• Cold-process soapmaking is chemistry, and this recipe uses lye. Lye is a caustic substance that is completely neutralized in the soapmaking process, but it can be harmful if not handled correctly. Please read this soap making safety guidance before proceeding.
• Wear closed-toe shoes, long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and have your hair pulled back. Wear safety goggles and rubber gloves.

Preparation

• Get everything prepared and measured before starting to make soap. Set out the equipment and measure all the ingredients into containers. The clay with the water in a heat-proof jug, the lye in another jug, the solid oils in a stainless steel pan, and the liquid oils in a kitchen bowl or jug. Pre-measure the essential oils into a glass or ceramic ramekin.

Mix the lye solution

• Working in a well-ventilated place, pour the lye crystals into the jug containing the water and clay. Stir it immediately and thoroughly with a stainless steel or silicone spoon until dissolved. Don't breathe in the fumes.
  
• Allow the lye solution to cool in a sink filled with a little cold water.

Melt the solid oils

• Just after you mix the lye solution, put the pan of oils over low heat. Stir while they’re melting to speed things up. After they’re mostly melted, take the pan off the heat and stir until the last few pieces of oil melt. When fully melted, stir in the liquid oils (but not the essential oils)

Temperatures

• The ideal temperature for this recipe is around 100°F (38°C). Using a thermometer, take the temperatures of both the lye solution and the pan of oils. They should ideally be within ten degrees of one another.

Blending

• Next, pour the lye solution into the pan of oils through a sieve. It will catch any bits of undissolved lye or chunks of clay.
• Now, stick blend. With the stick blender turned off, use it as a spoon. Then, bring it to the middle of the pan, press it firmly against the bottom, and pulse several times. With the blender off again, use it as a spoon and stir. Alternate stirring and pulsing until you reach 'Trace', which is when the soap batter becomes the consistency of warm, drizzly custard.

Adding the essential oil

• When your soap is at trace, thoroughly stir in the essential oils. Work quickly if you feel the batter thickening.
  

Molding and gelling

• Pour the soap batter into your mold(s) and gel them so that the pink color of the soap deepens. To gel them, you can either cover the soap with towels to insulate it or oven process.
• For towel insulation, wrap the soap up, both from underneath and over the top, with a big fluffy towel. You can line the top of your soap with cling film to keep the cloth fibers out. Leave it wrapped like this for 24-48 hours.
• Oven processing is even more effective. To do this, put the soap into an oven preheated to 175F (80C). Turn the oven off and leave the soap inside overnight.

Decorating

• You can pop the soap out of the molds after 48 hours. After two days, saponification is complete. Let the soap dry out for four weeks before using or decorating. This process is called curing. 
  
• To decorate, spray the tops of your soap with witch hazel and sprinkle the flower petals on top. When the witch hazel dries, the petals will stick to the soap.
• If you’d like to give your soap as gifts, I also have some ideas on how to naturally wrap soap for gifts.