I made this soap last year, as party favors for a birthday party. I was using a big water discount* (45% lye to water concentration), and a fragrance blend that usually accelerates, so my design options were limited to what I could do with a quick tracing soap batter. I decided to go with an oil mica swirl, and place small princess crown embeds on top. Lastly I would stamp the date of the party and initials on the bars with custom 3-D printed stamp.
I wanted to stamp it with rose gold colors, to match the overall theme (rose gold being the compromise color for a mom who wanted a pink gown and the birthday girl who did Not). Initially I tried this with mica powder mixed with isopropyl alcohol but it was too messy for me, so in the end I did it with face paint instead.
I am listing below the recipe I used, materials, and above is a link to the video for the process (also detailed at the bottom of this post)
My affiliate links:
Several of the links above/below are affiliate links, as the ones below. If you buy from them, it will not cost you any more, and I would get a tiny commission on it. As amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Making the Embeds
- Soap dough: I mixed some orange soap dough with copper mica
- Wilton Jewel silicone mold
- Crystal Clear MP
I did not film the making of the crowns so here is a brief explanation:
It is very easy, simply grab a small piece of soap dough, smooth it in your palms into an oval, then push it into the mold cavity (I chose one that looked like a crown from the mold listed above), gather the soap dough from the edges to the center and pull it out. I dusted the crown with enviroglitters and micas.
I also poured Crystal clear Melt and pour (listed above) into the rhinestone mold cavities, and dusted mica at the bottom.
Colorants:
Gold dust enviroglitter (for the top), which I have put into a spray pump like this one.
Mardi Gras Enviroglitter (purple) for the top of the crown embeds
Bronze Mica for the mica swirl (dispersed in oil)
I did not add any colorants to the body of the soap. The fragrance blend did cause it to turn a creamy color, I added some thiosulfate to prevent discoloration to brown.
For the stamping:
– Metallic copper DFX face paint cake
– Metallic Fuchsia mehron face paint
You probably do not need to get such large face paint cakes, I do facepainting so I already had them, you could try a kit with smaller amounts and more colors instead. However, face paints do have expiration dates, it might be best to just get one color that goes well with everything, like gold or silver. I get my face paints from stores like Clownantics, Jestpaint, sillyfarm, etc.
Mold:
5 lb loaf mold liner used as “slab” or 5 lb mold set
Equipment
- List of regular equipment
- Custom stamp (I 3d printed it)
- Sponge for stamp (or try with any sponge you may have at home)
- Hanger swirl tool
Safety Equipment:
- Nitrile gloves
- Facial Shield (I use either a facial shield or the goggles below)
- Safety Goggles
- Respirator (I use this when mixing the lye, I mix the lye in the window sill, window opened, with a pedestal fan blowing the fumes away, better yet, freeze your distilled water prior) I also try to wear long sleeves, pants and closed shoes. In my personal experience, most of my near misses (when I feel my skin itching or a slight burning sensation), or when I come contact with the soap batter, have happened when I am wiping down the containers, when I am almost done.
Recipe Totals
Please note that this recipe has a low superfat* percentage and a big water discount*. If you are a beginner, a recipe like this one might be better.
| Liquid Required | 11.38 oz | 322.52 g |
| NaOH Weight | 8.6 oz | 243.87 g |
| KOH Weight | 0.71 oz | 20.01 g at 90% Purity |
| Lye Weight | 9.31 oz | 263.88 g |
| Oil Weight | 64 oz | 1814.37 g |
| Fragrance Oil Weight | 4 oz | 113.4 g |
| Superfat | 5% | |
| Total Batch Weight | 88.7 oz | 2514.71 g |
| Lye Concentration | 45% | |
| NaOH / KOH Ratio | 95% / 5% |
Recipe Oils, Fats and Waxes
| Oil | % | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olive Oil | 30 | 19.2 | 544.31 |
| Tallow Beef | 30 | 19.2 | 544.31 |
| Coconut Oil, 76 deg | 26 | 16.64 | 471.74 |
| Castor Oil | 7 | 4.48 | 127.01 |
| Shea Butter | 7 | 4.48 | 127.01 |
| Total | 100 | 64 | 1814.37 |
Custom Additives
| Add with the Fats | |
|---|---|
| Rosemary oleoresin | 0.05 ml |
| Add at trace | |
| EDTA mixed 1:1 with water | 0.89 oz total (0.45 oz of EDTA dispersed in equal weight of water) |
For more information on these additives you can click in the links below, please note above links are affiliate ones
- Rosemary oleresin (My oils already had this added when I masterbatched the oils)
- Tetrasodium EDTA
Fragrances
| Thiosulfate | 0.50% of fo |
| I used a fragrance blend from different brands and scents, too hard to chase down, I would suggest you go with whichever fragrance you like | 4 oz |
MAKING THE SOAP
- I start by making the embeds several days ahead. I suppose you could make them the same day, just be careful when handling them. Above, under the Embeds title, I describe how I made them.
