Modern Cherry Blossom Soap

What better way to celebrate the start of spring with this uniquely abstract floral soap? Scented with Cherry Blossom Fragrance Oil, they are made using the Faux Funnel Technique, but with a twist: a vertical mold!

cherry blossom soap tutorial

Always wear your goggles!

Gather your materials:

1.5 oz. Castor Oil
10.0 oz.Coconut Oil
33.5 oz. Olive Oil
5.0 oz. Palm Oil
6.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
16.5 oz. Distilled Water
3.0 oz Cherry Blossom Fragrance Oil
3 teaspoons Super Pearly White mica
⅛ teaspoon Activated Charcoal
¾ teaspoon Electric Bubble Gum colorant
2 teaspoons Sweet Almond Oil
Vertical Mold

First time making Cold Process Soap? If you have never made cold process soap before, we strongly suggest getting a couple of basic recipes under your belt before diving in, as this is a relatively advanced technique that requires you to move quickly. Check out Soap Queen TV on Cold Process if you want to get started with cold process. It’s a 4 part series that will take you through the basics (and be sure to watch the episode on Lye Safety). Bramble Berry also has some helpful reading tools for you bookworms out there.

Color Prep:  Disperse 3/4 teaspoon Electric Bubble Gum colorant in 2 teaspoons Sweet Almond oil using your mini mixer to really get them mixed together well. Saturate your powdered colorant in the oil a bit before turning on the mixer so you don’t create a messy colorant cloud!

Mold Prep (optional):  Line the vertical mold with freezer paper, shiny side up. I didn’t line the mold for this project but you certainly can. The dividers fit pretty snug so lining is not completely necessary.

ONE: Suit up! Put on your gloves, goggles and long sleeve shirt! Slowly and carefully add your lye to the water Stir until mixture becomes clear and make sure you are in a well ventilated area. Let the mixture cool. Be sure to add the lye to the water and not the other way around.
TWO: In a large heat safe container, melt and combine your Coconut Oil and Palm Oil. Once the oils are melted stir in the Castor Oil and Olive Oil.
THREE:  Once the lye and oils have cooled down to 130 degrees (but within 10 degrees of each other, you may have to reheat the oils a bit) add the lye to the oils and pulse your stick blender until the lye and oils are just incorporated.
TIP: “Burp” your stick blender to avoid air bubbles by tapping the air out of your stick blender before you turn on the stick blender. I love this trick!
FOUR:  Add 1 teaspoon of the Super Pearly White mica to your soap batter. Stick blend until you reach a light trace and a lighter color.
cherry blossom cold process recipe

Add teaspoon of super pearly white mica

FIVE:  Split your batch into 3 equal parts. No need for precision here; you can totally eyeball it.

SIX:  Color each of your split batches; one with the remaining Super Pearly White, one with 2 teaspoons of dispersed Electric Bubble Gum, and one with 1/8 teaspoon Activated Charcoal. Switch to a whisk for this part, you want the soap to be at about medium trace!

cherry blossom cold process soap

Color each of your split batches

SEVEN:  Add 1 ounce of Cherry Blossom fragrance to each of your split batches. You’ll want to use a whisk for this step as well, and again try not to let the soap go past a medium trace.

cherry blossom CP soap

Add your fragrance

EIGHT:  Decide on a color order you like and line up your containers. Starting with your first color, pour a little bit into the mold, then try to hit the center of that soap with your second color, and again with the third.

TIP: In order to get a uniform pour, I counted to three while pouring each color. But you can also try varying the amount of soap you pour each time for a totally different look.

cherry blossom cold process soap

Pouring into your mold

NINE:  Repeat step eight alternating your pours until the mold is full. As you can see, this part can get a little messy!

TEN:  Let soap sit in mold for 3-4 days before unmolding.

ELEVEN:  Unmold soap and cut. Check out the cool looking effect. I’m excited about how trendy it looks (color blocking anyone?) Allow to cure for 4-6 weeks and enjoy!

cherry blossom cold process soap

Check out the cool effect!