Go Back
Print Pin
5 from 2 votes

Pink Himalayan Salt Soap Recipe

How to make pink Himalayan salt soap with natural clay colorant and fragrant essential oils. This is a 1lb (454g) batch, but with the additional salt content, it creates a little more than usual. A little over seven standard bars rather than six, when using the six-cavity soap molds I recommend. It also has a 15% superfat to compensate for a high coconut oil content. Lye concentration is 33%.
Keyword salt, soap, soap recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Curing time 28 days
Total Time 28 days 1 hour
Servings 7 bars
Author Lovely Greens
Cost 15

Equipment

Ingredients

Lye Solution

Solid Soaping Oils

Liquid Soaping Oils

After Emulsion

To Decorate

Instructions

Organize Your Workspace

  • 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.
  • Before you make this soap recipe, it's safety first! Make sure to be wearing closed-toe shoes, long sleeves, eye protection (goggles), and rubber/latex gloves.
  • Pre-measure the ingredients and ensure that your work surface is organized with all the tools and equipment you'll need. Open a window for ventilation, close doors on pets and children, and have everything you need prepared.

Create the Lye Solution

  • In a heat-proof jug, blend the French pink clay with the distilled water so there aren't any lumps. A whisk will help.
  • Work in a well ventilated area – near an open window or outside– and ensure that your goggles and gloves are on. Pour the lye into the clay water and stir well. Steam, fumes, and heat are the product of water and lye interacting. Be prepared, and don't breathe in the fumes.
  • Place the steaming lye solution someplace safe to cool. I tend to set it in cold water in the sink. Cool to 90°F (32°C).

Melt the Coconut Oil

  • Melt the coconut oil on low heat on your stove. When just a few pieces of solid oil are floating in the pan, turn off the heat and move the pan to a potholder. Stir with your spatula until it's fully melted.

Add the Liquid Oils

  • Next, add the liquid oils to the pan of melted oils. Use the spatula to get as much of the oils in as possible since castor oil has a tendency to stick. Mix well and take the oil's temperature. You're aiming to bring it down to about 90°F (32°C).

Bring the Soap Ingredients to Emulsion

  • When the temperature of the lye solution and pan of oils are both around 90°F (32°C), you can mix them together. Gently pour the lye solution into the pan of warm oils.
  • Gently stir with a spatula for a minute or two, as the mixture might thicken up quickly without the aid of an immersion blender. Soap recipes high in coconut oil can often set up quickly. If the soap batter doesn't thicken after stirring for a couple of minutes, carefully use an immersion blender to bring it to an emulsion.
  • While using the immersion blender, ensure that the head of the blender is always under the surface of the soap batter ingredients. Use short pulses, followed by stirring with the blender turned off. It is important not to over-blend since you are aiming for an emulsion or a very light trace.
  • At emulsion or a very light trace, stop blending and pour the essential oils in and stir well.
  • Next, pour the fine pink Himalayan sea salt into the soap batter. Stir it and keep stirring until the soap thickens to a medium trace. It should happen fairly quickly (within a few minutes). You'll likely notice tiny bubbles escaping the soap batter as you stir. This is normal and is due to air introduced with the salt.

Mold and Decorate the Soap

  • When the soap is at medium trace (the consistency of warm custard), you can pour it into the soap mold cavities*. If you pour at a thinner trace, the salt can sink to the bottom of the mold. Use the spatula to scrape every last bit of soap out of the pan and into the mold(s).
  • Once the soap batter is molded, you can add a texture to the tops of the bars, if you wish. I used the back of a spoon to make the pattern on mine. Next, sprinkle coarse pink Himalayan salt on top as decoration. This is optional and doesn't serve a huge purpose but presents the soap really well. Once you've sprinkled it on, gently press it into the soap's surface so it's firmly attached.
  • Leave the soap to cool and harden in the cavity molds for two days*. After this point, nearly all of the lye will be saponified, and it will be safer to handle the soap.

Unmold and Cure the Soap

  • Pop the soap bars out of the cavity molds. They should be firm with a fine texture from the fine Himalayan salt added to the soap batter.
  • Now you will need to cure the soap. Curing is a necessary step for all cold process soap recipes, and it's a process that requires at least four weeks of waiting. The soap finishes saponification during the cure time, and excess water evaporates from the bars. Another thing that happens is that the crystalline structure of soap forms. The latter cannot be hurried up and is essential for a good, gentle soap.
  • Cure the pink Himalayan soap bars by placing the bars on a layer of grease-proof paper in an out-of-the-way low-humidity place. It should be airy, out of direct sunlight, and away from curious pets and kiddos. Leave them there for a whole month before using the bars. 
  • Once made, the soap will have a shelf-life of up to two years. The shelf life is dependant on the exact ingredients you used, though -- look on all of the backs of the bottles and the closest date is your soap's best-by date.

Notes

This recipe uses two grades of pink Himalayan salt. A fine grade to mix into the soap batter and a coarse-textured salt to decorate the tops. The coarse salt is optional for this recipe.
Though I use cavity molds in this recipe, you could also use a loaf mold. Be aware that you should oven-process the mold for two hours after making it to avoid partial gel. You will also need to cut the loaf into bars just two hours after making this soap recipe. After then, the soap will become too hard to cut easily. If in doubt, use cavity molds as I have in the photos. They're much easier, and you don't have to worry about cutting or oven-processing the soap.
Lastly, are you a beginner soapmaker looking for more guidance on how to make handmade soap? Enroll in the Natural Soapmaking for Beginners Online Course to get up to speed quickly. You'll learn all about soap ingredients and equipment and be guided through step-by-step soap recipe videos.