We make our soaps, face serums, hair conditioners, and foot balms... but what about our hands? After all the work we put into our other products, (and the inevitable cleanup of our tools after making these products), our hands are actually drier than if we were not doing anything at all!
What about the other things we do in life? Preparing dinner, caring for babies, working "real jobs", gardening, the weather and plain ole life? It is no surprise that our hands and nail beds are rough, dry and cracked.
So what are some sure-fire products you can make to help your haggard hands.. And the hands of your customers?
One of the first things that can smooth the skin on your hands is a scrub! A good hand scrub will exfoliate dry, dead skin cells, revealing the glowing, new skin beneath.
It also can be scented with lemon or coffee and marketed to your customers as a kitchen product to keep by the sink. The fresh scents of lemon and coffee are renowned in deodorizing pungent aromas like fish and garlic after meal preparation. Rinse away the scrub to reveal silky, soft hands that have been conditioned and moisturized with Soaper's Supplies nourishing oils and soothing humectants. Soaper's Supplies has some ingredient ideas for you, but you can customize any skin scrub by adding the oils and butters that work best for you.
This is a versatile product that can be made with simple sugar/salt, butter/oils and an emulsifier. (An emulsifier is great if you want to include humectants and other water-soluble, skin-loving ingredients.) I prefer sugar scrubs as they are a bit less scratchy and do not sting upon application. The sugar also lends its own moisturizing qualities to the scrub. This being a hand scrub (as opposed to a body scrub) will contain a higher oil content to aide in soothing and conditioning. Being for the hands, this scrub can hold more fragrance or essential oils than one designed for the sensitive face area. These are factors that differentiate hand scrubs from those for face or body.
Soaper's Supplies Renewing Hand Scrub
We will start with approximately four and a half oz formula that will yield almost double once the sugar is added. You may substitute the Lanolin oil for Perilla or Meadowfoam if you are making a vegan version.. but I highly suggest trying the Lanolin version, as it gives an occlusive, conditioned feel to hands.
Tools You Will Need
*Rubbing Alcohol to sanitize your surfaces and tools before starting, and for removal of residual oil/greasy feel on tools during clean-up.
*2 large glass or heat safe bowls. One is for melting/heating butters/oils.. The second is for your humectant ingredients.
*3 smaller cups or weigh boats to hold cool down ingredients. (Optional)
*A double boiler or large pan of water which you can use as a double boiler (water bath) to melt your butters and heat your oils. You will also need to bring the humectants and water soluble ingredients up to the same temperature as your oils/butters before combining them together.
*Stainless steel spoons, rubber spatulas for scraping
*Stick Blender
*At least two-three, 4oz wide mouthed, containers or low profile tins to store finished product. You will have more than you expect at completion, once your sugar is finally added.
*Bowl of ice for cooling mixture while blending, before adding sugar.
Ingredients.... Click and Link to store
Butters/Oils/Emulsifier/Thickeners
*30 grams liquid oil (15grams of Soaper's Supplies Meadowfoam and 15 grams of Lanolin Oil.)
Vegan version: Substitute the Lanolin oil for Soaper's Supplies Perilla oil.
*15 grams Soapers Supplies Lemon Butter, (or) Coffee Butter, (or) Tangerine Butter if you are making an unscented hand scrub, you may want to use Soaper's Supplies Refined Shea Butter, softened.
*20 grams Soaper's Supplies Cetyl Alcohol
*20 grams Soaper's Supplies BTMS Emulsifier -helps the scrub rinse away clean while providing a bond between your oils and humectants.
Humectants/Water Soluble Ingredients
*20 grams Soaper's Supplies Propylene Glycol
* 8 grams Soaper's Supplies Vegetable Glycerin
* 3 grams Soaper's Supplies Sodium Lactate
Cool Down Phase Ingredients
*20 grams Soaper's Supplies Cocamidopropyl Betaine You will add this last by hand, but before sugar.
