| Today begins our last day of using kitchen spices in soap by using Cayenne Powder.
Cayennes peppers are a cultivar of the Capsicum annuum, domesticated peppers, and is related to other peppers like jalapeños, bell peppers and cascabels. This pepper was named for the capital of French Guiana, Cayenne. Cayenne peppers are eaten in many forms including fresh, dried and powdered, as well as dried flakes. While cayenne is used in many dishes around the world, it is frequently used in Sichuan (a province in Southwest China), Cajun, and Mexican cuisines. Cayenne is frequently used for dishes such as crawfish and other shellfish, marinades, guacamole, fried food coatings, spice blends and even hot chocolate! Collect needed items:
We are going to use the higher end of the water recommendations in the Lye Calculator so we can mix the cayenne powder in easily. We are also making this soap in dry weather so the soap will dry/cure quickly. If you are making this in a humid location, please use a dehumidifier to help dry out the soaps. Measure fixed oils on your scale. Warm the fixed oils on the stove or in the microwave. I melted the oils in the microwave. Add sodium hydroxide to the water. Mix well. Combine oils and lye solution. Stir until thin trace. Upon light trace, add the cayenne powder. Stir well. Pour soap into molds. I used the Rubbermaid Drawer Organizers #2915 as the mold. Allow to sit until soap is firm. The next morning cut into bars. Stack to allow good air circulation. Allow to cure for several days before using. Longer curing will result in a harder bar. Notes: After looking at the finished soap, I think the best scents for this soap would be fruity or fall scents like Pumpkin Pie, Spiced Fig, Welcome Home, Apple Jack, Red Grape & Blueberry, Punch Party and Fruit Slices. The cayenne powder soap samples have been sent to the Shipping Department to send out in orders. I really want to hear your comments about this or any of the other soaps with kitchen spices. I hope that anyone wanting a sample soap will request one and if we have any samples we will send them to you. Wow! Can you believe we are done with the 10 batches of soap made with kitchen spices and herbs? Were you surprised by any of these soaps? If so, which soaps surprised you? Are you going to try to make any of these soaps? I’d love to hear your opinions on this series.
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 Cut soap after 24 hours.  Cayenne Pepper Powder.  Adding the lye to the water.  The lye and water need to be mixed together.  Stirring the lye solution.  Adding the lye solution to the melted fixed oils. |
 Mixing the lye solution and oils together.  Adding 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper Powder.  Completely mixed raw soap. |
 Continuing to mix until light trace.  Blending raw soap and cayenne pepper powder.  Raw soap into the mold. |
Andee, I’m curious — why did you choose the spices you chose? Have you lathered up with any of these soaps? I’d be interested in learning the degree of irritation (esp. for guys using them to shower or a girlfriend using it on her face) for the following:
Cayenne Pepper Powder
Coriander Seed Powder
Curry Powder
Garam Masala Powder (contains: Cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, black pepper, coriander.)
Red Chili Powder
Tumeric Powder
Also, is the lather white? Or does it take on the color of the soap? Does it stain the washcloth?
I’m hoping to snag one of the kelp powder soaps, but I don’t have an order coming up any time soon. 🙁
Thanks for doing this and for sharing all your experiments!
Cee
Cee,
I apologize for my delay in responding. It took me a little while to test all these soaps, but I now have the results.
1) Irritation: None of these soaps were irritating to the face, even when used near the eyes, mouth and nose. I tested on my face and since I have sensitive skin, I don’t believe there will be any problems.
2) Lather: All of the soaps had the white lather that is typical of this particular soap batch. No colored lather!
3) Washcloth: While none of the soaps stained the washcloth, the washcloth was faintly colored by the Cayenne, Paprika, Garam Masala, Red Chili and Curry soaps. This “slime” easily washed out of the washcloth with no problems.
I hope this helps!
Andee
I have worked with several of these spices before. It’s neat to see how it works for others. I’ve also used cocoa powder (which works wonderfully in CP) However I am always in a search for a natural blue and purple color. Ive heard suggestions on things to try but can’t find these. Any suggestions? I’d love to see something on those colors!
Blue and purple are going to be difficult. You can try madder root or log wood. I don’t think you will get the colors you desire. Mineral pigments are the way to go.
You can try alkanet root and indigo. They aren’t very vibrant, but definitely give you purples and blues. And indigo can stain really easily, so be careful.
That’s fantastic to know. Thanks for posting your results, Andee!
I love the garam masala sample and think I’ll try incorporating that spice into a future batch. I thought I’d like the way the dill looked, but it’s a tad too yellow for my taste. My husband turned his nose up at that one, too.
We’ve been doing some testing of our own and made a small batch of black hull powder colored witch hats (so cute!). I could see using it for a different batch, but not when we want a good black. Looks like activated charcoal is the way to go for that one.
~Robin
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