Gentle Homemade Bar Soap
So this project wasn't as smooth as I had planned it to be and the bars didn't turn out quite as "perfect" as I had envisioned but they do smell delicious and they have their own organic sense of beauty about them so I can't really complain. When I set out to make my own bar soap, I did tons of research and I quickly realized I had no desire to fool with lye and the fumes associated with it. I found a few different recipes that looked and sounded lovely with goats milk soap as the base and it can be purchased (at a craft store or on amazon) and melted down. Add a few of your favorite ingredients and there you have it!
Have you ever burnt chocolate chips trying to melt them in the microwave? Yea, well I had one of these situations because I tried to do it my own way with my soap. Ugh. I ended up going from trying to use the microwave to using a double boiler and I never really got a good melt out of it. BUT! I still made my pretty soaps in the end with a little extra work.
Here is what you will need:
-Soap molds
-1 lb goat milk soap
-3/4 cup Oatmeal
-2 Tbs Honey
-Glass bowl
Here is where I messed up- my microwave is very weak. Like, it takes 10 minutes to heat a bowl of soup, weak. Not awesome for melting, well anything. I should have gone with a double boiler for it in the first place but I'm stubborn. You can try either method. If you choose the microwave route, cut your soap into cubes and place into glass jar and microwave for 30 seconds. Remove and stir. Place back in microwave for 10 second increments, stirring in between until it is nice and creamy and smooth. If a double boiler is more your style, go for it! Once your soap base is melted, add the oatmeal and honey and stir until all the ingredients are evenly incorporated. Pour your concoction into the molds. I read to drizzle the honey on the top instead of adding it into the mixture. This did not work out for me. It just sat on top and stayed super sticky. Live and learn.
I do love this soap! It is so creamy and soft. The oatmeal is a nice easy exfoliant and honey is great for your skin, so "they" say. I'm mostly just happy my skin doesn't seem to be mad about it and it smells really nice. I will definitely make it again and follow my directions a little better next time.
You can totally do this as a gift with some pretty hand towels or a cool soap dish. It's sweet and special and very usable, especially to someone with extra dry or sensitive skin. The best part is, it's not terribly expensive to make. Even to get the supplies to start out. I found some molds on amazon for $7 and 2 lbs. of goats milk soap base for $10. The soap molds are reusable so you will get your money's worth out of them. The rest of the ingredients I had at home already and are really just a few cents worth in each batch. I figured it cost about $5 to make six bars of soap.