I decided to go ahead and make this soap now, even though it will be for Christmas gifts. I want this soap to have a nice, long cure time.
This soap was a real challenge for me! It was my first time using a couple of the ingredients in soap (mango butter and jojoba oil); the first time I’ve made a 100% milk soap (it was easier than I thought it was going to be!); and the first time creating such an elaborate soap recipe using so many specialty ingredients. It’s also my first time posting a picture tutorial! One of my blog followers requested that I do a detailed picture posting of the making of this soap, so here it is!
Because some of the results of the polls were so close, I ended up working in the top 2 ingredients from each category into the recipe. I scented this soap at half my usual rate, I wanted to keep the scent soft so that the specialty ingredients could really shine through. I’m so thrilled with the way this soap turned out, and I couldn’t have done it without your help! I've posted the recipe below; if you try it, please let me know - I’d love to hear about it! Until next time…Happy Soaping =)
Let's get started!
Here are the all oils and butters combined. Notice the lovely dark color of the oils when they are mixed all together? I used extra-virgin olive and avocado oils as they are darker in color, and I wanted to impart some of that natural color into the soap. I soaped with room temperature oils, so the only ones that I heated were the solid ones (palm oil, coconut oil, shea butter and mango butter), which I only heated enough to melt.
I froze the goat milk and almond milk into cubes (I've included the recipe for the almond milk below). After I measured the goat milk and almond milk into the container, I sat it in an ice bath, to keep the milk cool while I’m adding the lye.
I’ve just sprinkled in a little bit of lye to start. I incorporated the lye very slowly, stirring constantly. It took me about 20 minutes total to incorporate all the lye.
Here is the milk/lye solution after 5 minutes, I’ve added only about ¼ of the lye at this point. It’s starting to melt the milks, but they are not overheating at all. Slowly keep stirring and adding, stirring and adding!
This is 10 minutes after I first started adding the lye, I’ve added about ½ of the lye at this point. I’m not sure what the temperature of the lye solution was at this point, but the container stayed cool to touch the entire time I was incorporating the lye.
This is 20 minutes after I started and all of the lye has been incorporated. Here I’m adding sodium lactate, but this is an optional step. I add sodium lactate to my soap to make it harder, which makes it much easier to unmold my soap! I use sodium lactate in both my cold and hot process soaps.
Next, I poured the milky lye solution through a strainer to remove any congealed fat or sugar from the milk.
Incorporating the oils and lye solution. I always whisk my soap for the first 2 minutes or so before I start stickblending. It didn’t take me very long to reach thin trace once I started using the stickblender.
Now that the soap is at a thin trace, I split the batch into 2 portions; a larger portion that I am going to incorporate the honey into, and a smaller portion that I’m going to incorporate the chamomile extract into.
I decided to lighten up the smaller portion of the soap using white mica, so that I could do a little swirl and have some contrasting color for the top of the soap. Here, I’m adding some super pearly white mica that has been dissolved in a bit of sweet almond oil. Next time, I would add a bit more mica or add a bit of titanium dioxide, as there wasn’t quite enough color contrast.
I added the honey to the larger portion and chamomile extract to the smaller portion. I diluted the honey in a little bit of distilled water to make it easier to incorporate into the soap. You could certainly use more honey, but would have to be careful about it overheating. I also added fragrance oil to each portion too (I usually add fragrance oil at the very end to try to avoid any acceleration issues).
Here, I am doing an in-the-pot swirl. It’s really hard to pour soap with one hand and take a picture with the other! I don’t tend to swirl too much at this point, because it will naturally swirl as you pour it into the mold.
Filling the mold; it’s hard to see in the picture, but there is a really light contrast in the colors, and gravity is helping the swirling process along just fine.
This is the way I do my tops right now. It’s hard to explain, but I use the back of a spoon to push back some soap along each side to create ripples.
Next, I will start to pile up some soap down the centre, but first I have to wait for it to thicken up, it’s too thin yet. If I tried to pile the soap onto itself at this point, it will just spread and not hold a shape.
This is just a few minutes later, you can see the soap is starting to thicken up a bit. It’s able to hold a soft shape, but I would like it to be a thicker yet.
I cheated and stickblended it a tiny bit more to get it to the consistency I like for this step, which is like a thick pudding. Now I can start to mound the soap up down the center.
First, I spoon some soap in a single layer down the centre. I don’t try to pile it up yet, just work a layer at a time.
Now, I start to build the centre onto itself. This is the second layer down the centre.
Final layer of soap down the centre. I try to stagger each layer of soap, so that the mounds are offset as they pile up on each other.
That’s it! I had to resist the urge to sprinkle glitter down the middle. I love glitter on soap! Next time I might add silk to this batch, and I'm going to try increasing the honey up to 1 tbsp, and also increase the avocado oil.
Now to finish, place the soap into the freezer for 2 hours to prevent gelling; then transfer to the fridge overnight. Preventing gel will help keep the honey from overheating and crystallizing, which could cause orange speckles in your soap (ask me how I know!)
Luxury Soap Recipe:
Oils & Butters:
12 oz Olive Oil
6.5 oz Coconut Oil
6.5 oz Palm Oil
2.5 oz Avocado Oil
2 oz Mango Butter
2 oz Shea Butter
1 oz Castor Oil
1 oz Sweet Almond Oil
1 oz Jojoba Oil
8 oz Frozen Goat Milk
3 oz Frozen Raw Almond Milk (see recipe below)
4.63 oz Lye
0.45 oz Sodium Lactate (optional)
1 tsp Honey
1 tsp Chamomile Extract
Super pearly white mica, dissolved in a little bit of sweet almond oil
Almond Milk Recipe: Measure 3 cups of distilled water and 1 cup of almonds into a large jar or bowl. Soak for 24 hours in the refrigerator. Pour water and almonds into blender and blend until smooth. Strain through cheesecloth.