This is one of the oil combinations I like to make the most- gentle and moisturizing, the addition of camellia oil and cocoa butter blend so well with the castor and olive, creating a highly emollient bar.
Green Tea & Cocoa Butter Bar (2lb/32oz batch):
Lye: 4.11oz
Water (distilled or purified is best): 9-11oz
Camellia Oil (Green Tea Seed Oil) 1.6 (5%)
Castor Oil: 3.2oz (10%)
Cocoa Butter: 3.2oz (10%)
Olive Oil: 24oz (75%)
For notes and instructions, see my Basic Supplies and Resources: https://truelovesoap.com/basic-supplies-and-resources/ and Basic Soap Making Instruction pages: https://truelovesoap.com/basic-soap-making-instructions
You will need to heat your oils a bit more in order to melt the cocoa butter, so allow for more cooling time for the oils.
A couple of variations to try
Rose Hips & Cocoa Butter Moisturizing Bar: 4-6 weeks in advance, infuse olive oil with rose hips and rose petals. Follow general soap making instructions. Once soap has reached trace, separate out approximately half the batter into another (heat safe) container. Into one of the containers, hand stir in 2 tbsp of rose clay, then alternate pouring into the mold with the plain soap batter. Swirl all around the mold once all is poured in- you can use a swirl tool (usually ordered through a soap supply site), a spoon or a chopstick. I make this as an essential oil free bar, but you can always add your own blend at 1.5oz/2lb soap batch.
Coffee & Goat Milk Bar: Brew a batch of strong coffee and measure out half strong coffee and half goat milk to replace the distilled water in the recipe. Allow to cool to room temperature or colder. Carefully stir in the lye, your coffee mixture might foam up a little bit when adding the lye- also make sure to have ventilation because it will stink at first when reacting with the lye. Follow general soap making instructions. Once soap has reached trace, quickly hand stir in a blend of .75oz cedarwood essential oil, .5oz clove essential oil and .25oz patchouli essential oil. Gently stir in and pour soap into mold right away. Patchouli will cause soap to start getting lumpy like tapioca pudding, or what is called “seizing”, the more you stir it. Sometimes it happens a little anyway- no worries, just get it into the mold. It won’t ruin your soap, just effects it cosmetically a little, especially when trying to create a special design. Note: for this bar I often like to replace half the olive oil amount with rice bran oil. They are interchangeable so doesn’t effect the lye ratio in the recipe, as changing out other oils usually would.
Fennel & Elderflower Bar: 4-6 weeks in advance, infuse olive oil with a mixture of fennel seeds and elderflowers. Follow general soap making instructions and pour into mold. I make this as an essential oil free bar, but you can always add your own blend at 1.5oz/2lb soap batch.
Or: Think of this base recipe as a blank canvas and create the bar combination that is perfect for you!
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