help work out this scrub recipe, please..with added hedghog

[edelC]

So my daughter has this amazing body scrub, it is gentle exfoliation leaving a layer of very moisturising coconuty 'stuff' that leaves my skin feeling softer than anything else has, and it smells great..

these are the ingredients    any ideas to help me make this more natural and less chemical-y

petrolatum, isopropyl palmitate, sucrose, hydrogenated castor oil, coconut oil, PEG-100Stearate, laureth-3, glyceryl stearate, silica, parfum, butyl methoxydibenzoylmet hane, shea butter, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, coumarin, tocopherol, benzly bensoate, BHT, citric acid.

Ok so sucrose (regular sugar?..- is perhaps the scrub element.)
is castor oil necessary?
could I used cocobutter instead of shea butter.
silica (sand???)
parfum I can do without, i don't need me to smell of coconuts, its the smoothing and moisturising that I am after.
Tocopherol is vit E?? is it not, is it a preservative here?

are the stearates for foam?

and the petrolatum, the biggest ingredient, is this a kind of petroleum jelly? what else can I use?

as for the other ingredients, I am clueless?

thanks in advance clever soapy people.


on an unrelated note, I have a rescued hedgehog currently in residence in my battub, so no baths for me tonight...

[erlyna]

Okay first... awww thats cute! You should post a pic of the hedghog
 
Now I'm no genius on this but I can say the castor oil is one of the ingredients you want to keep since it acts as a "humectant by attracting and retaining moisturity to the skin."
 
You can go with cocoa butter but it is different from shea. "Cocoa butter lays down a protective layer that holds moisturity to the skin, making it a good skin softner." Cocoa is also much harder and less stickier than shea butter, plus it smells delicious!

Instead of the petroleum I would probably go with olive oil as the base since..."olive oil attracts external moisture, holds the moisture close to the skin, and forms a breathable film to prevent loss of internal moisture." It also does not interfere with your skins natural functions. Just so you know shea butter also does not inhibit skins natural functions.

And I got my quotes from The Soapmakers Companion by Susan Miller Cavitch just so you know.

So I would look into recipes for body butters/scrubs on the tutorial link and maybe use olive oil, castor oil, cocoa butter and sugar. Someone more experienced will have to answer your other questions, because I have no idea what the gigantic scientific words are!

Good Luck!

[edelC]

erlyna thank you so much for that, that is good information to go on

Update on Mr Hissy McSpitty. he was a grumpy little fellow, anytime I went near him he hissed, grumbled and curled up, I delivered him to a vet that has a vet nurse that has a hedgehog rehab place in her house (How cool!) it seems that he was picked up by a dog and shaken, so they are treating him and he will probably be fine. Sadly I didn't get a pic, mostly because he was curled and hissy anytime I went near!

[letisha]

How sad!..hedgehogs are the cutest!...if I didn't have a mini dachshund I'd want a hedgehog!

[sporadic]

Here is an easy scrub recipe:  http://library.rusticescentuals.com/item_17/How-to-Make-Sugar-Cube-Scrubs.htm

[ivoryh1632]

Usually the chemicaley sciencey stuff is colors, perfumes, and mostly preservatives so it doesnt go moldy or seperate or anything like that while sitting in a warehouse for extended periods of time.

Some companies use a synthetic material for the abrasive in scrubs, kinda like tiny grains of plastic. The most gentle natural scrub abraisive is just plain ol sugar. Just mix it with your choice of moisturizers, which in that scrub would be the oils and shea butter.

Companies use petrolatum (which is kind of a type of petroleum jelly, its made from the same stuff just a different form of it) as a cheap way to make your skin feel soft. You really wanna stay from any petroleum or petrolatum or mineral oil products cuz what they do is kinda put a film on the surface of your skin that makes it feel soft but realy blocks any nutrients or anything from getting into your skin.

And the vitamin E is used as both a preservative and becasue its just really good for your skin.

I'm just spouting all this info from memory from my spa treatment classes, I dont have any of my books or notes on me so feel free to correct me if I've misspoken.

[MareMare]

Have you tried making this yet edel?  I would definitely keep the castor oil in it as it is an extremely viscous, moisturizing type oil and I think would feel wonderful in a scrub. It's the "secret" ingredient in my lip balms and not that hard to find at drugstores and other places since it can be used as a laxative.

[edelC]

haven't tried yet maremare...work has me in a death grip at the moment, so my crafting is zero..but easter holidays loom..and I might dust off my craft room and have a go.