January 22, 2012

Shea Butter Soap Recipe

Shea Butter Soap Recipe

Shea Butter Soap RecipeShea butter (also known as karite butter in other parts of the world) is a natural fat comes from the seed of the karite or African shea tree and takes a long time to mature, as much as fifty years!  It is a complex fat, which when processed and applied to skin melts at body temperature and is absorbed rapidly.

This fatty substance derived from stearic acid and oleic acid has a multitude of healing properties for which it has long been venerated.  For example, Africans have long used it for various skin complaints, from simple stretch marks to raging sores.  It is also known to contain cinnamic acid, a substance that encourages skin healing and which also protects the skin from damage from the sun, as it is a very capable sun block (unrefined shea has a natural “spf” of 4).

African women utilize it during pregnancy to avoid those unsightly stretch marks and to facilitate the birthing process.  Because of its usefulness in treating skin ailments, Shea butter is sought after for managing psoriasis and eczemas.  Cuts, burns and scars are also minimized as the Shea butter improves elasticity of the skin.

Shea butter has become popular in the beauty and skin industry, being commonly used in many skincare products and even shampoos. But one of the popular forms is in a Shea butter soap form.  This is because so many of shea butter’s beneficial properties target the skin.  For example, not only it is known to be a very rich emollient that prevents skin from drying out, but it also carries large portions of Vitamins A and E, both of which are essential to the maintenance of healthy skin and hair. Furthermore, it has been discovered to contain triterpenes, which are known antibacterial and antiviral substances.

Though often used in chocolates, as a substitute for cocoa butter, Shea butter is often used in cosmetics and soap makers.  The advantages of incorporating Shea butter in soaps are because of its chemical constituents that warrant it anti-inflammatory, emollient and humectants properties.

With all these in mind, the maximum Shea butter experience could only be warranted if you choose the best quality Shea butter to use on your soaps.  The unrefined ones are often best, because when Shea butter is refined, the natural nutty/woody scent scent and color disappear.  Unrefined shea butter has a nutty/smokey smell to it because of the roasting process it goes through.  It actually smells good if you like an earthy smell, if not essential oils or if you use fragrance oils, will cover the scent. The refined does not have the full benefits that the unrefined does because it goes through processing which strips it of some of the good stuff. Also, unrefined kinds of Shea butter soap are more beneficial especially to sensitive skin.  As this is a means of livelihood of women in Africa, try to keep in mind to use trade fair materials.

Shea butter soap is safe for use for just about all people, with a few rare exceptions.  If you have any specific conditions that might prohibit its use—say a rare and very sensitive skin disease, or a nut allergy—you should consult your physician first, just to be safe.

An important thing to consider is that shea butter is very sensitive to heat. So if you heat it wrong it will get grainy, no matter what product you use it in.  “From Nature With Love” has a whole article on avoiding crystallization and graininess when melting shea butter and other vegetable butters. These soaps could last about two years with the proper storage.  Keep in mind to prolong the shelf life of your Shea butter soaps after following the recipe, store the soaps in a cool place.

Shea Butter Soap Recipes:

The are several ways to use shea butter when making homemade soaps. If you want your soap to have fluffy lather, it’s recommended that you use shea butter at 3 – 5 percent of your entire recipe. Because shea butter has up to 11% of unsaponifiables, you don’t really have to use all that much in your recipe to make sure you get the benefits:

5% Shea Butter Soap Recipe

  • 50 % olive oil
  • 20 % coconut oil
  • 25 % palm oil
  • 5 % shea or cocoa butter

Follow standard soap making procedures.

There is no “maximum” amount of shea butter you can use — but just like with any other butters, oils or additives, you have to keep in mind how your ingredients properties may affect the overall outcome of your soap. How much shea you add to get the desired affect depends on what other oils are in your formula.

20% Shea Butter Soap Recipe

  • Castor 5%
  • Canola 20%
  • Coconut 25%
  • Lard 30%
  • Shea 20%

Do this at 5% superfat and you’ll have a GREAT bar.

