Teach Soap

So in my ongoing quest for the perfect soap recipe (ha!) I am wanting to narrow down my ingredients (I think I eluded to this in the recent discussion I started about "how much good stuff do you really need?").

Right now my favorite ingredients to work with seem to be:

coconut oil (cleansing/lather, usually at around 20-25%)
palm oil (hardness/creamy texture)
castor oil (bubbles!)
olive oil (can buy this easily at the grocery store and is good for skin all around)
cocoa butter (I swear this adds a special smoothness to my hands when added at 10% of the oils)

That said, I wonder if super dry skin/or those in dry climates like mine would benefit from the addition of one or a combo of:

shea butter
sweet almond oil
avocado oil

I have all of the ingredients above but as we discussed before, I don't think it's entirely necessary to add a boat load of "special" ingredients to soap. It seems that superfatting is more important than exotic ingredients when it comes to the moisturizing question ... yes?

So for moisturizing properties, assuming say a 6-7% SF, what do you all like best? Just the basics (OO/PO/CO/etc) or do you notice better moisturizing when you add the "good stuff?" (shea/cb/almond/avocado)

These questions came to mind last night while scratching away at my arms and legs as I tried to fall asleep! (And I use cream/lotion/etc but I think my propensity for long showers plus a lifelong tendency toward dry skin is the culprit ...)

Karri

Edit: PS: the body butter I've been using is one I made myself. Still dry 'n itchy though!

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I soap therefore I am.

I have never tried Cocoa butter but I absolutely love Shea butter. It has helped my itchy skin a bunch

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JULIE

The Lord is my Shepard

@BAMA do you use the shea in soap or in a body cream/butter?

Thanks!
Karri

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I soap therefore I am.

I love shea butter in a soap. Right now I am using a recipe that uses both cocoa and shea butter plus a small amount of almond and avacado. I love this soap.

I use in soap and I whip up some butter for my skin too. I also have a jar of shea butter I bought at the health food store that I think is refined although it doesn't say so. It says 100% shea butter. I use it exclusively for undermakeup moisturizer. Saved me a bunch from buying all the products from Merle Norman. I make my own Chammomille soap for face wash and it cleans my face so well and doesn't leave it dry. I make out of OO, CO, Castor, Palm and Shea butter. I add either goats milk or Powdered milk too. I infuse the Chamomille flowers into Olive oil in a crockpot and then strain and use the oil and crush a cup of the cooked flowers and add at trace. It is helping my sister who has Roseasia. I don't know if I spelled that right. But you know the Red cheek bumpy problem.

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JULIE

The Lord is my Shepard

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I soap therefore I am.

I use the Memememe Luxury bar at the beginning of Teach Soap. It is

Almond oil 2.56%
Avacado oil 7.48%
Castor oil 2.56%
Cocoa butter 6.3%
Coconut oil 18.3%
Olive oil 37.6%
Palm kernel flakes 5.12%
Palm oil 11.22%
Shea butter 8.86%

It is quite a bit more fuss and probably too expensive for people trying to make a profit. My soap is for family and friends and all I try to do is recoop my cost. But I think it feels oh so nice.

Aaah, okay thanks for pointing out that recipe!

I bet it's an amazing bar ... but I have to wonder if using that many different oils/butters creates necessary redundancy. i.e. creating a great result with 10 ingredients versus creating the same great result with 5 given many oils/butters impart similar skin benefits.

And yes, if one is looking to build a business it would be that much more difficult to build in a decent margin given the extra measuring, extra costs, etc.

Karri

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I soap therefore I am.

Possibly. I just know I like it. I think I feel a difference in lather.

I use shea butter in soap every now and then, but I prefer it in a solid lotion bar to use directly on the dry areas of my skin. I haven't tried it on my face because it feels too greasy to me for facial use. Plus, since I've been using 100% castile made with goat's milk to wash my face, my skin has felt amazing!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Hi Karri,

Not sure if this is the answer you're looking for, but in the winters here, it can get pretty dry, and my skin doesn't do well. I HP my canola recipe, and then SF with shea and coco butters after the cook. Hope you find something that works for you

Thanks both!

I've heard castile w/gm is fabulous. I have a gm soap I've been using on my face and it's pretty good ... but in a castile I bet it would be perfect for the face seeing as one really doesn't need super high cleansing for facial skin (which promotes both dryness and oiliness anyway is my understanding). Do you gel your castile/gm soap Linda?

@FarmScapeGoods - I've got a soap recipe with 10% "butters" (shea and/or cb) I'm tinkering with and my hope is that at 7% SF it will bring the qualities I'm looking for.

Of course, the ultimate goal is to arrive at a fave "base" recipe I can use in different variations (scents) when I eventually sell my soap. But it has to pass muster with MY PICKY SKIN first

Karri

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I soap therefore I am.

Karri - I let all my soaps gel. I just watch the GM soaps very closely so they don't overheat.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

@Linda - I got partial gel in a castile soap recently (I used 40% lye sol'n and covered with a lid). I divided the batch in half and left one half plain and that's the one that had partial gel. The scented one with tinted layers (which I fussed with longer before pouring) didn't gel at all from what I could see. Both soaps still looked and felt lovely but that partially gelled one ticked me off! The ungelled one was a teensy bit more crumbly around the edges ...

Just sharing in case anyone benefits from that info

Karri

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I soap therefore I am.

I recently made a batch of 100% coconut oil witha 20% cocoa butter superfat, and it leaves my skin soooooo silky smooth. I use the raw organic food grade type, so the bars smell like dark chocolate with no added EO or FO. My other coconut soaps have a high superfat as well, but with the cocoa butter ones I can clearly feel the superfat on my skin after. I say give it a try when you get done with your shea butters!