Now that I’m 6 months older and a savvier DIYer, I decided to pay a visit to an old friend.
I wanted to make a new batch of this shower favorite of mine. My original scrub bar only contained rice and almonds. Reading my own recipe, I realized I had actually picked up a bag of azuki beans since then during my DIY adventures. It’s a really nice exfoliant (and it gives the bar some pretty red speckles!).
What you’ll need:
- 2/3 cup of cocoa butter
- 1/3 cup of Shea butter (you can use just 1 butter if you like)
- 1/4 cup of
- finely ground rice
- finely ground almonds (or oatmeal)
- finely ground azuki beans (or any kind of red beans)
You don’t have to use all of these and you can definitely play around with the proportions a bit.
- Optional: 12 drops of lavender and/or lemon essential oil
1. Melt the butter(s) in a double boiler
You can use all cocoa butter or all Shea butter, depending what you have at home. Shea butter melts easier so it’s a great option for winter times. Cocoa butter is a great option in the summer and if you live in a warm climate.
2. Ground your dry ingredients
You’ll need 1/4 cup of dry ingredients in total. You can definitely play with the proportions a bit. Personally, I really like almonds as an exfoliant. Ground rice is just a little bit too feisty for me.
The best way I’ve found to ground your rice and beans is in a coffee grinder! You need your dry ingredients to be super fine, almost like flour.
3. Mix the melted butter and dry ingredients together
Let the mixture solidify a bit, while you stir it now and again. The dry ingredients should be ‘floating’ in the butters. It’ll look horrible, but that’s ok. Scoop the mixture in your molds. Those flexible silicon ones for giant ice cubes were my weapon of choice.
This part has never changed: wait for your butter to completely solidify. Ideally you should leave them alone overnight. If you’re not very patient, like me, you can put them in the fridge.
4. Optional: add a couple of drops of essential oil
You can add essential oils to the mixture to give it an extra kick.
Buffy contains lemon and lavender oil, but you can choice whatever your nose desires.
Great cellulite-busting essential oils for example are Grapefruit, Juniper, Fennel, Cypress, Lemongrass and Rosemary oil.
Now, scrub away!
Aymee
Wednesday 21st of April 2021
I made these the other day and LOVE them. However, I kept it in the shower in an airtight container and it’s growing mold after one use and 4 days. Just one small tuft and it doesn’t smell as nice as when I made it. What could I have done wrong?
Ina from The Makeup Dummy
Sunday 9th of May 2021
Hi Aymee, it definitely shouldn't be doing that. Leave them out to dry completely before putting them back into the container, and I would suggest keeping them somewhere out of the shower. I also recommend making them into smaller, single use bars (for example use an ice cube tray). Also definitely throw away any products that smell strange or have mold growing on them!
Shelbey
Monday 23rd of December 2019
What kind of rice is best to use for this recipe?
Julianne
Wednesday 25th of September 2019
You mean 1/4 cup each of the rice, almonds and beans rather than 1/4 cup in total, is that right?
Ina from The Makeup Dummy
Thursday 26th of September 2019
Hi Julianne, I used 1/4 cup in total. For me this was the perfect ratio of exfoliating material to moisturizing butters.
michelle
Saturday 15th of September 2018
Are these a lotion massage bar they dont go in the shower right ?
Erika S
Monday 7th of May 2018
I just tried this, however it took FOREVER for my mix to start to solidify. I wasn’t sure if I should pour into molds while still a pure liquid? So it’s hardened in my mixing bowl. Don’t think that’s a problem as I should be able to remelt it, but the hardened mix seems to have pockets of softer butter – think maybe I should reduce the shea butter?
Ina | The Makeup Dummy
Wednesday 9th of May 2018
Hi Erika! It can take a while to solidify. You can pop it in the fridge to speed up the process! I let my mixture thicken to make sure all of the scrubbing ingredients won't just float to the bottom, give it a good stir and then pour the mixture in the molds. There shouldn't be softer pieces of butter in your mixture though ... Maybe the Shea butter wasn't completely melted?