It has been a gradual process, a journey - one that continues. At first I researched the Web to find commercially available products that are "clean." The Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep(R) Cosmetics Database is a seemingly bottomless source of such information, but the products I wanted were hard to find and often expensive. So I began making my own, if and when I could find a good recipe and instructions for the products.
My fiance was first to be inspired to make soap. After much research, he decided to use hot process soapmaking with a recipe that measured the ingredients in standard U.S. units of cups because we did not have a metric kitchen scale. I contributed additives at the end, and the soap turned out great! We tweaked the recipe for the second batch, and it was also good, but I was not satisfied - I wanted a soap that really cared for my skin.
Two days ago I set out to make our next batch of soap, all by myself. We added a cup of honey to the last batch that left a slightly sticky residue on my skin, so I wanted to add less honey this time. I also wanted to experiment with the oils used to make the soap, and other additives instead of honey, in hopes of hitting upon a soap formula that would soften and moisturize my skin.
I was still torn between honey or no honey when I started the first batch. I had come across information after our first batch of soap that said, more than 30% coconut oil in the recipe can create a drying bar of soap - we had used 1/3rd coconut oil in that first batch. So, without further ado, here is the recipe I used for my first batch:
1 3/4 cups coconut oil
1 3/4 cups olive oil
1 cup lard
1/2 cup sweet almond oil
1/2 cup sunflower oil
1/2 cup avocado oil
2 1/4 cups distilled water
3/4 cup lye
IMPORTANT NOTE: Working with lye is dangerous! If you would like more information about the specifics of making soap, search the Web. Here are two sites that helped me:
http://www.zensoaps.com/hpsoap.htm
http://voices.yahoo.com/how-soap-scratch-647715.html?cat=6
The coconut and olive oils are not virgin or special in any other way - we save the "special" versions of those oils for cooking. I selected these oils for the properties they impart to the soap and, hopefully, to the skin.
We use an old crock pot to cook the soap and a cheap stick blender to stir the mixture.
This stage is called trace - you can see the drips on the surface of the mixture. This looks good! The crock pot is on high and this stage was reached five minutes after the lye water was added to the oils. If I was following the cold process soapmaking procedure, I would add my final ingredients now and pour the soap in a mold - but one must let it sit in the mold for a month before cutting it into bars. In hot process, one keeps cooking the mixture until water and unsaponified oils separate from the saponified oils (i.e. soap!) in the mixture, then reintegrate. That was my plan.
About this time, my two young daughters showed up to talk to me. When I turned back around to my soap mere minutes later, it had volcanoed.
Oops. I rescued what I could from the outside of the pot and the cardboard. And learned not to keep the crock pot on high, nor to turn my back on the soap at any point in the process.
I finished processing the soap with fingers crossed. I added 1/4th cup honey, 1 cup ground oatmeal, and 2 tablespoons of melted shea butter to the soap, then poured it into a rectangular box lined with wax paper.
The beauty of hot process soap is that you can cut and use it 1-3 days later - good for eager beavers like me! The soap has a sweet smell of honey. I look forward to using it - my hope is that the oatmeal is mildly exfoliating, and the honey and shea butter are moisturizing.
My fiance suggested that I make another batch immediately, taking advantage of having everything already available and set up. So I did. Perhaps I could avoid the volcano this time!
I had used up my avocado oil in the previous recipe, so I substituted hazelnut oil for it. Otherwise I stayed with the previous recipe. And never turned the crock pot above low heat.
Trace still occurred quickly, thanks to the heat from the lye water. The stick blender overheats quickly, so I had to alternate between the blender and a wooden spoon for stirring. Separation and reintegration took at least another 30 minutes. Perhaps this would take less time if I had a better stick blender - it's a chemistry thing.
This was my opportunity to try no-honey. So I added 1 cup goat milk (reconstituted from powder - found the can on the clearance shelf of my local grocery store), 2 tablespoons melted shea butter, and 2 tablespoons jojoba oil. This, I feel sure, will be one moisturizing and nourishing soap!
A much whiter, creamier soap. Also softer; when I went to cut it the next day, I had to be careful not to dent it with random movements of the knife or my own fingers.
I do not know yet how much this soap will dry and, therefore, shrink over time. I am also a bit concerned about how long it will keep - will the goat milk in it spoil? Time will tell. For now, I am even more eager to try out this soap than I am the honey and oatmeal soap. Either this will be the soap my skin has been waiting for, or it will give me ideas for the next recipe! Regardless, I know the soap I make has no artificial chemicals or fragrances, and there's nothing to not love about that.
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