This post is part of the Humblebee & Me Archives
I’ve learned a ton since launching Humblebee & Me in 2011, so some older posts no longer live up to my formulation standards. This is one of those posts.
Rather than delete these posts I’ve moved them to the Humblebee & Me Archives so you can see the steps of my making journey—and hopefully avoid some of my missteps!
Coconut Rose Sugar Scrub
Summertime means heat, exposed limbs, lots of sunscreen, and lots of sun—a recipe that can leave skin feeling a bit clogged and parched. Fortunately that’s nothing a quick sugar scrub can’t fix, and this one is definitely up to the task. A handful of rose petals, some sugar, and some coconut oil will buff off that coating of sunscreen and hydrate summer skin in no time!
It comes together in a jiffy; just a few handfuls and glugs of a few somewhat carelessly measured ingredients (precision isn’t terribly important here), a buzz in some sort of electro-choppy kitchen machine, and you’ve got yourself a rosy coconut scrub that’ll buff your skin to fresh, soft summery goodness in no time.
If you don’t have roses growing in your garden, you can try using other flowers that you do have, like lilacs or daisies or even dandelions! You could also raid your herbal DIY stash and blend in dried flowers and herbs, like lavender or calendula.
It turned purple when I blended it up. WEIRD!
Coconut Rose Sugar Scrub
1 cup fresh rose petals (loose, not packed)
1/4 cup white sugar
20g | 0.7oz virgin coconut oil (USA / Canada) (approximately 1.5 tbsp)
10g | 0.35oz Turkey red oil or Polysorbate 20 (solubilizer) (approximately 2.5 tsp)Place the rose petals and sugar in a small food processor (like the kind they sell for making dips) or blender (a Magic Bullet sort of thing would be a good option). I recommend a smaller vessel rather than a larger one since we’re not making much; I find this amount of ingredients gets lost in a full-sized blender or food processor, so you’ll need to stop and scrape down the sides much more frequently (you definitely can still use a big ‘un if that’s what you’ve got, just don’t forget to scrape ‘er down!).
Melt the coconut oil and Turkey Red Oil and drizzle it over top of the rose petals and sugar. Pulse until you have an even mixture (the petal bits should be small enough to easily wash down your drain without clogging it).
To use, massage the scrub into your skin and rinse it off. The Turkey Red Oil will help the oil emulsify with the water and rinse down your drain without thoroughly greasing up your tub, but it’s still a good idea to wipe your tub down afterwards to avoid any near-death experiences.
Because this recipe contains fresh rose petals (which contain water), it’s best to use it all up straight away—I find this makes just enough to do a thorough full-body scrub. If you’d like to extend the shelf life of the scrub, use half a cup of dried rose petals instead of fresh (that way you won’t be introducing any water to the mix).
I noticed in your comment about becoming a patron you mentioned ‘If you…sell anything made from my recipes’ This does not describe me. However, I thunk it would be great if anyone does sell something based on your recipe for them to support your sight. If I decide to do that I think it would only be fair, especially since you seem open to it. For some reason DIYing seems a bit intimidating but I want to so it more often. Just like with food, if I make it myself I can control what is in it. Thank you for your site.
Thanks, Charlotta! I definitely appreciate patronage regardless of whether or not somebody is selling things made from my recipes; maintaining this website is surprisingly expensive! Thanks so much for reading and DIYing with me—have fun!
You don’t really want to use coconut oil in a body scrub, as it WILL clog the drain. just use olive oil or almond oil, etc. i use olive oil, with great results…i wouldn’t take a chance thinking that the turkey oil will make it slide down the drain. just a suggestion
The TRO really does do what it’s supposed to here—you won’t see any blobs of oil floating in your bath water, I swear; it all just emulsifies together into what ends up being the world’s thinnest lotion type concoction. You can definitely swap it out if it makes you nervous, though 🙂
Ooh, I never thought of using a scrub to rid myself of that icky sticky sunscreen. It never feels like I get rid of it properly using just soap and water and I often find myself going without and covering up instead because I hate the feeling so much.
Now you’ve suggested it, a scrub sounds obvious 🙂
It’s Winter here in AUstralia but I’m definitely going to try this come Spring!
Every season seems to come with its own skincare challenges 😛 All the better for me continuing to develop new recipes, I guess! Happy DIYing 🙂
Hi Marie
I apologise in advance if this is a dumb question!
I’m having trouble locating red turkey oil here. Does hydrogenated castor oil do the same thing as sulphated castor oil (RTO)?
Thanks.
And thanks for your recipes and emails. Looking forward to your book.
Jo
Hey Jo! Hydrogenated castor oil is nothing like turkey red oil, other than both of ’em having been plain castor oil at some point 🙂 Polysorbate 20 would be a good alternative is you can’t find TRO.
Hello
What size jar will this hold?
This will make about half a cup (125mL), but as per the note at the end of the instructions you’ll want to be using this all up immediately 🙂
Hi Marie
Can Olivem 300 sub for turkey oil? If yes, would it be same proportion?
Tx