Homemade Soap

Calendula Soap

With Yule on the horizon, I’ve been turning my attention to making gifts. Homemade gifts show a bit more thought than something from a shop and at the moment, we all need to spread the love a little more. Today I’ve been making pretty soaps.

For this I have been using melt and pour soap bases. These are readily available from craft shops and over the internet, and provide an easy alternative to making soap from scratch. You can add dried herbs and petals, essential oils and perfumes. I do make soap from scratch occasionally, and I love the infinite variety it offers, but it takes several weeks to cure, and it wouldn’t be ready for Yule.

These are what I made today, if you want to have a try, or you can come up with your own options!

I use silicon cake moulds for this, as they release the soap easily, but you can use muffin tins (grease them with a little oil first), old yoghurt pots, shells etc.

CALENDULA & HONEY SOAP

250 gm white soap base

1 ½ tbsp. honey (for a vegan soap just leave this out)

2 tbsp. dried calendula petals

Few drops neroli essential oil (or other oil of your choice)

Put the soap base in a heat proof jug and melt in the microwave on low for a couple of minutes. Stir in the honey, calendula petals and essential oil. Pour into the moulds. Within a few hours they will have set and can be turned out. The honey will nourish and feed your skin, as well as having antibacterial properties. The calendula is skin soothing, and the dried petals act as a gentle exfoliator. The neroli essential oil stimulates skin cell growth and is regenerative, leaving the skin soft and smooth.

 ROSE SOAP

(For this I am using some of the rose infused oil I posted about earlier this year)

250 gm clear base

1 tbsp. rose infused oil

Few drops rose essential oil (optional)

Pink soap colouring

Put the soap base in a heat proof jug and melt in the microwave on low for a couple of minutes. Stir in the colouring, the rose infused oil and the essential oil. Pour into moulds and leave to set for a few hours before turning out. Rose oil is marvellous for the skin, moisturizing and hydrating, and especially good for dry and mature and skin.

© Anna Franklin, November 2020

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