These are my new “Seabuckthorn & Green Tea Handmade Soaps”. Since I was having so much fun with hot process soaping, I decided to make these the same way.
You can usually tell if it’s hp soap by the little bubbles around the surface. This is noticeable even when I made sure to fill the mold all the way with soap. Hot process soap is tricky in that sense.
Ingredients: Olive oil, soybean oil, coconut oil, palm oil, distilled water, seabuckthorn oil, rice bran oil, green tea powder, and green tea melon fragrance. Because they are half circle bars, they fit well in the palm of my hands.
The last Seabuckthorn soap I made was was nice and I added lots of good ingredients. Including red palm oil, which gave it the deep golden color.
For this version, I just kept it simple. Except I also added green tea powder. Green tea is making it’s mark in many cosmetic products due to it’s benefits to skincare.
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In addition to the Peppermint Poppy soap, I also made another batch of hot process soap. It’s made with fresh goat milk and scented with a sweet floral scent of Bali jasmine blossoms.
This batch was much easier to work because there are no sea salt or other extra ingredients. It’s also a much smoother bar too.
Sometimes exfoliating soaps are nice, but some days you just want a smooth bar of soap. But each type of soap has their own benefits. And most of all, handmade soaps leave your skin well moisturized and clean.
Once the soap was done cooking, I poured them into my empty (clean) goat milk carton. After letting it cool down for 24 hours, I sliced them into medium sized bars.
The bars are pretty and a good size too. With fragrance, there are variations and difficult to describe. So I went with a lighter jasmine scent that is not overpowering. But it’s a nice sweet scent that reminds me of someplace tropical and breezy.
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Here is my latest handmade soap: Peppermint Poppy. Because I wanted to use it within a couple of days, I went with hot process soap making. With traditional cold process, the cure time would have been at least three weeks or longer.
When I was pouring hemp milk into my cereal, I immediately thought about making hemp milk soap. Hemp oil seem to be more common for soap making then with hemp milk. To make sure I didn’t mess up, I also added equal amounts of goat milk.
The hemp milk I got was from a natural health food store. Hemp milk taste a little like soy milk, but creamier and nuttier. It is naturally rich in omega 3, 6 and 9. It also contains minerals, vitamins and antioxidants, high in vitamins A and E.
Besides the hemp milk, I also added other stuff to this batch. There is fine Brazilian sea salt, peppermint essential oil, and poppy seeds. It’s going to be one difficult to name soap. So I just decided on “Peppermint Poppy Soap”.
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Ever since Açaí (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) berries came into the health market, it’s interest has not slowed down. Native Brazilians have been eating acai berries long before the rest of the world knew about it. And to the natives, it’s just part of their daily diet.
My latest bar of Açaí Berry Superfruit handmade soap. It’s made with acai berry extract. And also other superfruit such as pomegranate juice powder. I also included organic beet powder and grape seed extract.
Acai has also found it’s way to the beauty industry too. Some of Ikove Amazonian beauty products are made using Açaí as it provides a remarkable concentration of antioxidants that help to combat premature aging. It contains essential amino acid complex and valuable trace minerals.
The Acai berry extract or pulp can be added to anti-aging creams, after sun products, body creams and lotions. Science Daily News noted, “Acai berries are packed with antioxidants that are essential to assist our bodies as they help fight illness and reduce the aging process.” It’s just good all around.
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My latest soap off the curing rack is Sea Buckthorn.
It is made with real Sea Buckthorn oil which is commonly used in skincare and soap. This oil is full of vitamins A (derived from -carotene), vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and vitamin E (-tocopherol).
This is probably one of the best soap for trouble skin. When the weather got warmer in the past few days, I noticed the skin on my back started to break out a little.
Acne is caused by the inflammation of the surrounding skin tissue. The combination of pores being obstructed by sebum and dead skin cells clogs hair follicles and leads to bacterial attack.
But since using the Sea Buckthorn soap, my back acne started to clear up and healed within a few days. I think it may do the same for people with sensitive or problem skin.
Sea Buckthorn oil is known to promote the healing of skin such as burns and eczema. It also helps improve skin condition, especially with dryness and wrinkles. It also leaves your skin feeling very pampered and moisturized too.
It’s a common plant used in both skincare and food source from Europe to parts of Asia. I may try growing them from seeds and see how well they grow in Northern California. But you will need both male and female trees to produce this much berries.
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Last weekend I had a special request to make Honeysuckle Himalayan soap. It’s really become one of my favorite soap too. I always feel more energized after showering with it.