* 2 grams Soaper's Supplies Dimethicone
* 1 gram Soaper's Supplies Vitamin E Mixed Tocopherols
* 1 gram Soaper's Supplies Phenonip preservative
* 1 gram Soaper's Supplies Essential Oils added before mixing in sugar.
If making the Citrus hand scrub use a complimenting Soaper's Supplies Essential Oil such as, Tangerine EO, Lemon EO, Lime EO, Orange EO, or Grapefruit EO.
If making the Coffee hand scrub use Soaper's Supplies Coffee Essential Oil to compliment the S.S. Coffee Butter. If making an unscented hand scrub omit the essential oils and substitute your scented butter for unscented, refined Shea butter.
*One Pound of granulated Sugar -You most likely will not need this entire pound but you will add this to your formulation, mixing well, until the desired texture and thickness is achieved.
Directions
Mix your Water soluble ingredients and humectants in a bowl. Warm in a double boiler or water-bath.
Add BTMS, Cetyl Alcohol to another double boiler or heat safe bowl in water bath, and heat till almost dissolved, then add your butter of choice mixing with stick blender.
Add liquid oil to melted butters over heat, continuing to mix till everything is completely melted, and well mixed.
Humectant mixture should be the same temperature as oil mixture (approx 158 degrees).
Add humectant mixture to Oil/butter mixture and blend well with stick blender.
Remove from heat and continue to blend. Mixture will appear thin.
You cannot add sugar until mixture has cooled and thickened to a creamy consistency. It will MELT if added too soon!
Cooling can be expedited by putting mixing bowl in the bowl of ice. Mix with stick blender until mixture looks completely emulsified and uniform in texture... oil should not be separating or shining on top.
Once mixture has cooled to a creamy-looking consistency, add your Dimethicone, Vitamin E -Antioxidant, Preservative, and any essential oils. Then hand mix your Coco-betaine into mixture.
A drop or two of liquid colorant can be added at this time if desired. Lake colorants work wonderfully for this.
Mix in sugar by hand... mixing thoroughly to avoid any oil separation. If any oil does float to top of finished product you can add more sugar and mix well till proper texture is reached.
Scoop into one 8oz, or two-three 4oz, wide-mouthed containers or low-profile tins. Label according to the laws of your area.
You have now successfully made a scrumptious hand scrub!
Do not get water into scrub and advise customers with proper labeling, to take out the amount of scrub they need with a dry hand, avoiding contamination from wet fingers. Then apply product to moistened skin of other hand, using water sparingly.
Massage hands with scrub till sugar dissolves and then rinse clean.
Do not store in shower, or areas where water may get into product.
The preservative is a safeguard, added to help prevent microbial growth in existing product. It does not protect against any contamination from additional water.
This is a delightful scrub, to which you can give an appealing scent. It will exfoliate and condition the hands, revealing smoother, more youthful-looking skin. It is a cost effective way to increase your profits and market share, while simultaneously creating a fun and easy product. It can be marketed to gardeners, chefs, moms, dads, and anyone who enjoys a soft, lotion-like feel on freshly washed hands.
Thank you for shopping at Soaper's Supplies and for reading RJ's Skincare blog. We welcome your comments, concerns and questions and hope you have enjoyed this installment, including the Soaper's Supplies Renewing Hand Scrub! Let us know what you think of our hand scrub and other hand products that we can create for you using the incredible Soaper's Supplies ingredient list.
RJ's Skincare Blog and included recipes are researched and written by Angela D'amico.
Write a comment
Debbie (Friday, 03 February 2017 08:32)
I have got to try this! The recipe sounds like you're using pegs and humectants instead of water. Brilliant!
Rae Wycoff (Friday, 03 February 2017 08:53)
Awesome job, Angela!! I really love it!
Omneya (Saturday, 04 February 2017 12:19)
This looks awesome Angela <3
I have it saved in my folder from Soapers Supplies and hope to make soon.
Thank you for all the hard work you do.
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