Teach Soap

I bought a small amount of evening primrose oil just to experiment with. I read it's a nice conditioning oil for older skin like mine, but I have no idea how much to incorporate into a recipe. Since it appears that conditioning is the only property it brings to the soap and given that it's a soft oil, I'm guessing I should use no more than 5%. Any other things I should know about it, or is it even a good oil to use in CP?

One more question - I haven't tried activated charcoal yet, and see instructions anywhere on the BB site as to how to mix it (how much in oil or water) and how much to use PPO. The black oxide worked nicely but I'd also like to try the charcoal as a comparison.

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Jennifer
Doing my best to blow up my kitchen. In style!

Oils in soap saponify and change to a type of salt. I would save that oil for leave on products or use it straight, but not use it in soap. Activated charcoal I use at 1/tsp. PPO. It's a nice ingredient for those that have oily skin. Obviously we can't make any claims of what our soap does, as the would make it a medical claim and would no longer be considered just soap.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Good thing I only bought 4 ounces of the primrose oil then! Ah well, I'll figure out something to do with it. Maybe it'll make a nice popcorn oil or something.

Do you add the charcoal straight to the batter or pre-mix in oil or water first? I hadn't thought about the absorbent qualities of the charcoal to tell the truth, just the colorant aspect. Does it also act as a fixative for FOs and EOs as I've heard that some clays do? Looks like another chapter to add the experiment log, which is already turning into quite a book.

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Jennifer
Doing my best to blow up my kitchen. In style!

Make a facial serum with the primrose. I add the charcoal to my melted and cooled off oils and stick blend before adding the lye.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Thanks so much Irena. You really are a gem!

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Jennifer
Doing my best to blow up my kitchen. In style!

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.