Thursday 17 January 2019

Pink and Pansy Soap with Cocoa Butter

I am nearly running out of soap so had to bite the bullet and make some over the weekend as it takes six weeks to cure before it can be used. This year I am trying to use up my soapmaking supplies especially the oils and, as I had some cocoa butter and macadamia nut oil on hand, I had a look through my old soap recipes and found the Sunny Soap with Cocoa Butter I made last year which had both the oil and butter in it so decided to make up another batch but coloured this lot with Pink Lemonade Mica and Pansy Mica which I bought from Green Living Australia.


I divided the mixture into three jugs and poured one jug of uncoloured soap into a large mould for my son and then divided the remaining mixture evenly and coloured two of the remaining jugs pink and mauve using the micas mentioned above and added 20g of combined Victorian Rose and Egyptian Amber fragrance oils from Little Green Workshops.  

I used this recipe:


100g         Cocoa Butter
450g         Coconut Oil
150g         Macadamia Nut Oil
550g         Plantain infused Olive Oil
182g         Lye
400g         Water             
  20g         Fragrance Oils



Soda ash forming on some of the soap after coming out of the moulds

Already the heart shaped soaps are starting to be covered in soda ash. If any beginners are wondering what that is you can read some info about it here Explaining and Preventing Soda Ash. It just washes off and doesn't hurt the soap and really isn't an issue unless you want to give it away or sell your soap. You can spray your soap with Isopropyl Alcohol which I have done in the past but the soda ash still formed so I don't worry about it these days. The Soap Queen says in that blog post I just linked to that it can occur when pouring at a thin trace and when soaping at a low temperature which is what I did as I used the room temperature method.




However there is no soda ash on the soap that I didn't add colour or perfume to so perhaps there is a connection there as well.



This soap can't cure quick enough as our son has nearly run out of his and I just might have to make some hot process soap for him if needs be. I am not a fan of the process though so hopefully won't have to. Technically this soap can't be used straight away.

I know there are a few readers who intend to make soap this year so why not give it a try. Rhonda has some easy recipes on her blog for beginners if you don't want to worry about adding colour and perfume.

I hope all the Aussies experiencing heatwave conditions at the moment are coping okay. So far we have been spared here in our city and most days are just 32C with a couple of 34C days coming up in the next week. Nothing like the 40plus temps in South Australia, Victoria and NSW.

 I can hear you all say 'Roll on winter!'







18 comments:

  1. They really are great, I love the way you've expanded from the basic soaps and are using all sorts of scents/colours...yes another kick up the derriere for me ,thank you lol

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    1. Now Sue, you need to make some soap by the sounds of it. LOL!

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  2. The colours in the soap in the top picture are so pretty.

    Our temps here are pretty much the same as yours Chel, though I am guessing you would have less humidity? I had the air-conditioner on for the first time this month on Wednesday. However I had to turn it off for a while as the power dropped. I have noticed the power dropping several times over the last couple of weeks. The fans slow down and the lights dim.

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    1. Sherri, it isn't really humid here but the temps are just the same each day with no rain forecast unfortunately :-(

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  3. Pretties! You inspired me to order the rose mold for my next batch of soap. Your bars look nice and rich. It's rainy for days here in Southern California as we're in the middle of Winter. Keep cool, Nana Chel❤︎❦❤︎
    Mary in San Diego

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    1. I hope your soaps in the new rose mould turn out looking very pretty, Mary. We would really love some of your rain but I know that California has been very dry in recent years.

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  4. The soap looks like something delicious to eat!

    Very hot here, 41C at Kandos yesterday and cooler 38C today. We are now back at the mountains where is it currently 31C inside the house and we have no air conditioning here, might be are restless night though a cool change is promised soon.

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    1. Joan, 41C is just too hot to handle I must say. Thankfully here on top of the Toowoomba Range it doesn't usually get as hot as in the valleys nearby but anything over 30C was rare when I first came here in the early seventies.

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  5. Chel I made Jan Berry's soap sticks a while back and have started using them. Oh my goodness they are lovely. I have psoriasis and have only used coal tar shampoos for a very long time. If I ever used normal shampoo I ended up with the itchiest head and scabs forming on my scalp. Nice!!! I had tried to use my plain coconut and olive oil soap and had the same thing happen. I've been using the soap sticks for two weeks. I had my hair cut today and my hairdresser commented on how good my scalp was. I am hooked on this soap. Lilies salt soap is still drying off but it is one hard soap. Will be interesting to see how it goes once we start using it towards the end of Feb. I love the colour mix you have going on in your soaps. It looks so pretty.

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  6. Jane, those shampoo sticks are great I must agree. It must be the combo of oils that agree with your skin. It is nice to be able to make a hard soap too so I might experiment with the salt soap one of these days too.

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  7. Beautiful soaps Chel.

    I still didn't make soaps with colors. My next batch also will be a simpler one (coconut oil soap).

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    1. I hope the coconut oil one works out, Nil. You can always use aloe vera gel to replace the water.

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  8. Such pretty soaps Chel....not for your son I'm guessing. I was going to make soap for Christmas gifts, didn't quite get there....maybe this year sometime. It's cooler here today....not cool, just a few degrees cooler, which does make a difference between the fan making a cool breeze, or just stirring the hot air.

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  9. Nanette, the plain soap is for my son :-) I just read our forecast for the coming week...Wed, Thurs, Sat and Sunday will be 34C!!! Don't like the sounds of that.

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  10. We've had those kind of temps for weeks now, and our weekend forecast is for 40! Storms forecast too, but I'll believe it when I see it. Stay cool.

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  11. You are ambitious - and the results are beautiful!

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  12. Our temps for the week, were closer to 38-39 C. But wev'e also experienced temps of a few degrees more (last summer) and it's stifling! So I have every sympathy for any part of the country, topping 40C, or more.

    As always, lovely soap making Chel. I'm sure your son will enjoy his, especially at his new digs. It's a little piece of home.

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