Gentle Shea Butter Face Soap Recipe
Natural Vegan and palm-oil-free simple cold process shea butter face soap recipe. Shea butter is high in unsaponifiables, making it ideal as a superfatting oil in cold process soap. This recipe makes approximately six bars. Technical information: 1lb / 454g batch -- 7% superfat -- 33% lye concentration
Servings 6 bars
Cost 10
Equipment
Ingredients
Lye solution
- 62 g sodium hydroxide 2.14 oz
- 124 g distilled water 4.37 oz
- 1 tsp sodium lactate Optional / See notes below on powder vs liquid*
Solid oils
- 91 g coconut oil (refined) 3.2 oz / 20%
- 68 g shea butter (refined) 2.4 oz / 15%
- 45 g cocoa butter 1.6 oz / 10%
Liquid oils
- 227 g olive oil (light colored or pomace) 8 oz / 50%
- 23 g castor oil 0.8 oz / 5%
Add at Trace
- 3 tsp rose geranium essential oil (optional ingredient)
Instructions
Preparation
- 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.
- Prepare your workstation with your tools and equipment. Put on rubber gloves, eye protection, and an apron. Carefully pre-measure the ingredients. The solid oils into the pan, the liquid oils into a jug, the shea butter in a small saucepan or microwaveable dish, the water into a heat-proof jug, and the lye in another container.
Mix the Lye Solution
- In an airy place, outdoors is best, pour the lye crystals into the distilled water and stir well. There will be a lot of heat and steam, so be careful. Try not to breathe it in. Leave outside in a safe place, or in a shallow basin of water to cool.
- Add the sodium lactate to the lye solution after it's cooled below 130°F (54°C). Stir and continue to cool it to about 95-100°F (35-38°C).
Melt the Solid Oils
- Melt the solid oils in a stainless steel pan on very low heat. When melted, remove from the heat and set on a potholder. Stir the liquid oils together in the jug and pour into the pan of melted oils. Castor oil is pretty sticky, and it's easier to pour when mixed with a lighter oil.
- Measure the temperatures of the lye solution and the oils. You should aim to cool them both to about 95-100°F / 35-38°C.
Make Shea Butter Face Soap
- Now it's time to make the face soap. You begin by pouring the lye solution into the pan of oils.
- Dip your immersion blender into the pan, and with it turned off, stir the mixture. Next, bring it to the center of the pan, and with both your hands, hold it on the bottom of the pan and blitz it for just a couple of seconds. Turn it off and stir the soap batter, using the blender as a spoon. Repeat until the mixture thickens up to 'Trace.' This is when the batter leaves a distinguishable trail on the surface. The consistency will be like thin custard.
- Next, pour the optional essential oil into the soap. Stir it quickly but gently.
Molding and Curing
- Working quickly, pour the soap into the mold. Give it a jiggle to settle it in the cavities. Leave the soap on the counter for two days before popping it out of the mold.
- Because this recipe is high in olive oil, it's best to cure it for at least six weeks. Curing means leaving the bars spaced out on a protected surface out of direct sunlight and in an airy place. This allows the extra water content to fully evaporate out. Here are full instructions on how to cure soap.
- Once made, your soap will have a shelf-life of the closest best-by date of the specific ingredients you used.
Notes
*Although listed as 'optional,' sodium lactate is useful in hardening all soap recipes, especially softer soaps like this recipe. It's available as a powder or in liquid form; if you're using the liquid form, you'll need one teaspoon. If you're using the powder form, use only half a teaspoon and dilute it in one Tablespoon of the water amount you've measured for the lye. Do this before you begin, and mix the powder and water into its own small dish.
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