100% Shea Butter Soap

Some people say you shouldn’t make 100% shea butter soap, as it would end up too hard and with little to no lather. The truth is, it all depends on the qualities you want from your soap. Iit’s a great learning experience to make a pure soap bar of each oil you use just to “see” how they turn out. Soapmaking is part chemistry/part art and you must choose your oils based on their fatty acid makeup and properties they bring to your soap whether that be fluffy bubbles, dense bubbles, creaminess, hardness, conditioning, etc. So yes, you can make a 100% shea butter soap if you want.

People who have actually made 100% shea butter soap say it’s fabulous for the skin, lathers somewhat like olive oil soap: it makes a dense creamy foam, with not many visible bubbles — enough to clean but not as “slimy” as Castile soap. An alternative would be to make a soap that is 82% shea and add Castor oil to help with lather. Either way, experimenting is the key, and also the fun part. =)

January 21, 2012

Beeswax Soap Recipe

Beeswax Soap Recipe

Beeswax Soap RecipeBeeswax is a natural product of nature that we would have to give credit to the honey bees: it takes ten pounds of honey to make a pound of beeswax! Beeswax has been utilized over history for different purposes and a variety of niches, from paintings to Paschal candles.

Today, there are multitudes of uses of beeswax could be encased in a soap.  It is known for locking in moisture inside the skin.  Beeswax can keep the skin supple and soft. You could say good bye to dry and cracked skin.  Beeswax also covers the skin with a film coating once applied. This then protects the skin and averts damaging factors in the environment.  Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory are some of the innate properties of beeswax.

Beeswax contains the natural healing properties of honey. This makes beeswax in soap a good soother of rashes and could mend skin problems. It also which makes it a healing adjunct as fighting bacteria is a main step in avoiding further exacerbation and infection of the skin. Since it has a very low irritation and allergenic potential, it is safe to use. It could be recommended to those who have sensitive skin, and those not akin to over the counter and chemically heavy products. Furthermore, it does not clog pores, which is also a preventive step. Blocked pores leads to trapping of oils and dirt in the skin, which causes inflammation and infection.

The best part is you do not have to go far to have your own beeswax soap.  A beeswax soap recipe experience is a great way to spend your afternoons, and you don’t necessarily have to Winnie the Pooh to enjoy this recipe:

Beeswax Soap Recipe

Ingredients:

  • Almond oil: 4 oz
  • Canola: 6 oz
  • Coconut: 8 oz
  • Olive: 7 oz
  • Soybean: 6 oz
  • Beeswax: 1 oz
  • Lye: 4.3 oz (8% superfat)
  • Water: 12 oz
  • Honey: 2 tablespoons

Instructions:

Heat oils to 150° F. Add Beeswax (you can grate it, chunk it, pre-melt it). Cool to 115° F. Lye and water to about 110° F. Add lye/water to oils, at light trace, add the honey. Stir till well blended. Pour no more than an inch deep. Cover with Saran type wrap prevents soda ash). Don’t wrap with a blanket, just put a cookie sheet over the top.

Things to consider when making a beeswax soap recipe:

If you haven’t made soap before, this recipe could be rather challenging with the beeswax and the honey.  I’d also limit the honey to 2 tablespoons to avoid overheating the soap, as this will get warmer than soaps without honey – that’s why there’s no need to insulate. The honey will heat this up enough.

If you would like to adapt other recipes to use beeswax, here are some things to consider: some people add it to their recipes to help make the bar harder and/or to help prevent ash formation. In soap making, you can simply substitute one of the hard oils (coconut, palm, palm kernel, etc) for the beeswax – just be sure to recalculate the lye amount.

Beeswax melts at very high temperature and could conceivably create a false trace in your soap mixture, so be vigilant.

