Beeswax Soap Recipe (Cold Process)

This beeswax and honey soap is made with moisturizing olive oil and shea butter. What's even better is that you get to use bubble wrap to achieve this fun design 🐝🍯!!! Beeswax produces a hard bar of soap, while honey boosts lather and adds a nice tan color. Both ingredients need some considerations to work with, which I'll explain in detail.

Aside from honey and beeswax being wonderful additions to soap, the main thing that got me hyped about this project was creating this fun honeycomb design with recycled bubble wrap. Whee! You don't even have to buy a special mold for this project, pretty neat, huh?

Turns out my bubble wrap was already a bit deflated by the time I got around to it. But if yours is nice and bouncy, your design will come out perfectly crisp.

Working with Beeswax in Soap

Beeswax is generally added to soap to make a bar harder and to reduce soda ash. Since it's a wax, however, not all of it will be transformed into soap in the end. Some of the wax will remain waxy (it's an "unsaponifiable") and decrease lather. That's why it's important to use no more than 1-2% of the oils in a recipe.

To keep beeswax liquid, you will have to work at higher temperatures (130℉) than you'd normally do. Higher temperatures and the fact that beeswax speeds up trace considerably, means that you have to be ready to pour your soap FAST.

Beeswax can also cause soap to crumble when cut, which is very frustrating. That's why we're going to be using a single cavity mold.

Working with Honey in Soap

Honey mainly consists of sugar, which, just like goat's milk, increases lather and bubbles in soap. That's good news when you're adding beeswax to your soap, which tends to reduce lather (Mother Nature has thought of everything 😊!).

It is also considered a humectant (something that can draw moisture to the skin), but since soap is a wash-off product, the benefit is likely minimal.

Honey can also color your soap, ranging from a dark brown to a warm pale yellow. This depends on when it is added in the soapmaking process, the soapmaking temperatures, and whether the soap gelled. The darker color occurs if the honey is scorched in hot temperatures.

Sometimes the scent of honey will come through in a soap initially, but I never found it long-lasting. If you desire a reliable honey scent, you'll have to add a fragrance oil. Look for one that won't discolor your soap.

Getting the Temperature Right

Beeswax has a high melting point of 145℉-150℉ (63℃ to 66℃). You don't want to heat it too high (above 185℉), or it will discolor, nor let it cool too much, or it will resolidify. So your sweet spot will be 130℉ for both lye solution and oils, which is where a digital infrared thermometer will come in handy.

Remember, the sugar in the honey can also play all sorts of tricks when added to soap, especially at these higher temperatures. It can cause the soap to heat up and crack or even volcano. And, it can also color your soap a shade that you might not desire (see below).

The best way to keep all these issues under control, I found, is to work at just the right temperature (130℉), use a single cavity mold, and place the soap in the freezer right after pouring.

How to Make Beeswax and Honey Soap

Soapmaking is chemistry, and it requires the use of lye. Lye and fresh soap are caustic substances that need to be handled with care to avoid injury. Lye won't be present in the finished soap, but you'll need to follow safety precautions outlined below while you're working.

If this is your first time cold process soap making, please familiarize yourself with all the safety precautions and steps in my How to Make Soap Beginner's Guide

1. Gear up for safety! Put on gloves and goggles, wear long sleeves and make sure you're in a well-ventilated area
2. Into small plastic cup measure lye
3. Into medium-sized container measure water
4. Create lye water solution by adding lye to water and stir until fully dissolved. Don't inhale fumes coming off the lye solution! Set aside to cool.
5. Prepare soap mold by cutting bubble wrap into 3 x 2 ¼ inch pieces, place on bottom of mold

6. Place mold on a cutting board for easy handling later
7. Melt coconut oil, shea butter, and beeswax over medium heat in a water bath or on short bursts in the microwave; make sure beeswax is fully melted
8. Add olive and castor oil
9. Using a thermometer, make sure that both the lye solution and oils are at 130℉ (you might have to reheat one or the other or wait a while longer).
10. Add fragrance oil and honey to warm oils

11. Slowly and carefully pour the lye solution into the oils
12. Stick blend briefly until soap batter is at light trace (light pudding consistency)
13. Continue stirring using a spatula until medium trace

14. Pour the soap mixture into the soap mold and tap down to release any air bubbles

15. Place soaps in the freezer for 3-4 hours
16. Unmold bars of soap after 48 hours by pulling on the sides first. Gently peel off the bubble wrap

17. Let soap cure for 4-6 weeks
18. Store in an empty shoebox away from heat and humidity for up to 12 months

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Beeswax and Honey Soap Recipe

Homemade honey & beeswax soap recipe with nourishing olive oil and shea butter. Technical details: superfat: 5%, lye concentration: 35%

Course Cold Process Soap Recipes

Cuisine skincare

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Additional Time 2 days

Total Time 2 days 25 minutes

Servings 4 bars or 1 lb of soap

Author Celine Logan

Ingredients

• 2.7 oz distilled water 76 g
• 1.4 oz Sodium Hydroxide (lye) 41 g
• 3.2 oz coconut oil 89 g (30%)
• 3.9 oz olive oil 110 g (37%)
• 2.6 oz shea butter 74 g (25%)
• 0.2 oz beeswax pellets white or yellow beeswax, 6 g (2%)
• 0.6 oz castor oil 18 g (6%)
• 0.4 oz honeycomb fragrance oil from brambleberry: 11 g
• 1 teaspoon honey fully liquid, if crystalized heat up in microwave or water bath and let cool

Instructions

1. Gear up for safety! Put on gloves and goggles, wear long sleeves and make sure you're in a well-ventilated area
2. Into small plastic cup measure lye
3. Into medium sized container measure water
4. Create lye water solution by adding lye to water and stir until fully dissolved. Don't inhale fumes coming off the lye solution! Set aside to cool.
5. Prepare soap mold by cutting bubble wrap into 3 x 2 ¼ inch pieces, place on bottom of mold
6. Place mold on cutting board for easy handling later
7. Melt coconut oil, shea butter and beeswax over medium heat in a water bath or on short bursts in the microwave, make sure beeswax is fully melted
8. Add olive and castor oil

9. Ensure temperature of lye solution and oils is at around 130 degrees F

10. Add fragrance oil and honey to melted oils
11. Slowly and carefully pour lye solution into the oils
12. Stick blend briefly until soap batter is at very light trace (light pudding consistency)
13. Continue stirring using spatula until medium trace
14. Pour soap mixture into soap mold and tap down to release any air bubbles
15. Place soaps in freezer for 3-4 hours
16. Unmold bars of soap after 48 hours by pulling on sides first. Gently peel off bubble wrap
17. Let soap cure for 4-6 weeks
18. Store in empty shoebox away from heat and humidity up to 12 months