If you love natural soap, then making your own soap is the next step. A whole new field for experimentation and creativity. Well, it needs some organization and attention, but it is a quite easy process for everyone to do.
I have a very sensitive skin and a very sensitive nose, which mean that I am very careful with the products that I use. Skin is the largest organ of our body and pretty much anything that comes in contact with it, it is absorbed through it - from air pollution to the products we apply on it. Keeping that in mind it is almost impossible to use any chemicals on our skin again, right?
It is ideal for any type of skin, kind and gentle for the sensitive ones, hydrating for the dry ones. And it doesn't have to be boring, botanical dyes, herbal extracts, clays or seeds, there are unlimited ways to enrich a soap, just needs some good will for experimentation :)
I like simple natural stuff, so these days I made a soap with chamomile and turmeric. All my soaps are made with organic olive oil and by using the cold process.
For a more detailed description you can see this post by @fotostef!
Being organized before you start will make things easier. I was a bit unfocused this time and managed to create a big mess. I also had a small burn, but this is not going to happen to you, that's why we will start with safety first :)
Long sleeves and plastic gloves.
Ideally outdoors or at least close to a door or window. Some chemical reactions are going to happen and we must not inhale that smoke.
Anything you use to make a soap, you will never again use it in your kitchen to make food.
Plastic buckets and wooden or silicon tools.
The ingredients are simple, but you have to be very accurate when measuring them:
olive oil
sodium hydroxite, known as caustic soda (NaOH)
distilled water
The basic recipe goes like that:
1000 gr (35,3 oz) oils - fats
300 gr (10,6 oz) distilled water
130 gr (4,6 oz) sodium hydroxide
Anything else is optional.
I used chamomile extract (in distilled water) and added some almond oil as well.
A thermometer, a (digital) scale as accurate as possible, buckets and something to mix it all together. Although I have a rubbish scale that I can't rely on, I have the strongest stirrer :)
Basic stuff!
Add slowly the caustic soda to the water, NEVER the opposite. And stir.
Keep your face away from this bucket, cause some magic happens here, the temperature can get up to 90°C and the smoke coming up is not good to inhale :)
Warm the olive oil. We need both caustic soda water and olive oil to be roughly at the same temperature (30-50°C) before we mix them.
When we achieve the same temperature for both, we put the olive oil in a bucket and then add the caustic soda to the olive oil, NEVER the opposite.
And some more magic will start happening!
Mix until the point where you reach a light trace, as you can see at the second photo below.
It usually takes a few minutes, this time it was almost instant and I was not well prepared for that. I forgot to add the almond oil, which I did at the very end. You normally add it when the trace begins.
I created a chaos with the turmeric, but it all ended up well!
And I had forgotten to cover my brand new wooden mold, while the soap was getting thick in no time...
A layer of turmeric...
And then the rest of it. Filling some plastic molds as well!
Today (after two days) I took them off the molds and cut them. The whole house smells soap and they look... delicious!
Cutting them is my favorite part!
They will now rest on the closet (covered to be protected from dust) for at least 2 months. I usually leave them for 3 months or even more. The more you let it rest, the soap will be gentler for your skin as it becomes less and less caustic.
And it might sound a bit unorthodox, but since the scent of fresh soap has filled the house and their beautiful color has brightened my day, it will all make it a #SublimeSunday hosted by @c0ff33a , as well as a very #beautifulsunday hosted by @ace108.
Make sure you put something nice on your skin today!
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Thank you very much :)
They all look delicious to me... lol
Haha, they do look yummy, don't they?
Thank you so much @ackhoo!
Hello @traisto
I thoroughly enjoyed this post.
I've always been keen on making my own products, and the steps that you have given here sound exciting.
I've bookmarked this post for sure (•‿•)
Thank you so much dear @millycf1976!
It is an exciting process and it can get as creative as you decide.
I got excited by the earthy colors and that smell of fresh soap that always makes me happy :) It feels so good using products that you know exactly what they have inside and it is totally worth the mess that you will create in the meantime :))
Thanks again!
Hello @traisto
I could not agree with you more. The colors did it for me too, and those were some of my fav ingredients.
Have a nice day:))))
For the kitchen and the soaps!
There was once an old ad about organic cosmetics that was saying "you shouldn't apply on your skin anything you can't eat" and this is so true (that was about a cream with yoghurt). Well, ok not for the soaps, haha! But I always keep in mind to use ingredients that I love eating as well :)
Have a lovely day @millycf1976!