Adding beeswax makes your soap harder and last longer, but using too much of it can cut way down on the lather your soap makes. If you add too much beeswax, there will be no real lather to speak of and while it may last longer in the shower, it’s not worth the swap for lather.

How much you can use before having problems depends on your basic recipe. Just be aware any amount of beeswax can accelerate trace. How much it accelerates trace depends on how much you use – though about 1/2 an ounce per pound of oils is a good amount to consider.

November 10, 2010

Insecticidal Soap Recipe

insecticidal-soap

As summer approaches and we all start having to deal with bugs. Do you want to know what to use for your very own insecticidal soap recipe?

Citronella and lavender soaps have very good insect repelling properties and very good stay power even though they are in a wash off product like a soap.

Lavender EO is characterized by a camphor content upward of 8%. Camphor is the sharp, ‘mothball’ element of the fragrance – not desirable for perfumery, but not necessarily bad in soap. It also explains why lavender has a long use as an insect repellent.

Other Essential Oils You Can Use In Your Insecticidal Soap Recipe

  • Geraniol. Geraniol Acetate, Limonene, Camphene – primary constituents of Citronella
  • Terpinene-4-ol, Cineol, Pinene, terpinenes, cymene, sesquiterpenes, sesquiterpenes alcohols, etc. – primary constituents of Tea Tree
  • Linalyl Acetate, linalool, lavandulol, lavandulyl acetate, terpineol, cineol, limonene, ocimene, caryphyllene, etc. primary constituents of Lavender
  • Eucalyptus, Lemon – Lemon type for insect problems
  • Catnip –one of the best repellents but rather expensive still, a little goes a long way.
  • Cedarwood, Virginia – mixed with citronella and lavender it was the primary ingredients in most bug sprays prior to the incorporation of DDT in more modern insecticides.
  • Pennyroyal – minty and herbaceous and a known insect repellent
  • Lemongrass – also a decent choice for a repellent although not a primary ingredient
  • Neem (the essential oil not the carrier oil although the carrier oil does have these properties too)
  • Patchouli – used for centuries to protect Persian carpets from insect infestation also a good base for the blend as most all others are top notes.
  • Rosewood – very similar to lavender in chemical composition but can add a bit of a floral woody note to blends, also a good base not in a blend

This is not a formula and each of these should be investigated and studied for use percentages but it is a good starting place on a blend for this purpose.

Once you formulate the blend you can put it into an alcohol or cyclomethicone (one or the other, they don’t mix) and apply as needed. You can also make a cream or lotion or even a soap with the blend.

Basic Insecticidal Soap Recipe – contains citronella and lavender

Fragrant soaps often attract annoying bugs. But this bugs be gone soap, while smelling quite pleasant, repels bugs. Using this soap will not eliminate pesky insects, but it will make you less appealing to them.

  • 1 & 1/2 c. clean rendered tallow
  • 1/2 c. coconut oil
  • 3/4 c. cold soft water
  • 1/4 c. lye flakes
  • 1 tsp. citronella essential oil
  • 1 tsp. eucalyptus essential oil
  • 1 tsp. lavender essential oil

Melt tallow and vegetable oil. Set aside to cool.

Stir lye into cold water until dissolved and set aside to cool.

Grease molds liberally with petroleum jelly.

When lye and fat are luewarm, pour lye into fat slowly, stirring constantly. When mixture becomes thick and creamy, add essential oil beating vigorously to distribute evenly throughout.

Pour into molds.

Yeild: 1 & 1/2 lbs. hard bar soap

This insecticidal soap recipe is great for those warm summer nights and when you go camping. You can play around with different ingredients to see which combination works best for you.

November 2, 2010

How To Make Bath Bombs

How To Make Bath Bombs

How To Make Bath BombsOK, so technically bath bombs are not soap, but they’re so fun that I had to include at least one post on how to make bath bombs.

