Rose embed Soap

The beginning of the year is the time I make Valentine themed soaps and rose soaps are usually one of them. Usually I make rose embeds to be placed on the top such as in here and here or here. Mainly because rose fragrances cause acceleration of the soap batter (it thickens up really fast), which limits the techniques that can be used. This time I wanted the rose to be inside the soap, so I made it as a cane of sorts. The plan was to use an extruder but I miscalculated the size, so I ended up hand shaping it, it had basic shapes so it was not very hard.

I made a small batch to test the fragrance (Victorian Rose from Wholesale Supplies), which I did not like as much as their pure Rose fragrance. I found the victorian rose to smell like the soap of my childhood, the palmolive that had a clean but flowery scent, which just reminded me of commercial soap.

Here is the recipe and supplies used, several of the supplies links are affiliate links*

*Affiliate links means that I will get a small percentage of any purchases done through them, but I did not receive any incentives to buy the products, I actually do use them and buy them for my own purposes

Recipe Totals

If you are a beginner, a recipe like this one might be better. This would be more of an intermediate project, once you have several batches under your belt. Below I am using a water discount, and a dual lye blend.

Liquid Required	3.61 oz	102.42 g
NaOH Weight	1.78 oz	50.5 g
KOH Weight	0.08 oz	2.27 g at 90% Purity
Lye Weight	1.86 oz	52.76 g
Oil Weight	13 oz	368.54 g
Fragrance Oil Weight	0.81 oz	23.03 g
Superfat		5%
Total Batch Weight	19.49 oz	552.42 g
Lye Concentration		34%
NaOH / KOH Ratio		97.2% / 2.8%

Recipe Oils, Fats and Waxes

Oil	%	Ounces	Grams
Olive Oil	30	3.9	110.56
Tallow Beef	30	3.9	110.56
Coconut Oil, 76 deg	25	3.25	92.14
Castor Oil	8	1.04	29.48
Shea Butter	7	0.91	25.8
Total	100	13	368.54

Custom Additives (Optional)

Add with the Fats
Rosemary oleoresin	0.01 ounce
Add at trace
EDTA mixed with distilled water (50/50)	0.19 ounce

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

My affiliate links:

Several of the links above/below are affiliate links, as the ones below. If you would like to support this blog, you can use them to buy any item from those stores, it will not cost you any more, and I would get a tiny % commission on it. As amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

NURTURE SOAP
AMAZON
MAKE YOUR OWN

Colorants:

1 tsp Winter White Mica

Mold:

12″ Tall and Skinny Mold (small hand size bar) I used a divider to only use 4″ of length from this mold. I had some leakage but because the batter accelerated, it was not too bad. I could have used this as well:

Mini Tall and Skinny mold

Fragrance:

Victorian Rose from Wholesale Supplies

I used a vanilla stabillizer to keep the white portion from going beige

Embeds

I made the rose embed with Soap dough (red and green)

Equipment

• List of regular equipment
• To pour the soap:
• 3.5 Cup funnel pitchers
• 2 Cup funnel pitchers
• This is a kit with several sculpting tools

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.
  

MAKING THE SOAP

You can watch the making of the soap here:

1. First I made the rose embed, which is briefly described in the video. Basically I made a teardrop shape log, then I placed a flat long rectangle of green underneath, and to this I added a thin, long shape to make the stem. I also created an indentation in the center of the rose button
2. To make the soap, I normally heat up some of my masterbatched oils, weigh what I need and set it apart.
3. Then I measure the masterbatched lye needed. However, if you do not masterbatch the oils or lye, I detail it below:
4. 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).
5. 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). Ideally you can add the vanilla stabilizer to them, but I added it to my soap batter instead.
6. I suggest you have everything ready to go from this point on, you will need to work fairly fast because the rose fragrance accelerates (it thickens up the soap batter)
7. When your oils and lye solution are at or below 105°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
8. 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. It is better to err on the side of under blending that over blending for this soap.
9. Add the winter white mica (dispersed in oils prior) and stir, get your mold ready.
10. Add the fragrance and stir thoroughly for about 30 seconds
11. Pour the soap into the mold and insert the embed (I put it upside down), then cover with remaining soap (when you scrape the container with spatula)
12. Cover with plastic to avoid soda ash if desired, though the top will be the bottom of the soap so it is not very important.
13. Wait 24-48 hours to remove from the mold and cut into bars
14. Let the soap cure for at least 4 weeks in an open area protected from direct sunlight before using. (not touching any metal)