Butterfly Pea Flower Soap Recipe
How to use butterfly pea flowers, a natural and plant-based ingredient, to create baby blue soap bars. They’re truly beautiful! Use this blue butterfly pea flower soap recipe to make them yourself at home using an easy soap base. Once made, the color can last for many months if the bars are stored in a dark place.
Servings 6 bars
Cost 20
Equipment
- heat-proof jug microwave safe
Ingredients
- 24.7 oz White melt-and-pour soap base 700 g
- 3 dried butterfly pea flowers
- 2 TBSP water
- 2 tsp ylang ylang essential oil optional
- rubbing alcohol in the spray bottle
Instructions
- Prepare the butterfly pea flower tea at least half an hour in advance. I made mine the day before and refrigerated it. Place three butterfly pea flowers in a cup and pour over two Tablespoons of scalding hot water. The water will turn blue immediately but will intensify over the next five minutes or longer.
- Leave the tea to cool on the counter and pull the flower petals from the water before using. Squeeze as much liquid from the flowers as you can. If you make the tea in advance, you can refrigerate it for up to three days.
- Measure and then roughly cut the soap base into 1" cubes and place them in a heat-proof container.
- Melt the soap base in the microwave (or using a double boiler) until it's fully melted. Stir every minute or so with a spoon or silicone spatula. In the microwave, my base took about five minutes to melt completely.
- When fully melted, place the container of soap base on the counter and stir in a Tablespoon or less butterfly pea flower tea. Stir well.
- Place the soap mixture back in the microwave and heat for a further five minutes, stirring every minute or so. If you're using a double-boiler, leave the soap to heat through for 25-30 minutes. This step is to help encourage water to evaporate from the soap base.
- Place the melted blue soap base on the counter and cool to 140F (60C) before adding the essential oil and stirring it in thoroughly.
- Stray the mold(s) with the alcohol and pour the soap into the mold(s) immediately after stirring in the essential oil. If you see bubbles on the surface, spritz them lightly with alcohol.
- Although optional, you can lightly decorate the top of the soap with dried butterfly pea flowers. You can either lie them on the soap's surface before it hardens or add them later*.
- Allow the soap to cool and harden for several hours before popping it out of the mold(s)*. Don't be tempted to put the molds in the fridge since that can cause issues with glycerin dew as well. Cut loaves into bars of whatever size you'd like and use the soap immediately if you like. Pre-made soap bases do not need to be cured like from-scratch soap recipes.
- Store these soaps in an airtight container immediately after they've cooled. This will help reduce the chances of the bars developing glycerin dew. Also, keep them in a dark place to minimize color fading. In bright places, the soap's color will begin to fade over the course of a week or two.
Notes
*It's easy to add dried flower decorations to the top of soap bars after they're cooled and hardened. Spritz the surface of the soap, lay the dried flowers on top, and spritz again. When the alcohol evaporates, the flowers will be stuck to the soap.
*If you have trouble getting the soap out of the square mold, try relieving the suction power of the bottom. You can do this by pulling the sides apart from the soap and trying to squeeze a finger down to poke the bottom. As soon as there's an air pocket, the soap will pop/slide out easily.