Understanding Thickeners for Your Oil-Based Scrub

Creating an oil-based scrub using oils, sugar, and coffee grounds is a great idea! Let's clarify the role of different ingredients to help you choose the right ones for your formula.

Sugar Gel vs. Oil Thick

• Sugar Gel (Sucrose Stearate/Palmitate): These are primarily emulsifiers, meaning they help oil and water mix together to form a stable emulsion. They are not designed to thicken oil on their own. While they can be used in scrub formulas, their main function is often to create a "wash-off" effect, where the oil phase emulsifies with water during rinsing.
• Oil Thick (Dextrin Palmitate): This ingredient is specifically an oil thickener. It is designed to increase the viscosity of oil-based formulas, making them thicker and more gel-like without adding water.

Which to choose? Since your formula is primarily oil-based and you want to achieve a viscous oil texture, Oil Thick (Dextrin Palmitate) is the more suitable choice to thicken your oil phase. If you were aiming for a scrub that turns into a milky lotion and rinses off easily with water, then an emulsifier like Sugar Gel would be necessary.

When adding essential oils, they will naturally mix into your oil base, and using Oil Thick will help maintain the desired consistency of the oil phase.

Sugar Gel and Glycerin

Sugar Gel (Sucrose Stearate/Palmitate) and Glycerin serve different purposes. Sugar Gel is an oil-dispersible emulsifier, while Glycerin is a water-soluble humectant and solvent. Glycerin is typically used in the water phase of a formula. In a purely oil-based scrub thickened with Oil Thick, Glycerin is not required and would not mix into the oil phase. If you were making an emulsified scrub that contains a water phase, Glycerin could be included in that phase.

Water Contamination During Use

For a purely oil-based scrub, water contamination during use in the shower is a consideration. A water-soluble thickener would not thicken the oil phase and could potentially lead to separation if water gets into the product. If you are concerned about water getting into the container and affecting the product's stability or introducing microbial growth, you might consider:

• Formulating it as a wash-off scrub using an appropriate emulsifier (which would handle the water contact).
• Including a preservative suitable for systems with a potential for water contamination, even in small amounts.

Type of Sugar for Scrubbing

Regular fine sugar is perfectly suitable for use as a scrub in an oil-based formula. Sugar is water-soluble but does not dissolve in oil, which is why it works well as a physical exfoliant in oil-based scrubs. Using regular fine sugar will provide the texture you desire for exfoliation. The fineness of the sugar crystals will determine how abrasive the scrub is.

Suitable Colorants

For an oil-based scrub, you need colorants that can disperse in oil. Iron Oxides are a good option as they are oil-dispersible pigments commonly used in oil-based makeup products. They can be easily dispersed in your oil phase to color the scrub. Other oil-soluble colorants or pigments dispersed in oil would also be suitable.