First up is a simple, 2 oil shampoo bar recipe made with olive and castor oil. Castor oil is a great oil to add to shampoo bars as it increases the sudsing and adds a nice highly viscous oil very rich in nutrients to the bar. Because of the very soft quality of castor oil, add only up to 15% in any given bar formulation as otherwise it can create a bar that is still too soft and mushy once cured.
Base Shampoo Bar Recipe #1 (32oz or 2lbs)
Lye: 3.96oz
Distilled or Purified Water: 9-11oz
Olive oil: 27.52oz (86%)
Castor oil: 4.48oz (14%)
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
A Few Shampoo Bar Variations/Ideas for this Recipe
Honey Calendula Shampoo Bar: 4-6 weeks ahead of time, infuse your olive oil with calendula flowers. Follow general soap making instructions, once the soap batter has reached trace, hand stir in 2tbsp honey, then pour into mold(s). I used this recipe for my original honey calendula bar before I decided to add meadowfoam oil to it. It’s still one of my favorite bars- healing, gentle and great from head to toe. This recipe is unscented- you could always add up to 1.5oz essential oils of your choice. Note on using honey- make sure you are soap making at cooler temperatures- as in oils and lye are around 110 or less. The sugars in the honey will heat up in the soap batter, if soaping with hotter oil/lye temps, this can cause the soap batter to “volcano” out of the mold. It doesn’t literally explode out, but quite a bit will bubble up over the top and ruin your soap batch. Once my soap in in the mold, I like to drizzle a little extra honey over the top of the bars and gentle stir it into the top layer of the bars.
Goldenrod Citrus Shampoo Bar: 4-6 weeks ahead of time, infuse your olive oil with goldenrod flowers. Mix in 1-2 tbsp Brazilian yellow clay into your distilled water before adding the lye. Then follow general soap making instructions. Once the soap batter has reached trace, hand stir in .75 oz of lemon essential oil and .75oz orange essential oil, then 2-4 tbsp shakikai powder. Pour into mold(s).
Lavender Tea Tree Shampoo Bar: 4-6 weeks ahead of time, infuse your olive oil with comfrey leaf. Follow general soap making instructions. Once the soap batter has reached trace, hand stir in .75oz lavender essential oil, .75oz tea tree essential oil and 2-4tbsp mix of yucca root powder and soapwort powder. Pour into mold(s).
Toasted Flax & Honey Extra Moisturizing Loofah Bar: 4-6 weeks ahead of time, infuse your olive oil with chamomile flowers. Follow general soap making instructions. Once soap batter has reached trace, hand stir in 2tbsp honey and 4-6tbsp ground flax seeds. See note on the honey calendula bar above on using honey in soap.
Himalayan Salt Goat Milk Bar: Not a shampoo bar, but a fantastic loofah bar. When adding a ton of salt to a body bar, it’s important to make it extra moisturizing, so a shampoo bar formula is best. Replace olive oil in recipe for rice bran oil (or use olive oil, I personally like rice bran for this one). Use goat milk instead of distilled water (remember that this will stink at first when adding the lye!- make sure to have good ventilation). Follow general soap making instructions. Once soap batter has reached trace, hand stir in .75oz spearmint essential oil and .75oz of eucalyptus essential oil. Then stir in 16oz (yes, that much is correct!) of Himalayan Salt. Spoon into mold(s)- this recipe will not pour like other soaps. Note: You will need an extra mold or molds for this recipe as the amount of salt will increase your bar amounts. I like to use individual 3oz rectangle molds for salt bars as cutting salt bars from a loaf can be tricky and crumbly.
Or: Think of this base recipe as a blank canvas and create the bar combination that is perfect for you!
True Love Soap Company 