DIY Homemade Valentine’s Day Gift Idea – Handmade Triple Butter Solid Sugar Scrub Hearts

 Whip up these lovely heart shaped solid sugar scrubs for someone special. Not only do they smell like spring – I scented mine with rose & violet – but they are made with a trio of skin nourishing butters! And remember that heart shaped silicone mold I used for my handmade heart Valentine’s Day soaps? Well, here’s another opportunity to use your mold for something other than desserts! (Alternately you can also make smaller one-time use sugar scrub hearts with a miniature hearts silicone mold.

© Rebecca’s Soap Delicatessen

17 oz. sugar

2.5 oz. melt and pour soap base (of choice)

3 oz. shea butter (natural or refined)

1/2 oz. cocoa butter

1/2 oz. illipe butter

2 Tablespoons rice bran oil (or olive oil, or any carrier oil of choice)

1/2 Tablespoon aloe vera gel

1/2 mL vitamin e oil

1 Tablespoon fragrance oil or 1 1/2 teaspoons essential oil of choice (optional)

soap dye (optional)

Wilton 6-Cavity Silicone Heart Mold Pan or Miniature Hearts Silicone Mold

Two large glass bowls or measuring  cups

Spoon or spatula

Digital scale

Tablespoon

Instructions:
Start by weighing out the cocoa butter and illipe butter. Place into a glass, microwave safe bowl or measuring cup (I like to use a large Pyrex measuring cup as I find the handle useful) and heat in the microwave until just melted. (Alternately you may use a double boiler.) Next, weigh out the melt and pour glycerin soap base and cut into square chunks. Add these to the bowl of cocoa and illipe butter. Then weigh out the shea butter and also add to the cocoa butter, illipe butter and glycerin soap mixture. Continue to microwave until ingredients have melted. Once your soap and butters have melted, remove the bowl from the microwave and stir well.

Now measure out the rice bran oil, aloe vera gel and fragrance with a Tablespoon – I used a rose & violet scented fragrance oil – and add to the bowl of butters and soap. Using a pipette, measure out the Vitamin E oil and add it to the bowl of ingredients as well.  If using a liquid soap dye, you would also add several drops at this point until the mixture reaches desired color. Mix well to thoroughly incorporate ingredients.

Now in a clean container, weigh out 18oz. of sugar then slowly pour into the soap and butter mixture. Stir well to be sure there are no remaining pockets of sugar that are not mixed in. Then slowly spoon or pour the sugar scrub mixture into your silicone molds. If you add to much you can level off the top with the back of large knife. Now carefully place the mold in the refrigerator until mixture has hardened thoroughly.

Once your hearts have solidified, simply push out of the molds and wrap tightly in plastic film. Then decorate your solid sugar scrub hearts for gift giving! I decorated mine with washi tape and bakers twine and used sticker paper to attach labels with ingredients on the bottom of the hearts.

To use, simply rub onto damp skin in the shower after you have bathed, then rinse. The sugar will gently exfoliate skin while the oils moisturize. In between uses, store in cool dry location away from water. Alternately, you may simply cut the heart into smaller pieces using a Chef’s knife and place in an airtight container. Pull out one to two cubes of the scrub to use in the shower whenever you want to give your skin some extra love! Simply crush the solid sugar scrub cubes onto your skin as the last step after you bathe but before you get out of the shower, and rinse.