Wine Fragrance Soap

This was supposed to be a soap where I got to try my alkanet oil infusion as a colorant.  However, my fragrance oil had different plans.  I used Merlot Wine from Bulk Apothecary and I got the darkest brown discoloration to date, which tells me it must have a vanilla content of at least 9%, but probably closer to 14% .  It smells lovely though, like grape soda.  People who drink red wine might be able to detect the “merlot” part of it though.

I bought the fragrance from someone in a destash group.  I did check the reviews from the vendor website, however,  no one reported color discoloration or performance in soap.  There only four reviews though, and none for Cold Process Soap.   So… lesson learned!  I would say experiences like this help me appreciate the vendors that do perform tests on their fragrances and warn you about possible discoloration, acceleration, ricing, etc.  A simple disclosure of the vanilla content would have helped.

Either way, the grape clusters soap dough decorations saved the day, as they added the purple touch I had in mind with this soap.  I used goat’s milk as well, in the hopes that the sugars in it will contribute to some bubbles, and the milk would be nourishing.  I did not use “wine” in this soap, I have in the past, but wanted to avoid the discoloration of using the wine, but that was not necessary as you can see.

To watch the video of the making, click here or scroll all the way down below

Wine Soap – No wine required

Colorants & Additives

Embeds:

Equipment:

• Plastic #5 or #6 containers for the lye, water, oils
• Stainless steel spoon (small and large)
• Silicone spatula
• Electric hand blender
• Thermometer
• Scale
• 8″  or 10″ Silicone loaf mold.  I used an 8″ that holds 50 oz of soap, and used individual cavity molds as well.
• Extra mold for leftovers if any
• Safety Gear (nitrile gloves, face mask or properly sealed goggles, closed shoes).  Long sleeves and pants recommended too

PROCESS:

1. In a well ventilated area, add gradually the lye to the distilled water and stir periodically until dissolved. Do not breathe fumes.  If using frozen goat milk, gradually add the lye to it until it thaws.                                                                                 * You can freeze your water ahead to avoid fumes. You need to wear your safety gear.  You can prepare this several hours ahead, keep it properly covered.
2. Add the sodium lactate after it is mixed if using.  You can wait until it comes to room temperature, or to 120 °F (48.88 °C) at least.
3. While you wait for lye to cool down, you can mix your purple mica or pigment with 1 tablespoon of oils, and measure your fragrance into a glass container.
4. Weigh your oils and heat them up until they are clear  (I put mine in the microwave for a couple minutes).
5. Add your lye solution to the oils slowly, to avoid splatters pour it on the blender shaft.
6. Stir with the blender on Off position initially, then blend for 15 second periods, alternating with stirring, until you can no longer see the oils but it all looks blended (emulsified).  This takes about 50 seconds to 1 minute with this recipe as tallow tends to trace fast.
7. Add the purple mica mix and blend to disperse it equally.  Blend to medium trace if so.  Usually, sweet smelling fragrances tend to accelerate the soap, so it will become hard fairly fast.
8. Pour out into your mold (s) and tap the mold on table to get rid of air bubbles or pockets.
9. If using embeds, texture the top of the soap pulling the soap to the center, like a hill, to give the embeds a place to rest (if you want them to stick out the way mine do)  otherwise, no need.
10. Place your embeds on top of the soap.  I used two grape clusters per bar, leaning against each other.
11. You are done!  You can now let it rest and come back to check on it tomorrow.
12. Wait 18-24 hours at least to unmold and cut.