Hand Soap with Shea, Mango, Coconut, Sweet Almond, Avocado, Emu, and Rose Hip Oils

Super Luxurious Homemade Hand Soap

Even though I'm really stepping away from my edibles genre here, I love making lotions and soaps.
My favorite hand cream (which is the best gift ever, and clears up ecema if used regularly) is
Karen's Buttercream.  It is as yummy as it sounds!   

When I moved to Florida, I brought all of my lotion making supplies, but after a while, I wasn't quite sure about the shelf life of some of my luxury butters and oils.
I called Majestic Mountain Sage and their kind technical staff walked me through and helped me create a soap recipe from my "use it or lose it" oils and butters. 

I totally fell in love with this soap after my first batch. I love the smell, and I love the lather, and they make a great gift presentation, wrapped with velum, tied with lemon grass.   

First off - figure out how much you will need by doing the following: 

In a pyrex, measure 3 cups of water. 

Line a box (or mold) with plastic, and add water to check height/size.  Continue adding water, and adjusting recipe (double/triple etc.) as needed. 

6 oz coconut oil

4 oz shea or mango butter (or half and half)

4 oz avocado, emu, sweet almond, or rose hip oil

4 oz hydrogenated soybean oil (crisco)

6 fl oz distilled water

2.3 oz lye

Line a mold (cake mix, muffin or shoe box etc.) with a white trash compactor type of bag (not black).  

Set aside. 

In a dedicated "for soap use only" plastic pitcher, place water, and carefully pour in lye.  Make sure to wear protective clothing and eyewear.  The lye/water mixture will heat up drastically and is extremely caustic - use caution. Allow to cool, until gently warm when a hand is placed on the outside. 

This may take an hour or more. 

Once the lye mixture has cooled to gently warm, combine oils and butters into a "dedicated for soap only" plastic or glass mixing bowl (with high sides).  Add lye solution to butters and oils, and use a blending stick/emulsifier to blend until the oil and water emulsify and achieve trace.  (Trace looks like a spoonful of cake batter, drizzled back into the batter, when the drips and drizzles are visible for a few moments).

Quickly mix in essential oils for scent, and or colors and additives. (I like a combination of cinnamon, clove, bergamot, and lemon grass, or ylang ylang).  You may also enjoy experimenting with finely ground oatmeal, lavendar, rosemary, colors, layering etc.  

Pour mixture into prepared box - lined with plastic bag. 

Allow to rest for 24 hours. 

Release from pan, and cut into bars. 

Allow to harden for 2-3 additional weeks, turning every few days. 

Notes: Don't use glass pans, they get too cold.  Don't use aluminum with the lye. 

Olive oil gives a hard dense lather, coconut and palm kernel give a fluffy lather.

Other recipes - use these with the lye calculator below to determine water and lye amounts: 

Lye calculator link 

6 oz coconut oil

4 oz crisco/hydrogenated soybean oil (crisco)

3 oz shea/mango

3 oz liquid oil - sweet almond, rose hip, jojoba

OR

8 oz coconut oil

4 oz olive oil

4 oz shea or mango

Simple (yet addictive) Salad

My addictive salad
A friend invited us for dinner and I helped her make this salad. I have generally always hated oil and vinegar dressings, and was amazed when I fell in love with this one.

Drizzle approximately 2-3 T. olive oil in the bottom of salad bowl (depending on how big your salad will be). Add 1-2 finely chopped fresh garlic cloves. Add 1-3 t. dill (fresh or dried). Allow to seep for 5-10 minutes. Add salad greens (not iceberg,) 1/2 c. Craisins, and 1/2 c. nuts of your choice (I generally use whole toasted almonds) and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss to coat all ingredients with olive oil. Add enough balsamic vinegar to coat, and toss everything again in the vinegar. Parmesan or feta cheese may be added as a garnish. Serve immediately.

I learned that if you toss first with the olive oil and later with the vinegar, you don't have to deal with the oily taste (which I hate) nor any separation problems.
Also - I generally use a Tuscan olive oil and balsamic vinegar that I pick up at Costco for this recipe.