The request was made using the hot process (HP) method. The advantages of HP over cold process (CP) is that it can be used within a few days. And it also makes for a harder bar too.
I have a small Crock Pot that can make only 1 batch at a time. I tried to make a larger batch once and it over flowed and had to deal with raw soap - not fun.
Notice the top portion doesn’t look too pretty. Kind of lumpy. But it’s still the same good soap!
This 1st batch went well but just doesn’t look too pretty. Although it is still very nice soap. Batch #2 started to crumble near the edges while I was cutting it. It looks to me like the soap cooled too fast. The middle part is nice and creamy, but the edges just not too pretty.
HP soaping has it’s challenges and is difficult to put into the mold, as it’s very hard and starts to harden up fast. I think the best mold for HP is a cylinder mold like an old Pringles can. I made Eucalyptus Mint using HP method and it turned out really nice.
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Regular facial soaps have been known to be drying and harsh, but not when you add skin loving botanical ingredients. In addition to the naturally occurring gylcerin in each handmade soap, there is also rich shea butter, grounded rose hip and colloidal oatmeal.
All these ingredients are a “dream” in natural skincare. The rose hip powder is full of Vitamin C and carotene. Oatmeal naturally helps soothe and relieve minor skin irritations. Both the rose hip and oatmeal are finely grounded and makes for a smooth bar with gentle exfoliation. In addition, the shea butter helps with extra skin moisturizing qualities.
Pure shea butter has been known to help with fading scars, treating eczema and psoriasis. Dry lips and skin also benefit from the application of shea butter. And it also help deal with stretch marks and uneven skin tone as well. This list really goes on and on.
The rose shea dream facial soap is scented with rose fragrance, to remind you of a stroll in a blooming summer rose garden.
Ingredients: Oils of olive, palm, safflower, coconut, Shea butter, rice bran and grapeseed oil. Distilled water, sodium hydroxide, rosehip powder, colloidal oatmeal, and rose garden fragrance oil.
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Another new soap I like to introduce for March is something more floral.
It is made with goat milk and scented with the sweet smell of honeysuckle. I thought it would be nice to imagine being in summer when it’s barely spring.
Notice the speckles? They are from the Himalayan pink salt. You may wonder if the salt would sting any cuts or rashes. But I personally think the salt offers a healing component. Just give it a try and see for yourself!
This soap also has skin loving oils such as avocado and rice bran. And finally a good heaping of fine pink Himalayan salt.
I’ve always loved Himalayan salt, as I am slightly obsessed with the salt lamps. Himalayan pink salt is mined from the pristine Himalayan mountain range. It has 84 trace elements and iron. Not only is it great for cooking, it’s also great for skincare.
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The latest soap off my curing rack is one that is packed with goodness! Instead of water, I substituted it with beer. As beer has all kinds of nutrients from the hops and barley malt.
The top layer has activated charcoal, which has the powerful ability to trap inorganic matter and pollutants. It’s able to absorb thousands of times its own weight in pore-clogging impurities. So it helps give your skin a nice deep cleansing ability.
The second layer has less charcoal and more of spirulina and rice extract. Spirulina is an algae that also help detoxifies and is rich in antioxidant agents. It brings many vitamins and trace elements to benefit the skin.
This bar is scented with sweet and fruity lychee (the popular Asian fruit). I also added an uplifting scent of tangerine fragrance oil and grapefruit essential oil. It’s a good way to brighten your day.
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I’ve made wine soap, now it’s time for beer soap. Beer contains many nutrients such as wheat and hops. People have washed their hair with beer and find it leaves it well conditioned. But I personally think washing with this soap bar would be much easier.
In case you are wondering, it does not smell like beer after it’s cured (over 3 weeks). It looks almost like a bar of chocolate, but I would advise you to not eat it.
The addition of spices such as cinnamon and cloves is great for the skin. It’s naturally antimicrobial, detoxifying, stimulating and has antioxidants too. Because the soap is made naturally using the cold process method all the nutrients are retained.
If you suffer from skin rashes or just want healthier skin made with natural ingredients, try handcrafted soap!
Ingredients: Olive oil, Coconut oil, Palm Oil, Soybean oil, Castor oil, Sapporo Beer, Grounded cloves, ginger and cinnamon, Vanilla fragrance.
All the vegetable oils combined with the beer becomes a skin conditioning bar. I made sure to add lots of lovely spice and Vanilla fragrance oil to blend in with the beer soap. It’s a perfect soap bar for both men and women! It’s also a very warming soap, especially for the winter time.
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