How To Make Soap

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It has been over a year that I have wanted to make my own soaps. I started gathering some ingredients such as jojoba oil and cinnamon essential oil but it was impossible to get some glycerine in Mexico City!

When we came back to France I went to Aroma-zone to buy some “Melt & Pour” soap base with aloe vera. They also have another transparent version. I immediately acquired the missing material and I made my first test. So, after two attempts I would like to present to you a method that guarantees beautiful, and most importantly, effective soaps.

Why making your own soaps?

It is important to realize that making your own soaps is quite advantageous because it would allow you to chose the ingredients according to their properties and/or their origin; it would also help you protect your skin as well as the environment as you won’t be using toxic products anymore; and last but not least, it would allow you to save some money because, believe it or not, making your own bio soaps is cheap!

This method will let you make a 100g soap so you would need to multiply the quantities according to the number of soaps you wish you produce. I would recommend you to start with two or three soaps so you can become familiar with the process. You will see soon enough that it is a child’s play!

Utensils:

• An scale
• A saucepan
• A wooden or flexible spatula
• A heat resistant pot
• A soft mold (I chose this soft mold from Aromazone to make 100g rectangular soaps)
• Water

Optional: I would recommend you to sterilize your utensils before using them, you just need to submerge them a few (5-10) minutes in boiling water.

Moreover, make sure not to use other than wooden or plastic instruments so that you won’t modify the ingredients’ properties.  

Recipes:

• For one tea tree soap: 100g of Melt & Pour, 6 teaspoons of olive oil and 60 drops of tea tree essential oil.
• For one cinnamon soap: 100g of Melt & Pour, 6 teaspoons of jojoba oil, 10 drops of ceylon cinammon essential oil.
• For one lavender soap: 100g of Melt & Pour, 6 teaspoons of jojoba oil, 35 drops of lavender (lavandula angustifolia) essential oil.

You can exchange the vegetal oil in each recipe for another which means you can use either olive oil, coconut oil or jojoba oil. Do it according to your feelings and preferences but knowing that coconut oil has a more powerful smell than other oils which have a tendency of being neutral.

Also, do some research before using essential oils. Some, like bergamot oil, are photosensitive, others like cinnamon oil are not suitable for your face as it will leave you with a burning sensation. You can test them in a small part of your hands before making the soaps to make sure you are not allergic to them.

I added some clay (powder of Rhassoul, in fact) to my first batch but it reduced the foaming power of my soaps. So, if you wish a foamy soap I would advise you not to use clay.

If you wish you could add colorants to make them look prettier. In my case I left them natural. I only added some cinnamon powder to the preparation to distinguish them and to give them a slight color. That reinforced the smell while giving them a light tinted touch.

Preparation:

• Set up a bain marie: put some water in a saucepan and heat it until boiling.
• During this time prepare the needed quantity of Melt & Pour and cut it in chunks (remember that it is hard). I remove it little by little with a wooden spatula to get some sort of chips. You can also cut it in small cubes with an spatula.
• Put the small chunks of Met & Pour (which is actually the soap base) in the pot and put the latter in the middle of the saucepan with boiling water. Make sure the water and the soap do not mix, you need to adjust the water according to your recipients.
• It takes some time for the Melt & Pour to actually melt (from 10-15 min) so do not worry. If there are some chunks that are not melting well use your spatula to separate them but keep stirring to the minimum.
• Once the soap base has melted turn the stove off and leave the pot with the soap base in the saucepan. Add quickly the vegetal oil of your choice and mix well then add the essential oil and mix again.
• Take the pot away from the saucepan and without burning yourself pour the mixture quickly but delicately to the mold to the rim. I would recommend you to prepare everything in advance because the soap dries quite fast and you might end up with chunks of dry soap.
• Once the soaps dry remove them from their mold.
• Let them rest 24h before using them.

And voilà, a child’s play like I told you. If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask us. We will be really glad to read your experiences!