How to: Blackberry Exfoliating Hand Polish
Have you been infusing dried blackberries in oil lately?
Excellent!
Have you also been wondering what to do with the blackberries after you strained the oil? Well, here's a suggestion: make a fabulous blackberry hand polish (that you may also want to try out as an exfoliating body scrub too).
Not only do dried blackberries function well as exfoliating nuggets, they will soften fairly quickly as they get wet so are not very likely to clog your drain and cause wailing and gnashing of teeth by plumbing-concerned family members (not that I know anyone who fits that description or anything).
And – they make your hand polish look all kinds of pretty!
Preservative Free But There are Rules
This is a preservative-free easy-to-make product but it does come with a major requirement: absolutely no moisture is allowed in the jar. You're going to have to get a bit old fashioned and find an adorable wooden spoon to scoop out a portion for each use, but if you can live with that part, then you can leave out the preservative. If you can't live with it, add an appropriate preservative at the manufacturers recommended amount.I usually make these kinds of scrubs without a preservative because I am forever trying out things and it's easy to allow for lots of experimentation and variation if you make small portions and use them up quickly.
And this is a relatively small portion. It will fill a 100 ml / 3.38 oz jar. Shall we get busy?
LisaLise’s Blackberry Hand Polish
| Ingredient | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|
| Epsom salts | 27.0 | 0.95 |
| Fine Himalayan Salt | 67.0 | 2.36 |
| Blackberry Exfoliating Paste | 15.0 | 0.53 |
| Blackberry Infused Oil | 50.0 | 1.76 |
| Turkey Red Oil | 10.0 | 0.35 |
Method
1. Prepare blackberry exfoliating paste (method described here)2. Weigh out ingredients and add to bowl
3. Stir until mixed
4. Transfer to jar
Substitutions - Salts
You don't have to include epsom salts if you don't have them. You can pretty much combine any readily-dissolvable grains of your choice for the salt portion.- Dead sea salt
- Fine himalayan salt
- Brown sugar
- Castor Sugar
Substitutions - Oils
The turkey red oil (also called sulphated/sulfated castor oil) helps the other oil dissolve and rinse away easily. If you don't want to use this, you can replace it with another oil (but expect a greasier feel overall)Feel free to substitute the infused oils with the oil of your preference. Some great oils for scrubs are:
- sweet almond
- apricot kernel
- safflower/thistle
- olive
Substitutions - Fruit Exfoliating Paste
You can pretty much use any dried herb you have been infusing in oil for this kind of scrub. I quite enjoy these dried blackberries as they add an extra dimension of exfoliation and an all-natural fragrance that gently greets the nose when the polish meets water. The blackberries I used in this batch were purchased in a health food shop and sold as an all natural, additive-free snack food.Other botanicals that might be fun to try:
- lavender
- pomegranate seeds
- raspberries
- calendula
- rose
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