.

About the Turkey Red Oil

This ingredient will help your scrub rinse off more easily. The INCI is sulphated castor oil (sometime spelled sulfated) and not to be confused with regular castor oil. Turkey red oil will dissolve in water. Now, you could replace it with a carrier oil if you want, but then you won't have that little extra bit of help to rinse the greasiness away.

Repurposing Herbs

As for the herbal matter, one idea is to use the spent material after you have made an oil infusion. In many cases it makes beautiful sense to save the plant material and repurpose it into a scrub. When weighing out this material, there is going to be a bit of oil in it, but that will count in as herbal matter - no need to deduct from the oil amount.

The Pictured Ingredients

The ingredients you see pictured above were mixed into an exfoliating scrub I've been quite pleased with and done a few batches of. (There's a step by step how to right here) The salts is a combo of fine Himalayan salt and epsom salts, the dark herbal stuff is strained blackberries from an oil infusion (I used dried blackberries), and the oil is blackberry infused sweet almond oil.

This makes a jar of 150 ml and is good for 3 -5 applications depending on how much product you use.

LisaLise’s Build Your Own Scrub Formula

Ingredient	Grams	Ounces
Salts and/or sugars	90	3.17
Strained herbal matter	15	0.53
Oils of Choice	50	1.76
Turkey Red Oil	20	0.71

Method

Weigh out ingredients
Combine in bowl
Stir until mixed
Transfer to container

Notes: This is a preservative free formula and the contents of the jar must be kept free of moisture.

To use, scoop out a largish spoonful from the jar and bring it to the shower to use. (I said it was old fashioned, didn't I?)

To make your own scrub is as easy as starting with what you have on hand already and then build from there. I quite like having most of the exfoliating part as something that easily dissolves in water (less cleanup).

Here a few Ideas for Exfoliants that will Dissolve

• Fine Himalayan Crystal salt
• Epsom Salts
• Fine Salts
• Dead Sea Salts
• Raw Sugar
• Brown Sugar
• Castor Sugar
• Coconut Sugar

Here are a few Suitable Herbs For Oil Infusions
(oil infusions call for dried ingredients)

• Lavender
• Rose
• Mint
• Ground Coffee Beans
• Chamomile
• Calendula
• Coriander
• Hempseed
• Dried Raspberries 
• Dried Blackberries

And here are a few Suitable Oils for Infusions

• Sweet Almond
• Apricot kernel
• Jojoba
• Grapeseed
• Fractionated Coconut Oil
• Castor oil

Do Tell

Have you made your own exfoliating scrubs? Which were your favorite ingredients?

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