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I love natural soap I have a friend that make a lot of soups with many parfumez,good job!!👍
Thank you @noemilunastorta! So lucky you have a friend that makes natural soaps :) I haven't used any perfumes yet, just herbal extracts and natural pigments, there are so many things to experiment with for just a simple soap, exciting!
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So beautiful to see, also the process 😁🥰
Will have to try one day… thanks for all the info.
My skin is sensitive and dry. Haven’t found a good natural soap yet.
Thank you @littlebee4!
Yes, try it, totally worth it!
A very important thing is how fresh the soap is. It is generally accepted that the soap is ready to use after two months. And for most people is super fine. For me, it is still too fresh and makes my skin even more dry. I use them 5-6 months later and I see a great difference! Also, I prefer the most simple ingredients and recipes, just natural simple stuff :)
Chamomile and turmeric are very helpful for us sensitives :))
You are welcome @traisto 😁
Will sure give it a go one day. Didn’t know to let it rest for more months, will for sure keep it in mind. Thanks for that additional info.
I need to find something that is still soap to clean my hands, but don’t kill my hands. Now after and still in the pandemic all the alcohol everywhere that was needed it other wise you couldn’t enter anywhere and extra washing of the hands. Killed my hands. My skin is literally pealing off and so dry it cracks with every movement. I can hardly hold anything at the moment. Normal water… out of the tap here in Spain, bites me at the moment. As toooo much chlorine they put in. I tried different soaps the last year, but all are bad at the moment. A proper problem when one has skin issues like me. My hands / I mean skin is so inflamed because of it all… I try with pure olive oil and almond oil to keep them soft. But they don’t go back to normal at the moment. Not funny at all.
I need to find natural things to help as cortisone only helps for a little while and than my skin get used to it. Like now… it doesn’t stop the process.
I will find something. Thank you 😊
Maybe calendula oil could help a bit, have you tried it? Not if you have open wounds though.
Avocado oil, cocoa butter and shea butter are extra moisturizing and get easily absorbed.
Yes, you can't put cortisone for ever, it is too strong and doesn't actually solve the problem. Less hand washing will definitely help, if you can reduce it to a few times during the day I hope it will help a lot. And the alcohol certainly destroyed many hands during these last few years. I don't use it, my hands can't stand it...
If you buy a soap from a local artisan, try to buy the most simple one without perfumes, and ask them when they made it. Most of the times they will understand why you ask and maybe they can give you their oldest one, which will be the best :)
Good luck with it! I know how hard it is...
Thanks for the tips, I have tried most oils and the calendula one.
I so know all about cortisone. Nasty stuff but needed sometimes.
The problem is less hand washing. If I’m home… all fine not needed. But out and about. Sigh…
We will get there one day.
Believe me I tried to avoid alcohol. But here they were standing in the doors with a big pot and if they couldn’t put it in your hands, you just couldn’t get in… anywhere. Crazy…
Will have a look around at some artisan markets. I always have anything without perfume. Or colouring etc. thank you so much for thinking along. 🤗🤗🥰
Take care! Have a wonderful day further.
Crazy times dear @littlebee4, yes...
I can see you have put a lot of care and thought, so I know that you will find sth that will work well eventually, hopefully pretty soon!
You too, have a wonderful day!
Crazy times indeed @traisto 🤓
Let’s hope 🤞🏻🤞🏻
Much appreciated, thank you kindly. 🤗🤗
This is great, thank you. I've made natural soaps before In Thailand but this method looks way easier than the one I learned there. I hope to give it a try! 😄
Love the colors of your soap and the designs on the pieces.
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@traisto I missed this, but I have bookmarked it as I've wanted to make soap for sooooo long. You make it seem so simple. X
Yes, give it a try, it's not hard at all! It all depends on being accurate, but also on how old your olive oil is. The older the better! We have some litters of a really old one, almost a decade old, that we use for soaps. You might have to adjust the quantities a bit depending your first material or decide to also use almond oil or actually anything :) Let me know when you decide to do it, maaaaybe I could help with adjustments :)
Although tbh I have never managed to make the exact same soap twice. I guess I am too bored to even try it and anyway they all feel great :))
Oh wow - using old olive oil!!! It's probalby old by the time it gets to the supermarket in Australia ahahah....
I'll definitely give it a go when work winds up for the year!
Awesome, problem solved :)))
Let me know!