As we come out of winter and into Spring and Summer I know my skin can use a little extra tlc before I start wearing shorts. Exfoliating is a great way to give your skin a refresh. I like to use a loofah soap so I can easily exfoliate my skin while I am showering. Loofah soaps are easy and affordable to make and they also make great gifts. For this recipe you will need a silicone soap mold, a natural loofah, Green soap colorant(optional), 9 oz clear melt and pour soap base, 9 oz shea butter melt and pour base(this can be subbed out for any other white soap base if you prefer not to use shea butter), isopropyl alcohol and .34oz Peppermint essential oil which is approximately 200 drops. This is based on a 2% usage rate. If you sub the peppermint essential oil out for another oil the amount you can use may differ. You will also need a microwave safe container to make your soap. This recipe makes approximately 5 bars of soap using the mold linked above. The recipe
can be easily cut in half or doubled if you would like to make more or less bars:)
Cut your 9 oz of clear melt and pour soap base into chunks and place in a microwave safe container and heat in 30 second intervals until melted.
Add half of your fragrance oil to the soap base and stir thoroughly. Pour into your silicone mold filling each cavity a little less than halfway full.
Cut your loofah into approximately 1 in pieces and place one piece in each of the silicone mold sections. If you are using a deeper mold than the one I have linked, cut your loofah wider to fit your mold.
Allow first layer to firm up before continuing to next step.
Once your first layer is mostly firm, Cut up and add your 9 oz of shea butter melt and pour soap base to a microwave safe container. Add in your desired amount of green soap colorant( If you are using liquid I would do 4-5 drops, for mica 1/2 teaspoon to a teaspoon depending on how deep you would like the color). If green is not your color then use color of your choice. Melt in the microwave in 30 second intervals until completely melted and then stir to combine.
Next pour in the remainder of your Peppermint essential oil and stir again.
You will want to let your soap base cool down slightly(around 115 to 120 degrees or when you notice a slight film to start forming on the top of the soap base)before pouring into your mold. If you don't let the soap base cool down it will melt the previous layer.
Once your soap base has cooled down enough to pour, spritz the top of the clear layer with alcohol to help the two layers adhere together. Now you can pour your shea butter base over the clear layer.
If you notice any air bubbles on top of the soap, spritz with alcohol to pop the air bubbles.
Let cool for around 2-4 hours and then remove your soap from the mold and they are ready to use. If you are not going to be using the soap right away I suggest sealing in shrink wrap or using something like press and seal to keep the soap from
sweating(soaps with glycerin can form little bubbles that look like sweat. This doesn't make the soap unusable but the soap will stay nicer for longer if it is sealed from the air).
If you end of making this recipe leave a picture of it in the comments or tag me on instagram at essentially.tonya so I can see how it turned out!
Comments