Cold Process Soap

Banana and Cream Soap

March 3, 2019 by Celine 5 Comments

For this cold process soap recipe I'm using banana, heavy cream and essential oils. To top it of I'm doing some cute piping.

Last month I experimented with different ways to use bananas in soap. I wanted to find a visually pleasing outcome for today’s banana and cream soap. The results ranged from light cream color with a little bit of specks to really brown with lots of specks. You can check out the post here and see the side by side comparison.

For this soap I decided to use a fairly ripe banana since I knew from my experiments that I would get this awesome speckled effect which would contrast well with the white piped top. After I was done making the soap I put it in the freezer since I absolutely wanted to avoid gelling.

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Using Bananas in Soap (Cold Process)

February 18, 2019 by Celine 3 Comments

I’ve had this idea for a banana soap in my head for quite some time. Something like a banana cream pie soap maybe. But what would the end result look like and would I be happy with it? I started to do some research and saw a variety of banana soaps that ranged from very brown to very speckled to creamy yellow with few specks. Some soap makers reported the specks would disappear after a while. Well, I decided it was time to do my own little research project on using bananas in soap.

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Cucumber Mint Cold Process Soap

February 12, 2019 by Celine 9 Comments

I live in the Garden State. Yes that’s right, New Jersey. The state known for it’s closeness to NYC, it’s stinky highways, industrial areas, and also it’s beaches. What most people don’t know is that we do have plenty of greenery here, as the name suggests. Folks really love to grow their veggies in our neck of the woods and when summer rolls around, we have cucumbers for dayyys….

Lemongrass Calendula Soap (Exploring Natural Colorants in Cold Process Soap)

January 23, 2019 by Celine Leave a Comment

This post was originally published on May 8th, 2018 and updated on January 23rd, 2019. I’ve added an update an how the colors and scent have fared over time. So, scroll down to the bottom to see what this soap looks like after 9 months.

I’ve been playing around with botanicals and design ideas lately. I kept wanting to throw stuff (clays, dried flowers, etc) into my lye water, just to see what would happen.

Why – you may ask – would I want to put them into the lye solution rather than the more traditional approach to infuse them in oil? Well, cold oil infusion takes 6-8 weeks and even heat oil infusion takes 2-4 hours on the stove – Mama ain’t got time for that. I also thought this could be an easy way for beginners to get a good color result….

Turmeric Papaya Cold Process Soap

January 20, 2019 by Celine Leave a Comment

This cold process soap recipe uses papaya, turmeric and essential oils to add interest. Adding fresh ingredients is a great technique to spice up your handmade soap making. #codlprocess #DIY #soap #handmade

I love to add fresh ingredients to my soaps. It’s a fun way to try something new on a whim since most fruits and veggies are easy enough to come by. I also find that they can bring interest and label appeal to your soaps. In this recipe I’m trying something a little more exotic: papaya paired with turmeric. The result is a wonderfully creamy and nourishing turmeric papaya soap.

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Smoky Vetiver Cold Process Soap Recipe

October 17, 2018 by Celine 3 Comments

I had this little bottle of precious Vetiver essential oil sitting on my desk for a very long time. My plan was to use it in a cold process soap recipe. Every now and then I would open it and take a sniff. I was intrigued by the thick, viscous amber colored fluid. The smell was like no essential oil I had tried up to that point: woody, earthy with a hint of smokiness.

But I didn’t know what to do with it. I had read up on different ways to blend it with other essential oils, and everyone seemed to say that it was good for anchoring scents, but too much would overpower the blend. What I wanted was to figure out a way to have the Vetiver front and center with supporting notes that would enhance it’s deep masculine earthiness….

September 2018 Soap Challenge: Mini Drop Swirls (Advanced Version)

September 16, 2018 by Celine 18 Comments

This was only the second time I had the chance to participate in the Soap Challenge Club. The first time was when we did the rimmed round soaps and, boy, that was some challenge. I can still vividly remember me and Mr. Tinker trying to cut thin layers out of a thick block of semi-hardened soap . Me holding the block, him pulling the wire through – ahhh, fun times 🙂

my entry for the rimmed soap challenge in May 2016

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Watermelon Lime Cold Process Soap

August 10, 2018 by Celine Leave a Comment

This summer it seems like everyone and their neighbor’s uncle is making some sort of watermelon themed soap (you know, soap that looks like the real thing). But instead of making a soap that only looked or smelled like a watermelon. I wondered if it would work to put actual watermelon juice in there.

It did, and combined with a juicy blend of lime essential oil it makes for the perfect summer soap.

Using fruit juices to make cold process soap

Now, why does it not always work out to put fruit juice in your cold process soap?…

Triple Infused Lavender Cold Process Soap

August 2, 2018 by Celine 3 Comments

If someone gives you a bundle of locally grown, organic lavender and you’re a soap nut like myself, what do you do?

Well, duh, turn it into soap, of course.

In order to get the most skin loving properties out of said bundle I infused the lavender buds in olive oil and used a lavender tea for my lye solution….

How to Make Lavender Blossom Soap Macarons

June 9, 2018 by Celine Leave a Comment

Most of my soapy inspiration comes from things that aren’t soap related at all: nature, vacations aaaand, of course, deserts. Seriously, if I wasn’t piping soap I would pipe and eat buttercream all day – not good.

I first saw these adorable blossom macarons (edible ones) made by an incredible baker by the name of Ayse Yaman Butik Pasta on Instagram. She has created a real craze among bakers and I knew when I saw her creations that I needed to give these a try using cold process soap. Easier said than done as it turned out….

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