I had initially wanted to make a bar of handmade “Gardener’s Soap” with oatmeal or almond meal with my dried Calendula petals. But was then inspired by Gianna Rose “From the Garden French Soap Cubes”. They were triple-milled vegetable based soaps with essential oils of Citrus and Lavender plus crushed Sunflower petals.
I am not a fan of Lavender, so I skipped that. I also added organic orange peel for an extra scrubbing effect. Also added a few drops of lemon essential oils for the citrus factor. Then topped it all off with crushed and dried Sunflowers and Calendula petals.
Gardener’s Sunshine Handmade Soap Recipe by Cambree:
6 oz Soybean oil, 6 oz Palm Oil, 3 oz Olive oil, 2 oz coconut oil. 6.3 oz distilled water, 2.3 oz lye, 5 drops of Lemon essential oil. A couple more drops of grapefruit seed extract. 1 tbsp of organic citrus rind, and some crushed organic Sunflower and organic Calendula petals.
Note: measurements of oils are weighted on scale (not by volume).
This was a small batch. Everything went well and it harden after 24 hours. I cut them into small single hand size bars (with my wavy soap cutter). At first it smelled very much like sunflowers and the lemon e.o. was faint. The citrus rind gave it little orange specks and a tiny bit of scrub.
It’s a hard bar with small bubbles. The smell is okay, but next time I would experiment with different varieties of fragrance oils. I especially like the citrus or fruity scents.
Cold process soapmaking requires at least 4 weeks to cure. Thus creating a mild and smooth bar of soap. After it’s cured, you can then put them away in plastic containers. All of my soaps have lasted for more then 6 months without going rancid. Some have shown a little bit of “sweating” of essential oils, but it is perfectly safe to use.
More photos of my handmade soap. By end of March, the Calendula and Sunflower were already blooming in my mom’s garden.
I love the artwork and packaging from Gianna Rose French soap cubes. But the cubes are tiny, a bit awkward to use.
Here is another Gianna Rose Gardener’s Soap (below). 2 wrapped bars (6 oz each) for $20.80.
Exfoliating oatmeal soap Inspired by the beauty of a garden but formulated for hands that do serious work. Extra mild oatmeal soap provides gentle exfoliation and is scented with pure essential oils of lemon, clove bud and bay.
Image source:
11:25 pm on May 21st, 2009
Looks real good, I also like the citrus and fruity scents.
I guess the hot process takes less time, but it doesn’t look as pretty as the cold process, or can you tell the difference?
6:03 am on May 22nd, 2009
Hi Cambree
Thanks for your email, and for adding my blog! I do like your site - I’ve recently started making natural cosmetic products myself, not very good yet but I hope to improve. Will be dropping by again!
8:36 pm on May 22nd, 2009
Thanks Ginger.
I like both the CP and HP soapmaking. The last successful HP batch I made looked just as nice as CP. The experts say it depends on the combo of oils. So maybe I got lucky and my HP soap looked just as nice and smooth as the CP.
Btw, I will be sending some your way soon! Just waiting for the curing to be complete.
8:47 pm on May 22nd, 2009
Hi Ruth,
Thanks for the visit. And keep on gardening…
3:29 pm on May 23rd, 2009
Hi Cambree,
From the list of ingredients you have there…6 oz Soybean oil, 6 oz Palm Oil, 3 oz Olive oil, 2 oz coconut oil…except the lye, looks like the soap can be edible:)) Was just wondering, do you simply heat the ingredients up together or something? I never made any soap before, but are familiar with the chemistry behind it. I might try to experiment with it this summer if it’s not too complicated. The soap you made looks very elegant and charming to use. Thanks.
11:04 pm on May 23rd, 2009
Thanks Cambree, looking forward to giving it a try.
11:14 pm on May 24th, 2009
Hi PaNoy, please don’t eat the soap!
Soapmaking is fun and addictive. But you have to put your heart into it, otherwise things may start to go wrong. The temperatures of the oil and lye have to match, preferably at 100 degrees F. It’s pretty simple and there are lots of resources online or in libraries you can read up on. Good luck & thanks for visiting.
11:31 pm on June 8th, 2009
I received your soap today, thank you and they smell so good, I can’t wait to give it a try. I might have to work extra hard in my garden tomorrow just to see how this works.
3:08 pm on June 10th, 2009
That’ great! Enjoy.
4:05 am on June 12th, 2009
[...] I feel in love with handmade soap after using Cambree Notes handmade soap, and was excited to see this basket of soap, but was very disappointed with the smell, it’s not as nice as hers so I didn’t buy any. Cambree sent me some sample bars of her latest Gardener’s Sunshine Handmade Soap. [...]
3:59 pm on June 19th, 2009
I was at an Earthfare Store a week ago and saw they sold handmade soaps. There was a cutter and everything, but the price was quite high. Smell really nice and ‘Cambree Notes’ came to mind:))
7:20 pm on June 20th, 2009
Once you try handmade soap it’s really difficult to go back to regular soap.
Some soapmakers (at Farmer’s market or online usually) sell little end bits or sample bars. I like to buy those and get to try many different varieties for cheap.