Desert Rose Swirled Soap, Music Inspired Series 3


This soap was inspired by Sting’s song, Desert Rose. I was introduced to this song when I attended a bellydance performance several years ago and I have liked the song since then. I wanted to make a soap with a dusty rose color, dirty yellow and white colors.

When I tried to make the pink color darker, I added too much Black Onyx and ended up with a purple color instead. While the soap doesn’t look like what I imagined, I am happy with the finished soap.

I decided to use Bourbon Geranium Essential Oil as I didn’t have Rose or Somali Rose Fragrance Oils which had been my preferred scents. Despite my worries, I love the scent!

Let’s go make some soap!

Collect needed items:

Ingredients
Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
Olive Oil
Palm Kernel Oil
Shea Butter
Sodium Hydroxide
Water
Bourbon Geranium Essential Oil
Aurora Pink Color
Yellow Oxide Color
Black Onyx Color
White Lip Balm Color
Equipment
Scale
Soap Buckets
Soap Spoon
Gloves
Mold of your choice (I’m using a wood tissue box as a mold.)
Immersion Blender
Drinking straw

Recipe:

Recipe in ounces:
8.25 ounces Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
6.875 ounces Olive Oil
5.5 ounces Palm Kernel Oil
1.375 ounces Shea Butter
2.97 ounces Sodium Hydroxide (6% superfat)
8 ounces Water
0.28 ounces Bourbon Geranium Essential Oil (light)
3/4 teaspoon Aurora Pink Color
1/8 teaspoon Black Onyx Color
1/2 teaspoon Yellow Oxide Color
1/4 teaspoon White Lip Balm Color
Recipe in grams:
234 grams Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
195 grams Olive Oil
156 grams Palm Kernel Oil
39 grams Shea Butter
84.15 grams Sodium Hydroxide (6% superfat)
234 grams Water
8 grams Bourbon Geranium Essential Oil (light)
3/4 teaspoon Aurora Pink Color
1/8 teaspoon Black Onyx Color
1/2 teaspoon Yellow Oxide Color
1/4 teaspoon White Lip Balm Color
Recipe in Percentages
37.5% Soybean Oil
31.25% Olive Oil
25% Palm Kernel Oil
6.25% Shea Butter
q.s. Sodium Hydroxide
q.s. Water
q.s. Bourbon Geranium Essential Oil
q.s. Aurora Pink Color
q.s. Black Onyx Color
q.s. Yellow Oxide Color
q.s. White Lip Balm Color

*q.s. = Quantity Sufficient. This is an ingredient that needs to have the amount calculated to match the size of batch that you are making.

Making Soap:
Measure fixed oils on your scale. Warm the fixed oils on the stove or in the microwave. I melted the oils in a microwave. Add sodium hydroxide to the water. Mix well. At this point, I added the fragrance to the oils because I didn’t want to forget to add it.

Once the oils and lye solution temperatures have dropped to a lower temperature (my temperatures were around 120 degrees Fahrenheit), combine oils and lye solution. Mix until thin trace. Divide the soap into three parts. I weighed the soap as I was dividing it. I used 15.8 ounces or 450 grams of raw soap for my yellow color, 10.5 ounces or 300 grams of raw soap for my purple (Aurora Pink and Black Onyx) color and 5.25 ounces or 150 grams for my white color. Add one color to each batch of raw soap and mix well starting from lightest to darkest to not have to clean the blender between colors.

Alternate pouring the three colors of soap into the mold and use a drinking straw to create a swirling pattern. 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.

Soap Notes: This soap had a light scent that was significantly stronger after the soap was wet. The lather was a combination of creamy lather and big bubbles. I like the feeling the soap left on my skin after washing my hands.

Bars of soap after being cut.

Bars of soap after being cut.

Adding the lye solution to the melted oils.

Adding the lye solution to the melted oils.

Beginning to mix the oils and lye solution together.

Beginning to mix the oils and lye solution together.

Adding the White Lip Balm Color to the raw soap.

Adding the White Lip Balm Color to the raw soap.

Adding the Aurora Pink and Black Onyx to the raw soap.

Adding the Aurora Pink and Black Onyx to the raw soap.

Adding the Yellow Oxide to the raw soap.

Adding the Yellow Oxide to the raw soap.

The White Lip Balm Color is completely mixed into to the raw soap.

The White Lip Balm Color is completely mixed into to the raw soap.

The Yellow Oxide is completely mixed into to the raw soap.

The Yellow Oxide is completely mixed into to the raw soap.

The soap is ready to be unmolded.

The soap is ready to be unmolded.

The Aurora Pink and Black Onyx are completely mixed into to the raw soap.

The Aurora Pink and Black Onyx are completely mixed into to the raw soap.

Pouring the layers of colored soap.

Pouring the layers of colored soap.

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About Andee

Director of Happiness. I'm a thirty-something soap snob. I've grown up with handmade soaps, and I love them! I really like making lotions, soaps, and perfumes. I adore mixing scents to come up with something new. My favorite scent is either Wicked or Cotton Candy. I tend to hoard fragrances, I even have an Earl Grey Tea from the MMS catalog. I won't tell you how old it is, but it sure is good!

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