Homemade Soap

mrs_baggins

I used to make soap some time ago purely for personal use because of the heavy restrictions and rules etc. It was a fun hobby but it wasnt particulary cheap. Shop bought soap would def be cheaper but at least you know what goes in it when you make your own. A simple recipie I used was a combination of coconut oil (from ethnic shops) olive oil ( supermarkets) and whatever other oils I happened to ahve . Along with essential oils and caustic soda

Angelina-M

I've nearly ran out of soap so I decided to get my !!! into gear and make some this afternoon.

I'm doing a slow cooker method which means it will be ready in a day or two. That will keep me going until I get round to making some cold process soap.

I'm doing a honey and oats one, its the same method as cold process but you add heat to it (via slow cooker) so it goes through all its gelling/curing stages really quickly.

Its a fun hobby!

pol

I really fancy trying my hand at some luxury soaps. Can anyone recommend a place to get things like shea butter and jojoba oil, that accept cheques. I don't have a credit card and lots of places seem to do most of their business with cards.

thanks

pol

EagerLearner

Redbedhead wrote:

I thought this said home made SOUPS and typed a whole long reply:rotfl:

Ha ha - me too - until I got to the 'gentle on your skin' part! :rotfl:

I thought I *needed* to make my own moisturiser a few months ago and now have £40 worth of jojoba, cocoa butter, shea butter and essential oils, gathering dust on a shelf.

Be careful guys that you don't do the same - once the excitement wears off, the dust starts to pile on!

Angelina-M

EagerLearner wrote:

Ha ha - me too - until I got to the 'gentle on your skin' part! :rotfl:

I thought I *needed* to make my own moisturiser a few months ago and now have £40 worth of jojoba, cocoa butter, shea butter and essential oils, gathering dust on a shelf.

Be careful guys that you don't do the same - once the excitement wears off, the dust starts to pile on!

Aww the fun you should be having with all those ingredients! What about a gorgeous whipped body butter? You have all the ingredients you need there, just warm the oils and whack em in a kenwood until light and fluffy.

Or think about making some soap (you'll need some other oils, like coconut and olive oil) once you've made your own, you really wont go back to buying it.

I've just made some ginger chocolate swirl (was going to be orange but I had no orange essential oil) I used carrot juice for the water part of my soap, which makes it go a beautiful orange colour, then when i'd poured it into my mould, I added a little bit of cocoa powder and swirled it in... looks great!

I also had some apples in the fridge that were past their best so I soaped with them as well. They made a lovely hard bar and already the soap has a lovely creamy lather and its not a week old yet!

Angelina-M

Toxic_Lemon wrote:

I think I need glasses! :eek:

I thought this thread was about HM SOUP and wondered what kind of recipes needed glycerin in them.

Hey TL we keep bumping into each other on these threads so I guess we must be 'into' the same hobbies..... arent you up for a bit of soapmaking yourself?:beer:

Mice_Elf

I would love to make my own soaps. In fact I would love to make all sorts of beauty and cosmetic products by hand. I bought all the books, even bookmarked the recipes I wanted to use.....and then didn't do anything with it. So all the books are gathering dust and I still haven't satiated that Needing To Make Homemade urge!

EagerLearner

Angelina-M wrote:

Aww the fun you should be having with all those ingredients! What about a gorgeous whipped body butter? You have all the ingredients you need there, just warm the oils and whack em in a kenwood until light and fluffy.

Or think about making some soap (you'll need some other oils, like coconut and olive oil) once you've made your own, you really wont go back to buying it.

I've just made some ginger chocolate swirl (was going to be orange but I had no orange essential oil) I used carrot juice for the water part of my soap, which makes it go a beautiful orange colour, then when i'd poured it into my mould, I added a little bit of cocoa powder and swirled it in... looks great!

I also had some apples in the fridge that were past their best so I soaped with them as well. They made a lovely hard bar and already the soap has a lovely creamy lather and its not a week old yet!

Angelina_M - that sounds fab! I did my own moisturiser when I got the ingredients but it went slightly crystalised rather than smooth so I must have sone something wrong.

The whipped body butter sounds lovely - can you PM me some ideas for that, and also facial moisturiser for dry skin? Here are the ingredients I have - proper list:

- Jojoba oil
- Cocoa butter (solid)
- Shea butter (solid)
- Sweet almond oil
- Olive oil
- Essential oils: Camomile, lavender, orange, Patchouli

Sorry to harrass you but your soaps sound so lovely I need to know more and maybe it will inspire me! :T

Angelina-M

EagerLearner its very easy to do. I dont have exact recipes as I change it everytime I make it.

My fave body butter is a mix of shea butter, cocoa butter and jojoba oil. I melt the cocoa butter until its just become a liquid, then add a dollop of shea and some jojoba. This will cool it and and because you arent melting your shea butter, it wont go grainy.

It will whip up and become very light. Make it quite liquidy as it will harden up over the first few hours. If you find it goes too hard, simply add more jojoba oil.

I find whipped body butter is much more easy to apply to the skin. Its also very expensive to buy in the shops!

If you just make it up a pot at a time, then dont go mad with the essential oils, just a drop or two.

You can of course add sweet almond and other oils, its just that the three I mentioned are my faves.

I use them as well as my homemade soaps and my skin is much nicer than ever. In fact I dont really need the body butter as the soap doesnt dry my skin out like shower gels do.

EagerLearner

Angelina-M wrote:

My fave body butter is a mix of shea butter, cocoa butter and jojoba oil. I melt the cocoa butter until its just become a liquid, then add a dollop of shea and some jojoba. This will cool it and and because you arent melting your shea butter, it wont go grainy.

It will whip up and become very light. Make it quite liquidy as it will harden up over the first few hours. If you find it goes too hard, simply add more jojoba oil.

Hi Angelina_M, so would you say the instructions are:

- Melt cocoa butter
- Add chunk of solid shea butter (can't do a dollop like you said)
- Wait til shea butter melts in
- Add jojoba
- Pour all into a mixer
- Let cool

???