This project uses classic fall colors along with Cedar and Amber Fragrance Oil to create a great soap for both men and women.
Ingredients
10″ Silicone Loaf Mold
8.8 oz. Coconut Oil (25%)
8.8 oz. Palm Oil (25%)
8.8 oz. Olive Oil (25%)
3.5 oz. Meadowfoam Oil (10%)
3.5 oz. Sweet Almond Oil (10%)
1.8 oz. Castor Oil (5%)
11.5 oz. Distilled Water
4.8 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
2 oz. Cedar and Amber Fragrance Oil
Yellow Oxide
Evergreen Mica
Burgundy Pigment
Titanium Dioxide
Instructions
SAFETY FIRST: Suit up for safe handling practices! That means goggles, gloves and long sleeves. Make sure kids, pets, and other distractions and tripping hazards are out of the house or don’t have access to your soaping space. Always soap in a well-ventilated area.
COLOR PREP: To ensure that the Titanium Dioxide blends smoothly into the soap batter, we recommend micronizing it before dispersing it in oil. Please note this is an optional tip but it does help with the titanium dioxide clumping in the soap. =) To micronize colorant, simply use a coffee grinder to blend the colorant to break up any clumps of color and prevent streaks of white from showing in the final soap. We like to use a coffee grinder that has a removable, stainless steel mixing area for easy cleaning. Then, disperse 1 teaspoon of the colorant into 1 tablespoon of sunflower or sweet almond oil (or any other liquid oil). Then in a separate containers, disperse ½ teaspoon Yellow Oxide and Burgundy Pigment into ½ tablespoon of oil. Disperse 1 teaspoon of Evergreen Mica into 1 tablespoon of oil. Use a mini mixer to help get rid of any clumps.
FRAGRANCE OIL PREP: In a glass, fragrance oil safe container, measure 2 ounces of Cedar & Amber Fragrance Oil. Set aside.
Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool.
Fully melt and combine the coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, castor oil, sweet almond oil and meadowfoam oil (remember to fully melt then mix your entire container of palm oil before portioning). Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and stick blend until thin trace. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that releases faster from the mold, you can add sodium lactate to the cooled lye water. Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in the recipe. For this recipe, you’d add about 2 teaspoons sodium lactate.
Once you’ve reached thin trace, split the soap into four even containers. Add the following amounts of dispersed colorants into each container. Use a whisk to fully mix in the colorants. Container A (white): 2 teaspoons dispersed titanium dioxide Container B (yellow): ¼ teaspoon dispersed Yellow Oxide Container C (green): All dispersed Evergreen Mica Container D (red): ¼ teaspoon dispersed Burgundy Pigment
Add the measured Cedar & Amber Fragrance Oil evenly into each container. It’s okay to eyeball it! Use a whisk to fully mix in the fragrance oil.
If the soap is still a thin trace, use the stick blender and pulse each container to thicken slightly. The spoon-plop technique works best with medium trace soap.
Grab a large spoon for each color. Spoon the soap into the mold, one color at a time, layering them in three different spots. Don’t worry about being too precise with your “plops.”
Continue plopping each color into the mold in various areas. You can keep a consistent color pattern or shake it up! For this project, I didn’t keep a consistent pattern and instead just placed various colors in the mold, being careful to not layer the same color twice. Every now and then, tap the mold firmly on the counter to help level the soap and get rid of bubbles.
Once all the soap is in the mold, insert a chopstick or dowel into the very top of the soap, and create “S” shaped curves down the length of the mold. Then, insert the dowel or chopstick into the very top of the soap again, and create large “S” shaped curves in the opposite direction down the length of the mold.
Spritz the top of the soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol, and cover to insulate for 24 hours. Allow to stay in the mold for 2-3 days. Remove from the mold and cut into bars. Allow the soap to cure for 4-6 weeks. Enjoy!
Recipe by Soap Queen at https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cedar-amber-cold-process-soap/