I know the lady who made the video from another forum (although she doesn't know me :wink: ) and she is using another lady's recipe who
is very knowledgeable. I made this same recipe over 3 years ago. Well, not quite the same - the recipe's percentages are slightly different but only .5% to 1%. So I can say it does make a really nice scrub. It wasn't quite what I preferred but it gave me a starting point to formulate my own recipe. You could use Tocopherol (Vitamin E) as a small percentage of the soft oils. It helps to extend the shelf life of the oils and it's really good for the skin.
What amount of preservative did you use in what sized batch? Where did you read the amount was too much? (eta:
***) I noticed she said to add 5 grams of Optiphen. I don't think she added too much preservative since I would add about that much, too. I add equal weight of sugar to my scrubs so if I did a 230 gram batch, it would actually be 460 grams when it's done. Optiphen usage rate is .75%- 1.5% of the total weight of a batch. If she used 1.5%, it would be 7 grams. Phenonip usage rate is .5%-1% so it wouldn't be too far off in weight. Phenonip at 1% would be 4.6 grams so 5 grams isn't much more. To be fair, you probably didn't need that much and could have just used 3 grams but it's not going to be harmful. You just used more than you really needed. BTW, I've read if you use salt instead of sugar then you only need to use enough preservative for the weight of the oils, etc. The large amount of salt also acts as a preservative. I play it safe and still use the same amount of preservative whether I use sugar or salt.
I wouldn't worry about the extra preservative. But if it does bother you, you could always make a little more and blend the two batches together.
***
Apology to Donna - I just realized when I checked your recipe that I only calculated preservative for just the oils and other ingredients. I didn't include the weight of the sugar. I'm sorry and I hope I didn't mess you up.
(I'm so embarrassed.)