Whipped Lavender Soap
It’s been a while since I shared a new soap recipe and I knew I wanted to make something new. I scoured Pinterest (shocking I know) and found lots of pretty lavender soaps although most were cold-pressed soaps. Not my forte. I’m a die-hard Melt & Pour girl. So I settled on trying to make a faux cold-pressed soap but instead ended up with this silky smooth soap that I now call my perfectly intentional mistake. It’s amazing!
Half way through my soapmaking session I realized it was not going as expected. And I heard my Moms mantra ring through my head of “Try harder then your hardest & do better then your best!”. So I didn’t, and am soooo glad I didn’t! Just look!
Seriously, you can not go wrong with Melt & Pour soap. Die-hard fan ladies, and I’m not talking about Bruce Willis here. I even made two batches exactly the same just to make sure that I have indeed created a new recipe and not just sharing a fluke, know matter how awesome it is!
Basic Materials:
- Stephenson Melt & Pour Soap Base (or any M&P would work!)
- Soap Colorant (I went with Lavender)
- Lavender Essential Oil (or oil/scent of your choosing)
- Lavender Flowers
- Vitamin E (used as a preservative)
My soap came in a 2lb box and I used the whole thing. But instead of melting it all I only melted about 25% of it. The rest I shredded using a manual shredder.
Why the heck didn’t I melt it all? Well I had this hairbrained idea that if I only melted and colored a little bit of soap, then mixed it with softish-shredded soap it would kinda meld together to look like a *cold-pressed old fashioned soap.
*I haven’t given up on this, and if I find a way to make it work I’ll share it with you, believe me
Last minute I decided to add in an oil to make the soap extra moisturizing (perhaps this was the non-faux culprate!). Any oil would work but if using coconut oil, heat it up in the microwave to turn it into a liquid first.
In the small bowl I pre-mixed:
- 3 dropper fulls of Lavender Essential Oil
- 4 Tbsp Grapeseed Oil
- 1 good squirt of Vitamin E (approx 2 capsules)
In the medium bowl:
- Melted soap
- 15 drops of colorant
Here is the process… Step 2 is when I knew faux was not meant to be
- Add the melted soap to the bowl of shredded soap
- Mix with a fork until colored soap just starts to melt into shredded soap
- Press soap into a mold
- Sprinkle and press Lavender Flowers to the top of the soap while still warm
So, I figured when the soap all melted together in Step 2, I would just have a pretty soap topped with flowers that I would cut and wrap in pretty paper for my Mom.
Try harder then your hardest, remember?!! However, when I went to check on the soap it had not hardened. Weird. Dang it! Shoot!! But then I heard my Moms mantra again and I pressed forward.
The soap was silky to the touch (maybe it was the oil!!) so I thought I could use it more like a body butter. So I dumped the whole thing in my mixer, sprinkled a bit more flowers on top for good measure, turned that sucker on high and it was like magic. For my love of Mason Jars, I always have a few on hand and these squatty little half pint cuties were made for Whipped Lavender Soap.
It’s so beautiful! And looks good enough to eat. Did I ever tell you the story of the lady who actually ate a piece of my Almond Butter Oatmeal Soap? I guess that’s a compliment…
I love the barely-there purple color this soap has too. And the scent is very light as well. According to the directions on the Essential Oil package I could have used 5 droppers full, but I didn’t want it to be too overpowering so I just used 3. It suds very nicely and doesn’t dry out your hands (that’s why I love to add oils in my soap).
A little bit of ribbon and a sprig of fresh Lavender adds a pretty touch for a special handmade gift for Mom. Or your sister. Or your Aunt. How ’bout a teacher! If you want to make sure they don’t ingest the soap, print a label!
I don’t think this was just a coincidence that my plans diverted and I had to stay the course. My Mom probably knew I needed a little test & reminder and used her SuperMom powers to do so. THANKS MOM!
