Soaping with Basic Soap Mix — Rose Handmade Soap

January 26, 2023

Our soap mixes have been popular, and for very good reason - they save on cost and time; and they are full-proof recipes.

Robyn-Leigh, shares her first time solo-run experience in making handmade soap. If you've been around me for any length of time, you would know that I eat, breathe and sleep soap - so, making great, handmade soap is the order of the day.

Basic Soap Mix - Handmade Cold Processed Soap

Now to Robyn-Leigh's experience:

“Listening in on a few soap making workshops, I became interested in cold process soap making but the thought of formulating from scratch was daunting. So, I tried my hand at soap making for the first time using our Basic Handmade Soap Mix. For someone who's never made soap (solo) before, I found the process, quick, easy and straightforward - most of all enjoyable! Although not formulated from scratch by myself, it is the most rewarding feeling knowing that it was made with my own hands.
Literally, the most difficult part was choosing the scent and colour for my soap.

I knew I wanted my soap to smell rosy so I went with rose geranium essential oil in my scent blend - for that sweet and green smell, and then decided to couple that with rose water instead of deionised water. I was hoping the rose water would help intensify the scent, and it did! I added the rushy red mica as my colourant to compliment the scent.

First I gathered my supplies - ingredients and equipment - as below:

INGREDIENTS:

Here is what I used to make my first batch of soap

900g Basic Handmade Soap Mix
126g Sodium Hydroxide Flakes
268g Rose Water (can be replaced with deionised water)
27g Essential Oil (optional), I used Bergamot and Rose Geranium
Rushy Red Mica (optional)

EQUIPMENT:

Gloves
Goggles
Mask
Scale
Stick-blender
Rubber spatula or 2
Jug/bucket/pot to warm your soap mix
Bowl/pot to soap in
Various containers to weigh and mix your lye and additives
Silicone Loaf Mold

The Process:

I followed the basic soap making instructions here. But I made a few deviations:

First, I prepped my colour - I mixed 1tsp (more or less) of mica with about a tablespoon of oil to create a slurry. It's hard to say how much mica you need, but the amount will be based on how much soap you are colouring and what colour intensity you want to achieve.

I soaped at room temperature so I did not check temperatures. I waited till my lye solution had cooled down and my oils were not hot to start with - they were just warmed/melted to a uniform consistency.
Once my soap batter had reached trace, I separated a small amount of soap to mix the mica in for the top part of the soap. I poured the uncoloured batter into the mold first, then the pink batter on top. The batter was thick - it had come to somewhat of a heavy trace. If you want to create more flowy swirls, then keep it at light trace (that I must still practice!).

Honestly, cleaning of my soaping dishes was more of an effort than actually soaping!

I unmoulded the soap after 48 hours and cut it into bars. It was left to cure for at least 4 weeks. It has a bit of soda ash, but that’s not a bother!

The soap has now cured to this beautiful, conditioning hard bars of soap. It smells wildly rosy, thanks to the Rose Water addition.

One thing I learnt during this process is that Bergamot essential oil does not hold too well in cold processed soap, but that is the beauty of trial and error. Also, if you are using rose geranium, you’ll need to work fast!

So, if you've been wanting to try soap making for personal use, gifting or reselling, have a go at one of our Soap Mixes - they're easy as Melt, Mix & Pour! I love how beginner friendly these soap mixes are, and how they still allow for creative freedom to customise your soaps.

One thing is for certain I am officially hooked”