Making Handmade Salt Scrubs

To make a salt scrub, start out with one cup of salt. Add four ounces of oil and stir. Keep adding oil until the scrub reaches your desired consistency. I usually go for the consistency of a thick paste when I am making a salt scrub. If you are adding liquid additives, make sure to leave "room" for them while you are adding the initial oil to your scrub. For a water dispersible base, try adding Castille Soap at about 25% or Polysorbate 20 at about 50% to your carrier oil. Please note that this may change the texture of your carrier oil.

Salts - A variety of salts are available for use in salt scrubs. Fine to medium grain sized salts are ideal.

Sea Salt, Fine & Medium - Sea Salt is rich in minerals, light white to light gray in color, and is one of the most economic choices for making salt scrubs. The fine grain size is slightly larger than conventional table salt and great for use in body polish-type scrubs. Our medium grain size is slightly larger, usually measuring between 4mm and 6mm.

Dead Sea Salt: Powder, Fine & Medium - Dead Sea Salt is known for it's high mineral content and healing properties. What is less well known is the beauty of Dead Sea Salts. Our Dead Sea Salts are slightly off-white and usually slightly translucent. The powder has a very fine grain size, reflective of the name. Fine Dead Sea Salt is similar to the grain size of table salt. The medium salt is rather larger, usually measuring between 1mm and 4mm in grain size.

Icelandic Geo-Thermal Brine Salt - This salt is a stunning, bright opaque white. Its fine grain size makes it a wonderful salt for body polishes. It is rich in silica and essential trace elements but contains 60% less sodium than regular sea salt. It has a very fine grain size, making it ideal for body polish and buffer type scrubs.

Carrier Oils - The carrier oil chosen for a scrub will influence the final product more than it may initially appear to. Light, penetrating oils such as Kukui Nut Oil, moisturize without leaving the skin too greasy. Some prefer a thicker oil or even a Vegetable Butter in their scrubs. Heavier oils such as Castor Oil can either be incorporated with a thinner oil or used alone. Most vegetable butters would need to be mixed with a lighter oil in order to achieve the correct consistency in a scrub. I've listed some suggestions for oils to use in salt scrubs below, but please don't let this modest list limit your creativity! Our complete list of carrier oils may inspire you to create even more great combinations.

Light Oils
Fractionated Coconut
Apricot Kernel Oil
Hazelnut Oil
Macadamia Nut Oil
Rice Bran Oil

Medium Oils
Jojoba, Natural
Organic Jojoba, Clear
Avocado Oil
Pomace Olive Oil
Flax Seed Oil

Thick Oils / Butters
Organic Virgin Coconut Cream
Babassu Butter
Organic Shea Butter, Nilotica
Castor Oil
Monoi De Tahiti
Shealoe Butter
Coffee Bean Butter

Essential Oils or Fragrance Oils can be added to your scrub to increase it's aesthetic or beneficial properties. Oil-Based Dyes or Micas can also be added to increase allure. Some other interesting additives would be Jojoba Wax Beads or Fruit Seeds. The possibilities are endless with a little creativity.

If you plan on selling your scrub or storing it for an extended period of time, you may want to add a preservative to your formula. You can find more information on preservatives here.