This lovely creamy shea exfoliating scrub was born of a recipe request from Carmen, who wrote “I was wondering if you can create a creamy body/face scrub like the ones you buy in supermarket. If you can have a base of unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) but make it creamy, as a lotion and add some scrub in it, like poppy seeds. I know you have body scrubs , but they are not creamy, like the lotions. And if possible something that lasts at least one month. Thank you.”
In the midst of a rather dry February such a scrub sounded utterly decadent, so I set out to create one. I started with a simple unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) lotion to create a thick, creamy base. I decided to just use unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) as the oil in the lotion so it would be thick and rich—perfect for dry skin. I used emulsifying wax NF in this recipe, but blended it with an immersion blender rather than just whisking it to get the lotion to thicken up faster than it would otherwise. You’ll want your lotion base to thicken into a nice cream quickly(ish) so you can stir in your exfoliants and have them stay suspended. Lotions made with Emulsimulse/Ritamulse will thicken up straight away without an immersion blender, but you’ll want to use an immersion blender with e-wax NF (I haven’t tested the blender + polawax combination yet to see if that speeds up thickening there, but I suspect it does).
The water part is a simple blend of water and hydrating vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada). To all this I’ve added a fresh, sweet essential oil blend of lavender and fir balsam, which is an utterly lovely combination for diffusing in your home as well.
And now to make it exfoliating! There are so many options for exfoliants, and you can have lots of fun here depending on how scrubby you want your end product to be, and which part of your body you want to use it on. I wanted something mildly scrubby for my legs, arms, and torso, so I used a blend of pumice and coarse salt, but you might prefer jojoba beads, cornmeal, poppy seeds, sugar, or any other gritty thing you’ve got lying around. If you decide to go freestyle with your exfoliant I do recommend starting with small additions, working your way up and testing on the part of you body where you’re planning on using the scrub. If you find a scrub level you like for your hands but intend to use the scrub on your face you’ll find it’s far too abrasive, and vice versa.
Creamy Shea Exfoliating Scrub
70g | 2.45oz distilled water
5g | 0.17oz vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada)18g | 0.63oz unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada)
7g | 0.25oz complete emulsifying wax (not beeswax!)10 drops lavender essential oil
15 drops fir essential oilBroad spectrum preservative of choice (Why?)
1 tbsp medium to coarse pumice (fine is too fine to notice on your body)
1 tsp coarse saltWeigh the emulsifying wax and unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) into a small saucepan and melt over medium heat.
While the emulsifying wax mixture is melting, combine the water and glycerin in a small heat resistant glass measuring cup and stir to combine.
Once the emulsifying wax mixture has melted, add the water mixture. Heat through to ensure everything is melted before removing the pan from the heat.
Whisk the mixture as it cools—it will thicken into a nice white cream. I’d recommend using an immersion blender to ensure quicker thickening, especially if you are using a different emulsifying wax than emulsimulse/ritamulse. If you’re using e-wax NF you’ll find it takes about twenty minutes for the lotion to thicken after blending it.
Whisk in the essential oils and your preservative (though do check the instructions for your specific preservative—some have special instructions for adding to concoctions), and then start stirring in your exfoliants. Test between additions until you achieve the scrubby level you’re looking for.
When you’re happy with your scrub, move it to a wide-mouthed plastic or metal jar, or a wider mouthed squeezy bottle/tube (I’d be concerned about the exfoliants clogging a pump). Avoid glass as this will be used in your shower/bath.
To use, massage the cream all over your body in the shower and rinse it off. Enjoy!
Don’t have/like unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada)? Check this out.
This is just what I was looking for!! For a face scrub, could you use clay?? I’d like a fairly gentle scrub and thought clay would work. Would love others comments or suggestions.
Clay might work, though you’d likely want to choose a relatively coarse one to notice it 🙂 Fine pumice would also do the trick!
This looks great, I can’t wait to try it. Is it possible for you to add a printable recipe at the bottom of the pages?
It’s already there—click the green circle with the printer icon in it.
What does the NF mean? I am familiar with E-wax, but have never seen the NF after it.
It denotes a particular type of e-wax; there are several different kinds. Learn more about them here 🙂
I make a very similar recipe but use polenta instead of pummice (which is not good for drains and sewers). You get the benefit of the ‘milk’ that the polenta gives out when moistened on your skin and it exfoliates with out scratching. Is much safer than harsh grits. … or easier still, have a wee container of brown rice flour by your shower to use. Wet skin, rub on and super soft skin results.
Cool! I would like to note that polenta will make the recipe harder to preserve because it’s delicious bacteria food, though 🙂
Lovely recipe! But I’m wondering, won’t sugar and salt dissolve in this recipe since it contains water?
Yeah, I wouldn’t do this the same way if I did it today (this is almost half a decade old!). I remember the pumice doing most of the scrubbing 🙂
love this recipe! kind of general questions about preservatives – i was hoping to make some of your mists this weekend, and i know the shelf life is generally around 6 months, but should i add some optiphen for safety/to last longer? is optiphen ok to mix?
Check out my FAQ on this 🙂
I wonder if you could use ground walnut shells for exfoliation. And instead of water use a lavender hydrosol?
Yes and yes 🙂
I just tried this recipe and I apparently did something wrong. I had the shea, e-wax, glycerin and water all mixed and smooth like a lotion and while I was whisking it (by hand) all the water separated out as if I was making butter. I have an immersion blender but it is for cooking, I don’t have one to use for my DIY projects but thought if I kept whisking as it cooled it would work. Is that my problem. Oh, for the e-wax I used Candelilla wax (what I had on hand).
