Floral fragrances are not on the top of my list, but this one is, because my hubby loves it. However, it is tricky working with most floral fragrances. This is because they tend to accelerate trace and the thickening of the soap.
Now, most of my soaps trace and get thick pretty fast because of the recipe I use (which is high in palmitic and stearic acids). And I also use a relatively high water discount. As I type this, I realize it was a bit foolish of me to use this fragrance the way I did. But what is done is done. I have learned though, that I might be better off using a whisk when I combine all the above factors together. (I learned it in this post)
Rather than change my recipe, I try to find soap designs that work with a thicker soap batter. For this soap, my plan was to spoon the soap into a random pattern into the mold, to simulate the cherry blossoms view.
Next time I think I will go easier on the water discount part for this one, and might try to use a whisk! I actually changed my lye concentration below to 30% instead of the 33% at which I did it.
CHERRY BLOSSOMS SOAP
Tools Needed:
- Standard soap making tools and protective equipment
- 3 lb Loaf mold OR 8″ silicone mold
- Small Flower embeds mold (I made my own, but something like this would work)
Soap Ingredients:
| 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 | 6% |
| Ingredient | Gram(s) | Ounce(s) | Pounds(s) | Batch % |
| Lye – NaOH 100% Purity (5% Superfat) | 118.28 | 4.17 | 0.26 | 9.39% |
| Water (30% Lye + 70% Water Solution) | 275.98 | 9.73 | 0.61 | 21.92% |
| Total Oils | 850.49 | 30 | 1.88 | 67.54% |
| Soap Weight (Pre-Cook) | 1,259.27 | 44.42 | 2.78 | 100% |
Colorants and Fragrance:
- 2 oz of Cherry Blossoms Fragrance (I used the one from Brambleberry)
- 1/2 teaspoon of Pink Mica
- 1/2 teaspoon of Azure Blue Mica from Crafter’s choice
For Decorations:
- 1-2 oz of pink soap dough
- 0.5 oz of Yellow or white soap dough (optional for flower center)
If you do not have soap dough, you could buy some or make from the recipe found here). Allow three days for the soap dough to be ready if making it yourself.
PROCESS:
For the flowers
Just take a small piece of pink soap dough and squeeze it and play with it until soft, then form into a ball and press it against the flower mold cavity. Wait about a minute and then pop it out.
If using yellow soap dough in the center: If your mold has a “core” where you could put the tiniest bit of yellow soap dough, do that, before adding the purple. Or you can add a small ball of yellow soap dough to the center of your flower after unmolding it. (Wet with brush dipped in water for better adhesion)
MAKING THE SOAP
- In a well ventilated area (outside or by a window), add the lye gradually to the distilled water. Do not breathe the fumes. You can freeze your water ahead to avoid fumes, and weigh the ice cubes. You need to wear your safety gear. Lye burns! You can prepare this several hours ahead, keep it properly covered.
- While you wait for the lye water to cool down, you can weigh and melt your oils, and weigh your fragrance oil into a glass container (fragrance oils can dissolve thin plastics).
- You can thin down your fragrance in 2 oz of a light oil, to slow down the acceleration (this you would heat to 100 F). This is optional
- When your oils and lye solution are below 110°F (37.77°C) or cooler, add your lye solution to the oils slowly, to avoid splatters pour it on the blender shaft.
- Stir with the blender on Off position initially, then blend for 15 second periods, alternating with stirring, until it is almost emulsified. This takes about 40 seconds with this recipe.
- Split your batter in half to color half blue and half pink. Just do a quick blend or blend with a whisk to distribute the color in each half.
- Add 1 oz of fragrance to each half, whisk it in. (If you blended it with a light oil, you would just stir it and use 2 oz of the blend for each half)
- If your fragrance accelerates, like most florals do, by now your batter should be into medium trace
- Pour a layer of the blue soap about 1″ thick in the bottom of the mold.
- Pour the rest of the soap into the mold using a spoon. alternating blue and pink.
- Smooth the top if needed, or texture it with a spoon if you prefer, leaving room for the flower embeds if using.
- Put the flower embeds on top and you are done!
- Wait at least 18 hours to start checking for hardness. Try releasing from one side of the mold, and if nothing sticks back, it is ready to be removed from the mold and cut.
- Notes: My soap went through gel phase even without insulation. After 16 hours it was still stuck to the silicone mold. Yet it felt firm, though somewhat soft too.
You can watch the video of the making below:
Soaps by Glenda 
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