- 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 half of the 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, or even days ahead, keep it properly covered. (If making it the same day, loosely cover it to allow it to cool. Once at room temperature, use an airtight lid).
- While you wait for the lye water to cool down, you can weigh and melt your oils. Weigh your fragrance oil or essential oils into a glass container or ceramic container (fragrance oils can dissolve thin plastics). I masterbatch both the lye water solution and the oils, so I only need to weigh the amount needed each time.
- Weigh the vanilla stabilizer if using (depends on your fragrance and preference)
- Prepare your mica swirl. Mix 1 tsp of mica into 1-2 tablespoon of oils. I used more than this, and thought it was too much, but it is up to you. You should have more available than needed though, just do not feel you need to use it all.
- When your oils and lye solution are at or below 110°F (37.77°C), put on your PPE (Personal protective equipment) again, and add your lye solution to the oils slowly, to avoid splatters pour it on the blender shaft. If your lye solution is cooler than this, is ok. As long as it not near freezing. (Room temperature is fine). If your oils go under 95° F, warm them up to lightly above 100° F
- Stir with the blender on Off position initially, then blend for 5-7 second periods, alternating with stirring for 10 seconds or longer, until it is emulsified. This takes about 30-50 seconds with this recipe. When a recipe reaches emulsion, everything has a uniform, lighter color than before, you do not see the darker oil swirls when blending.
- Get your mold ready, your swirling tool, and add the fragrance blend. Be ready to do the following fairly fast.
- Blend the fragrance manually with a whisk or spatula, for at least 30 seconds to make sure it is incorporated.
- Pour half of the soap in the mold. Then pour most of the mica oil
- Pour the remaining half and swirl the soap to your liking with the swirling tool
- Pour the remaining mica oil on top an feel free to do any design of your liking on top.
- Spray the gold enviroglitter if using.
- Add the embeds on top.
- There is no need to insulate this soap, the wood mold and the fragrance make it go through gel phase. The low water amount prevents soda ash.
- Wait 24-48 hours and try releasing from one side of the mold, and if nothing sticks back, it is ready to be removed from the mold and cut. If it still sticks, wait longer or put in the freezer for 1 hour.
- Cut the soap to desired thickness bars. I used a single bar cutter. Let them cure for at least 4 weeks in an open area protected from direct sunlight before using. (not touching any metal)
STAMPING THE SOAP
For this soap recipe, I prefer to stamp the day after I cut the bars.
1- Plane and bevel the soaps (if desired)
2- With a fine mist sprayer, spray either water or alcohol on the sponge. You do not want the sponge to be wet, just moist to active the face paint or mica
3- Dab the sponge on the face paint or mica. It should be slightly dry so you will need to rub it in some
4- Dab the sponge on the stamp, trying to get the paint or mica only on the actual stamp impression
5- Center the stamp (or wherever you wish it to be) on the soap and press it down onto the soap
6- Lift carefully and voila!
(If you are using a different soap recipe, perhaps one that makes a softer bar, you may need to wait a few more days to be able to stamp)
*SUPERFAT:
By now you probably know that lye (sodium hydroxide) converts oils into soap, through a process called saponification. And you probably also know that there are specific amounts needed of each for this to happen. Because each soap has a different SAPonification value, different amounts of lye are needed for each oil.
Superfatting sounds like something I like to do to myself when I keep eating after I feel full. But in the soap world, many will know it is when you either add more oils or less lye than it is required. Let’s say, hypothetically, that you need 3 oz of lye to convert 16 oz of manacao oil (totally made up oil) into soap. If you only use 2.5 oz of lye instead of 3, that means that a percentage of the manaco oil will not become soap, but will remain an oil. And this is desirable as that extra oil will cause the soap to become more gentle on your skin, by reducing its cleansing ability slightly. But if you use 4 oz of lye instead of 3, that means all 16 oz of manacao oil will become soap, and not only that, there will be extra lye floating around. That extra lye will be looking for more oil to convert to soap, that oil could be the natural skin oils, which means this soap can burn or irritate the skin.
Usually superfat of at least 3% is recommended as oils properties may change from crop to crop. But even if you had a 0% superfat soap, it would still be gentle as handmade soap creates glycerin, which is a skin humectant. (From most commercially produced soap, glycerin is removed to be sold separately).
*LYE CONCENTRATION / WATER DISCOUNT:
Most soap calculators will give you the amount of water needed to mix the lye with, based on traditional cooking methods of making soap, what we now know as hot process. This is a big percentage of water (38% of the oils) because a lot of it would evaporate through the cooking process. However, for cold process soap this is usually too much water, which can lead to a lot of soda ash or a lot of shrinkage during the cure.
This blogpost explains it better (from modern soapmaking).
Soaps by Glenda 