How To Make Bath Bombs

  • 2 cups baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups citric acid
  • 2oz oil of choice (I generally use either Almond or Evening Primrose)
  • 1oz fragrance of choice (either EO or FO, doesn’t matter which, really)
  • aprx 1.5oz water or witch hazel in a spray bottle set to Mist

Mix your dry ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl with plenty of extra room. Add your scenting oil (EO or FO) and begin to stir together with a spoon or spatula. (Personally,I just used my hand with a latex glove on – it seems to mix faster that way, and it’s easier to judge when the texture is correct.)

When your EO/FO is completely mixed in and you can’t “see” it any longer (there’s no obvious Wet area as opposed to Dry) start adding your oil about a half ounce at a time and stirring while you do so. Mixture should be about the consistency of wet sand and stick together well. If it’s still a bit to dry to stick together well when you squeeze it in your hand, hold the spray bottle several inches (no less than 6 or 8) above the bowl and give 1 or 2 mist sprays with the witch hazel.

There WILL be a bit of fizzing right at the spot where the majority of it hits, but it should be minimal and will end quickly as you stir the mixture again to incorporate that moisture.

This mixture works well for me every time, either using a largish scoop (a small ice cream scoop) or packing it into guest bar sized molds.

I hope you enjoyed this quick post on how to make bath bombs. Just FYI, the one on the photo is by Malia Akana ans she included some sunflower petals for an extra touch.

October 26, 2010

Laundry Soap Recipe

laundry-soap-recipe

It’s been a while since I last updated this blog, so I decided it was about time to add a new recipe. So today I’m going to share with you a very simple laundry soap recipe. If you have never made laundry soap before, you will love this one. It’s super simple to do. Check it out:

Laundry Soap Recipe

1) grind up your scraps

2) put soap scraps in a 5 gallon bucket (about 4″ of scraps in the bucket — don’t use too much!)

3) add equal parts washing soda and borax (about 1 cup each for a 5 gallon bucket)

4) fill bucket with water

In about 2 days or so, it will turn to complete mush — that’s when it’s good — becomes the consistency of snot (sorry to describe it this way, but that’s the way it was described to me, and quite frankly – it’s accurate!).

I hope you enjoy this laundry soap recipe. It really doesn’t get any simpler than this. But I thought it was important to share because sometimes we get so caught up trying to do fancy, luxurious soap for the skin that we completely forget about our other soaping needs. =)

July 31, 2010

Aloe Vera Soap Recipe

Aloe Vera Soap Recipe

Aloe Vera Soap RecipeAloe Vera is the most prestigious herb used for skin care. It contains almost 20 amino acids, minerals like calcium, magnesium and sodium in sufficient quantities, enzymes, vitamins, polysaccharides, nitrogen and other components that make it a miracle beauty herb.

If anyone would like to try this recipe for Aloe soap:

  • 425 g coconutoil
  • 382 g oliveoil
  • 298 g lard
  • 71 g sheabutter
  • 272 g aloegel and water purée (add water to the aloe till you reach 272 g total)
  • 191 g NaOH
  • 283 g water

For scent I used 10 g cucumber from MacSoapy, 5 ml Hagebutte Malve and 5 ml Palma Rosa. No colour was added. Mix oils and caustic well and pour in the aloegel and water purée along with the scents BEFORE trace. I cut the soap after 24 hours.

Note: If you use aloe from your own plant – be sure to harvest only the clear gel from the leaves!!

Benefits Of Aloe Vera Soap

Aloe vera soap is one of the best things you can do for your skin.  The aloe plant has long been revered as a medicine for various skin ailments ranging from dryness to burns.  It has even been suggested by many doctors as an alternative treatment for those suffering from internal issues such as arthritis, interestingly enough. Even in situations like this, aloe vera is said to be of help because a topical application sees it penetrating the skin and reaching the ailing area, providing relief from the pain.

