Shower Gel Formulation with Long-Lasting Relaxing Scent and Scrub Options

Creating a shower gel with a long-lasting relaxing or spa-like scent involves selecting the right fragrance and ensuring the base formula supports scent retention. Adding scrub particles requires adjusting the formula, particularly the thickener, to keep the particles suspended.

Basic Shower Gel Formula

A typical shower gel formula consists of:

• Surfactants: These are the cleansing agents (e.g., SLES, Cocamidopropyl Betaine). They create lather and clean the skin.
• Thickener: To give the gel viscosity. Examples include SugarThick, EasyThick, Sepimax Zen, or Ceteareth-60 Myristyl Glycol.
• Humectants: To help retain skin moisture (e.g., Glycerin).
• Preservative: To prevent microbial growth.
• Fragrance: For scent.
• Water: The main base.

Achieving a Long-Lasting Relaxing/Spa Scent

To make the scent last longer, consider using fragrance oils specifically designed for bath and body products. The concentration of the fragrance oil is key; higher concentrations generally result in a stronger and longer-lasting scent, but always adhere to recommended usage rates to avoid skin irritation. For a relaxing or spa-like aroma, you could explore fragrance oils such as Healing Spa, Relax Lemongrass, or Calm Me Down.

Adding Beads or Scrub Particles

To create a shower gel with scrub, you add exfoliating particles to the base formula. The main difference from a regular shower gel is the inclusion of these particles and the need for a thickener that can effectively suspend them to prevent settling at the bottom of the bottle.

Suitable thickeners for suspending beads include ClearClean or ThickClean, which are designed to hold particles evenly throughout the gel. Natural scrub options like Luffa Scrub, Magnetite Scrub, Camellia Seed Scrub, or Coffee Scrub can be incorporated. The size and type of scrub particle will determine the exfoliation intensity.

Formula Adjustment for Scrub:

• Use a thickener capable of suspending particles (e.g., ClearClean, ThickClean).
• Add the chosen scrub particles at the end of the formulation process, ensuring they are evenly dispersed by gentle stirring.
• The concentration of scrub particles typically ranges from 1-15%, depending on the desired exfoliation level.

In summary, a scrub shower gel is essentially a standard shower gel base modified with a suspending thickener and exfoliating particles to provide physical exfoliation in addition to cleansing. The choice of fragrance allows for customization of the scent profile, such as relaxing or spa-like aromas.