Soap and Spice

Soap making is still a new hobby of mine. Although lye doesn't strike the same fear in my heart as it once did, working with it seems daunting sometimes. I find I still get nervous when I'm trying a new recipe. It took a local soap making course to get me over my initial fear of lye but since then I've used the same recipe over and over. It's a good one that's for sure but it was time for something new.

As the holidays are approaching I was inspired to try the Holiday Spice Soap. It really was a big change from what I've done before. Different oils, different additives and two colors! I was nervous. And I became so discourage when I realized I didn't have what I needed for the recipe. So instead of going back to the same old soap, I headed over to Soap Calc and made my own Spice Soap recipe. I will share it with you here but be warned this soap has not yet cured so it hasn't been tested. It certainly smells heavenly though.

Spice Soap
125g Canola Oil
200g Coconut Oil
75g Shea Butter
200g Palm Oil
100g Castor Oil
300g Olive Oil

140g Lye
380g Water

5ml rosemary essential oil
15ml clove essential oil
15ml orange essential oil

3tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Combine lye and water and stir until dissolved, set aside. Combine carrier oils and microwave for about 3 minutes or until dissolved. I like to mix my lye and oils when they have both reached 40C. Quickly mix until you achieve trace consistency. Add essential oil and mix. Pour 3/4 of mixture into your soap mold. Quickly combine cocoa powder and spices with remaining soap mixture. Pour over your mold and use a spatula to "swirl" together. Allow to cool for 24-48hours then cut into bars. Store in a well ventilated place to cure for 4-6 weeks.

Now I did not do a very good job of swirling. My soap mold turned out to be almost too small for this batch so swirling was difficult without making a mess. I'm still pretty happy with the result. I was concerned that I had added too much oil but as it is curing it appears to be just fine. Hopefully three weeks from now I will have some hydrating, cleansing, delicious smelling soap.