Ultramarine Blue: Winter Sea Soap


Scents can be so inspiring, and I was hit by inspiration while my daughter-in-law was sniffing fragrance oils in my stash. She really loved Icy Water, passing it to me to have a sniff.

Cut bars of my Winter Sea Soap.

Cut bars of my Winter Sea Soap.

Immediately I thought of seawater in winter. Somehow the color manages to look so cold and uninviting, yet absolutely beautiful.

I wondered if I could capture that color using our Ultramarine Blue colorant. I was thinking of a gray/green/blue color. I knew the gray would be doable, but I was not sure if the green hue would show up in my soap.

Follow me to the soaping lab to see how my experiment works out!

Ingredients
Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
Palm Kernel Oil
Coconut Oil
Olive Oil
Sweet Almond Oil
Shea Butter
Liquid of Choice (I used milk)
Lye
Ultramarine Blue pigment
Liquid Glycerin
Icy Water Fragrance Oil
Equipment
Scale
Soap Bucket
Soap Spoon
Stick Blender
1 tablespoon measuring spoon
Small container to mix color

Recipe:

Recipe in Grams
451 grams Soybean Oil
195 grams Palm Kernel Oil
182.8 grams Coconut Oil
158.8 grams Olive Oil
158.8 grams Sweet Almond Oil
72.6 grams Shea Butter
473 milliliters Liquid (Milk)
171.5 grams Lye (5% superfat)
21.3 grams Icy Water Fragrance Oil (moderate scent)
Recipe in Ounces
15.91 oz Soybean Oil
6.88 oz Palm Kernel Oil
6.45 oz Coconut Oil
5.6 oz Olive Oil
5.6 oz Sweet Almond Oil
2.56 oz Shea Butter
16 oz Liquid (Milk)
6.05 oz Lye (5% superfat)
0.75 oz Icy Water Fragrance Oil (moderate scent)
Recipe in Percentages
37% Soybean Oil
16% Palm Kernel Oil
15% Coconut Oil
13% Olive Oil
13% Sweet Almond Oil
6% Shea Butter

If you need basic soap making steps, please read this blog.

Before cutting, I could really see the rolling waves on the soapy sea.

First, I mixed 2 ounces (weight) of glycerin and added a tablespoon of Ultramarine Blue pigment. I used a tiny stick blender to fully disperse the colorant into the glycerin. I set this aside and proceeded to make the soap.

After weighing the oils into a soap bucket, I placed it in the microwave and heated it in 30-second bursts until all the oils were liquid. Setting that aside, I poured the lye crystals over chunks of frozen goat milk, stirring until the lye melted the iced soap and dissolved completely.

When using milk as the liquid in cold process soap, it’s crucial to soap at lower temperatures to avoid scorching the milk. My lye solution was 82 degrees, so I set it aside and placed the oil bucket into a basin of cold water and stirred until it was about 95 degrees. Then I combined the two and started stirring and stick blending to reach a light trace.

In went the Icy Water Fragrance Oil, more stirring, and then I added about a teaspoon of the premixed Ultramarine Blue colorant and stirred. I hit the mixture a few more times with the stick blender to get the color mixed thoroughly and bring the batter to a stronger trace since I wanted to play with the top to make some waves or something that reminded me of sea water.

Cut bars of Winter Sea Soap.

Cut bars of Winter Sea Soap.

When I liked the trace I had reached, I poured the soap into the mold and began working on the top. After trying several things I didn’t like, I ended up just pulling a rubber spatula across the top of the soap the long way, leaving little ridges that reminded me of rolling waves coming into shore, one after another.

I was happy with the gray-blue color I’d achieved, and I could hardly wait to unmold the soap! Sometimes colors change as the soap hardens, and this small amount of Ultramarine Blue turned a really nice shade that I never had in mind, but which I think works perfectly to portray a winter sea!

Off to the curing rack with these pretty bars!

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About Denise

I'm a crazy goat lady who got into making my own soap with goat milk, found MMS to order supplies, and now I get to combine my love of creating skin care products with a job to pay the feed bill. I live in Alaska and greatly enjoy the unique aspects of my northern home - summer days when it never gets dark and the Northern Lights dancing above in winter. Favorite scents include Wild Mint and Ivy, Rhubarb & Sugar Cane, and Eucalyptus Spearmint.

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