Aloe vera has also been said to have promise in fighting off the onset of alopecia in men.  Alopecia is the medical term for balding, and a lot of men worry about it constantly.  This is actually one reason aloe vera does not only show up in soaps but also in shampoos.  Furthermore, the powerful moisturising properties of the plant’s sap help to prevent the skin, scalp, and hair from drying out.  This is one of the best reasons to use aloe vera soap, as a matter of fact: for its richly emollient, moisturising properties.  It can help to make your skin look and feel suppler and younger.

Aloe vera soap can truly be used for a lot of things.  Many studies have also shown that aloe vera can help to speed up healing for cases such as burns.  This is why some cultures actually apply the sap from the plant to scrapes or burns on the skin, in an effort to help the wound heal without a scar.  There are also cultures where it is used to prevent itchiness from allergies, rashes, insect bites, and the like.

Essentially, aloe vera soap can benefit you a great deal due to its many beneficial qualities.  In addition to the ones already mentioned above, aloe vera is also known to be a strong detoxifier, thus helping you clear away all possible substances that could add to the aging of your appearance.  It is also a proven antibacterial substance, so you can be sure that your body is being properly cleansed aside from being properly soothed when you use it.

July 23, 2010

Cucumber Soap II

Cucumber Soap

Cucumber SoapI have already posted a cucumber soap recipe, but this one is different and also worth experimenting with, so here it goes:

Cucumber Soap Recipe

15 oz Sunflower oil

30 oz Coconut oil

27 oz Olive oil

21 oz Palm oil

5 oz Shea butter

18 oz cucumber juice (juicer works perfect)

19 oz Water

14.1 oz Lye

f/o if desired

What I do, is I get my juicer out and I juice them cucumbers up and pour until I have my 18 oz of juice. Then I put this in a small pitcher, and set aside while I start the rest of my stuff.

While my oils and lye is cooling I then add my coloring and my fragrance oil right to the pitcher with the cucumber juice in it, stir well and set aside once again… I think I add about .8 to 1oz of fo for the whole recipe. But I do have a very strong cuc FO so I don’t need much.

Now go back and add your lye water to your oils, and stir it until light trace, that is when you add your pitcher of cucumber, fo and coloring and finish mixing until you have a full trace, then pour.

July 17, 2010

Acne Soap Recipes

Acne Soap Recipe

Acne Soap RecipeI’ve suffered with acne for decades, my husband has had cystic acne and 5 of our kids have dealt with acne in varying degrees. I make a lot of acne stuff. My can’t-live-without-it item is my acne serum which is very simple.

I add a few drops of helichrysm EO and a few drops of galbanum EO to an Emu oil/Jojoba blend. This blend is gentle yet very healing. I use it every morning and evening.

Here are my “acne-safe” ingredients:

Butter:

  • Kokum (I can use cocoa and shea on my body but both make my face break out. Kokum is the only butter that is safe for my face.)

Oils:

  • Emu
  • Coconut
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Hazelnut
  • Jojoba
  • Neem

Essential Oils:

  • Helichrysm*
  • Galbanum*
  • Tea Tree
  • Lavender
  • Thyme Linalool

Hydrosols:

  • Helichrysm
  • Clove
  • Cornflower
  • Frankensense
  • Witch Hazel

Herbs and/or extracts:

  • White willow bark
  • Black willow bark
  • Neem
  • Tomato powder
  • Jaborandi leaf
  • Strawberry leaf

For the record, Neem oil stinks. If you can put up with the smell, it’s really a great oil. I’ve never found anything that masks the smell, though. The dried herb isn’t quite as bad but it still has an odor.

July 9, 2010

Beer Soap Recipe

Beer Soap Recipe

Beer Soap RecipeI love my beer soap and always buy from a local brewery rather than buying the store bought brands. I like the deep beers, hefeweizen, ales, and wheat beers are my favorites. Often times you can detect the fruits and herbs used in making the beer so I try and add fragrance that compliments the beers ingredients.

I have a local honey wheat beer that uses local honey and since I live in So California there is a lot of orange blossom honey and the fragrance in the beer reflects this. I chose a blend of honey and orange blossom fragrance and it really complimented that beer.

