Christmas went by and I did not get to make a soap with the frankincense and myrrh fragrance I had bought! I realized this early in January, and then I thought, well, the Three kings day is around the corner, and frankincense and myrrh is what they actually brought, so why not make it now?
Three Kings day is on 1/6, and it celebrates the day when the three wise men came to meet the baby Jesus and brought gifts with them. The gifts were frankincense, myrrh and gold. These are very expensive oils even now, and the fragrance oil that I bought was a blend of both fragrance and essential oils, which made it very pricey! Which is why I decided to make a hot process soap, as in this method, you add the fragrance after most of the saponification has happened, so less fragrance is needed. The fragrance would also discolor, so I decided not to add any color and instead just add confetti soap (leftover pieces of soap that I chopped into chunks)
Three kings day is perhaps more popular in Latin America than in the US, though it seems to be catching on. In El Salvador, it was the day when people would buy and share kings cake, that long braided glazed bread, that contained a small plastic baby. I do not remember exactly, but whoever got the baby would either have to buy the next cake or something similar.
My mom tells me that when she grew up, in very poor conditions, she did not get any Christmas presents. However, her grandma would encourage her to keep her hopes up, telling her that perhaps the three kings would bring her a gift after Christmas. Sadly she did not get any gifts even then, I wonder if that is why she did not encourage us to believe in Santa or anyone else to bring gifts. We always knew who had bought our presents.
I dislike making Hot process soap if I am honest, maybe if try it more often it will not be as hard. However, I do like how this smells. I documented the making in a video in case you want to watch. And the recipe is below. I did not include the step by step instructions as this is not a process I feel I am qualified to share for now.
GIVE AWAY:
I am giving away one bar of this soap for a Continental US resident. Details below
| Ingredient | Gram(s) | Ounce(s) | Pounds(s) | Oil % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lard | 263.65 | 9.30 | 0.58 | 31% |
| Cocoa Butter | 110.56 | 3.90 | 0.24 | 13% |
| Coconut Oil, 76 deg | 212.62 | 7.50 | 0.47 | 25% |
| Rice Bran Oil | 212.62 | 7.50 | 0.47 | 25% |
| Ricinus Oil (Castor Oil) | 51.03 | 1.80 | 0.11 | % |
| Ingredient | Gram(s) | Ounce(s) | Pounds(s) | Batch % |
| Lye – NaOH 100% Purity (5% Superfat) | 118.28 | 4.17 | 0.26 | 9.68% |
| Water (33% Lye + 67% Water Solution) | 10 | |||
| Total Oils | 850.49 | 30 | 1.88 | 69.62% |
| Soap Weight (Pre-Cook) | 1,221.54 | 43.09 | 2.69 | 100% |
GIVEAWAY:
For US residents (contiguous states):
For your chance to win one bar of this soap, do one of the below: (If you do all four you will have four entries)
- Leave a comment below with the word “frankincense” on it
- Leave a comment on the youtube video with the word myrrh on it
- Like my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/soapsbyglenda
- Subscribe to my blog: soapsbyglenda.wordpress.com
Winner will be announced/contacted on 1/30/19 and soap will be mailed by regular first class mail USPS.
Soaps by Glenda 
So cool!! Love the frankensence and myrrh soap, especially the embeds!
Good luck everyone!
Hugz, Tree
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