Hey Debbie! The wrong this was using candeililla wax—it’s not at all an e-wax, so your concoction wouldn’t emulsify at all 🙂 You can learn more here.
Fantastic! This sounds perfect for dry winter skin. Legs, to be exact. And itchy ankles. I just procured a half pound of pumice last month and needed something to do with it.
I can only make so many scrubby hand soaps, with gardening season coming soon.
Oooooo I bet this scrub will feel incredible on two dozen mosquito bites after picking green beans 🙂
Thanks Marie! Your the best!
Thanks, Cristie! Enjoy 🙂
Hi Marie,
Can I use Espom salt instead of pumice?
Please read this 🙂
Can I replace pumice with sugar?
Please review this FAQ 🙂
hi marie
is it possible to replace the e wax?
best, yola
Nope, sorry! No emulsifying wax = no emulsion = no creamy scrub 🙁
Where do I get e wax, ty
Check out my giant list of suppliers here 🙂
Hi! Tried this recipe and tweaked it a little and added some Stearic Acid, Coffee Grounds and Epsom Salt along with your original ingredients. For Essential Oil, I have used Spearmint Oil, however after a while the oil starts to separate. Could you please help as to which stage should we add the EO and what % for a 50 gms batch?
Hey Shefali! I’m afraid at this point you’ve made so many changes I really can’t be of much help. For EOs, just add until you like the scent, but I can’t comment on the separation. Sorry!
Wondering how the scrub held up in the metal tin? Did you experience any rusting? I use those tins for straight up body butter with oils/butters, but haven’t used with oil/water emulsified mixtures.
This one didn’t last long enough to see, but I’ve put many lotions in those tins over the years and have never had any troubles with rusting with undamaged tins—obviously if the tin has a great bit scratch in the coating that can be problematic 🙂
I’ve made this now several times and love it!! Fabulous scrub and very gentle on your face. I have been using the fine pumice and it’s a very nice texture.
I would like to try other scents and wonder if I could use tea tree oil instead of the essential oils?
Wonderful! Tea tree oil is an essential oil, so you can definitely use it instead of the listed essential oils.
Hi Marie! Would it be appropriate to substitute Aloe Vera Juice for the water in this recipe?
Yup! Happy making 🙂
Hey Marie,
I exfoliate my face about once a week. I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to type of exfoliants out there. Besides fine pumice, can you recommend anything that can be used? A mixture of fine and somewhat coarse would be great.
Can you also comment on how much on average do you use?
Thanks!
Generally speaking it is much gentler and more effective to use chemical exfoliants (AHAs/BHAs) as your preferred/daily exfoliants. LabMuffin has a series on exfoliation that’s definitely worth a read 🙂 I wouldn’t recommend DIYing your chemical exfoliants, though—there’s quite a lot to creating them so they are effective and non-irritating. I get mine from The Ordinary. They’re very well priced and made in Canada!
Hi Marie,
Can I substitute the coarse pumice with poppy seeds please? I dont have pumice with me…
You can certainly try it 🙂
How many oz does this make? I don’t want to use a preservative if I can help it. Two people would use it in one day.
I’ve got a FAQ posts on both of these topics: recipe yield, preservatives 🙂
I have the sort of skin that requires physical exfoliation. I’ve gone all chemical and sort of ended up with a pod-filled “mudface”. I made my own scrub with the “Need Crystals microdermabrasion crystals”—but recently read that the aluminum is toxic to ocean life. Though I only found one source, it just seems easier to sub in pumice. SO…what grind of pumice most mimics that super-scrubby, yet fine texture of microderm crystals?
Hello Jessica,
Have you attempted working with jojoba beads in your face scrub? Or even clay? I’ve not heard of using microderm crystals. If you are keen on the crystals, I’d suggest contacting the supplier and asking them which size of pumice would closely mimic their product. Good luck!
Is it possible to substitute the water for ACV? Or maybe do equal parts of water and ACV? And if I use only ACV do I have to use a broadspectrum preservative?
I can use walnut shells in this cream? because it has water, the preservative will work on it? and for how long? do you have any idea?
You’d have to do those tests yourself 🙂 Happy making!
How much preservative would you put in this recipe?
That depends on which preservative you use; I’d choose 0.5% Liquid Germall™ Plus (INCI: Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate) for this formulation. There’s lots more info in the Preservatives section of the FAQ (https://www.humblebeeandme.com/faq/). Happy making!
Hello,
I just made this recipe and it worked well! Very exfoliating!
However… its just a tad too buttery for me, it left a thick film on my skin so I had to re-soap a few times. I used Olive Emulsifier (not Olivem 1000) for my e-wax. Could that be the problem? Or is it the Shea?
How long this scrub last?
Is it melt by ages?
I made the Creamy Shea Exfoliating Scrub this afternoon using Jojoba beans and preservative. Very easy to make and turned out prefect. Already used the scrub, which left my face feeling beautiful. This is a different to make and use. Great recipe, thank you so much.
I’m so glad you are enjoying it! ❤️ Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
Hey Marie!
I’m aware that this is an older formulation. However, I am trying to create a very smooth shea whipped scrub. Is there anything that you would change about this recipe?
Thanks! And thanks for the amazing info!
I don’t see anything really obvious that would need to be changed 🙂 Happy making!