How To Make Beer Soap

I pour all the beer into a plastic pitcher and then hit it a few times with a stick blender to get up a huge “head” on the beer, and then let it settle down.

I do this many times during the day until the beer starts to go flat. For some beers I will let it set out for a few days and do this until all the alcohol has evaporated. I know some people heat the beer to remove the alcohol faster but I think it destroys the properties of the beer to heat it so I just let it sit out and put it in the fridge until it is really flat.

I then pour the beer into a plastic zip bag, lay it flat and freeze the beer. I can then just take out what I want, measure, and use just that part and freeze the rest again for another time. This is the same principal I do for milk, teas, coffee, etc.

I add the lye very slowly to the frozen beer, really SLOW so that all the lye will dissolve. On occasion I will dissolve the lye in a small portion of distilled water and then add the frozen ingredient to that and then there is no problem with the lye dissolving. The choice is yours and both work equally well.

The important thing is by doing it this way the liquid, beer, milk, etc., is not burned when the lye is added. But with beer and wine it is really important to make sure it is flat and all the alcohol is evaporated because it will heat up if not done.

You can use any recipe for soap you want, just use the beer as the liquid portion. If you want to keep it a lighter color and keep some of the natural beer fragrance then do not allow it to go into gel. Instead as soon as you pour into your mold put it into the freezer. After a day or so I take it out, thaw it, and then cut it and set it to cure for at least 6 weeks.

During this time you may smell more of the beer than the fragrance but in time the beer will settle and mellow out and the scent of the fragrance will come through.

Because of the natural ingredients in beer it makes a wonderful creamy, conditioning, lather. It is a great seller for me and is often purchased by folks that love beer.

You can use any one of your favorite soap recipes in making beer soap. Just remember to make sure the beer is flat and cold. Use an extra large bowl and pour in the lye slowly – otherwise it will bubble up and may overflow the bowl.

May 10, 2010

How to Make a Homemade Lye Soap

Homemade Lye Soap
Homemade Lye Soap

photo by INeedCoffee / CoffeeHero

It is very easy to do your own homemade lye soap. You do not really need special ingredients because everything that you need can be found at your nearest grocery store.

For your basic homemade lye soap, all you need is a combination of fat and lye with water for the catalyst. For a more luxurious soap, you can add aromatherapy or scented oils and dyes for cool colors. Some people use tap water while some use distilled or rainwater.

Lye (sodium hydroxide) is a chemical used in soaps that can cause skin burns so it is very important to be careful when using it. Before using it, be sure to read the instructions and then follow them carefully.

When making homemade lye soap, you may want to use a lye calculator to be sure that you are using the right amount of lye on your soap. The amount of lye that you will use depends on the type of fat or oil that you are going to use.

To begin with your homemade lye soap put the lye in a bowl of water. Take note: pour the water first and then lye and not vice versa. It is better if your water has ice in it. Continuously stir the soap mix and be aware of the reaction that will occur. Lye causes the water to boil. Stop stirring and wait for the simmering to stop. After the bubbling stops, let the soap base mix cool down under room temperature.

You can use whatever type of oil that can be used for making soap. Oils can come from plants, vegetables or from hydrogenated oils to animal fats. If you are going to use animal fat, just make sure that it is clean, fresh, contains no salt and has no solid and rough particles. The advantage of using animal fats (lard or tallow) is that is makes soap denser compared to plant oils. What is good about using plant oils from coconuts is that the soap will produce creamy lather while olive oil gives out silky, fine bubbles that are gentle to the skin.

The reaction between the animal fat and lye is called “saponification”. It may take more time to reach trace (the joining of lye and oils). Once it reaches trace you can now add both coloring and scented oils. Afterwards, pour the soap base mix in the mold and let it cool down until it solidifies. Let your homemade lye soap cure for two to three days and let it completely dry for best results.

«Older Posts

Did you enjoy this content? Share the love!