Easy and Beautiful Essential Oil Soap

Because my husband, son, and daughter all have some varying degree of autoimmune disorder, I try really hard to go all-natural with our lotions, and shampoos. My husband is allergic to the perfumes in different things and has severe eczema, so he is already sensitive to many ingredients. My son's skin dries out quickly, so he needs extra moisture in his skin. The same is true with my daughter as she gets patchy eczema.

I’ve just started experimenting with making my own soap. I’ve already been using my own toothpaste recipe with natural ingredients and essential oils and I love it. So, I gave some serious thought about phasing out store-bought products for versions that I can customize with essential oils for my family. I found that I can make about twelve small bars of soap to help with my family's skincare needs for about $4.50.

I used some clear glycerine soap as a base. It is my preference to use a clear soap. I also like to make the kids' soap with surprises in middle. That way, it encourages them to set great hygiene habits. This brand pictured below is nice because it is sectioned off with grid lines and three sections of this base makes four soaps.

I started with small soaps so we can use them up quicker and see if the recipe needs tweaking. I am not a fan of glycerine because it dries out my skin, but adding about 1 tablespoon of vitamin E and 1 tablespoon of apricot oil makes the soap gentle on the skin and moisturizing at the same time.

Next, I microwaved my small batch for 20 seconds at a time. This brand of soap melts very quickly, so starting slowly will keep the soap from getting too hot and burning. On a side note, when I first started blending, I bought the scientific cylinders and they were the best investment! Easy to measure and pour and they clean up nice!!

After melting the glycerine soap base, that is when I add my Vitamin E oil, apricot oil, essential oils, and soap dye. With the soap dye, one or two drops is enough to produce the colors you see in the picture. You can always go darker if desired. I bought my soap dye at Michael's in a three pack, which was very affordable. You will want to stir quick as your soap mixture will set up pretty fast. It is not uncommon for some of the essential oils to come to the surface of the soap and leave a sheen.

Once it’s all mixed together nicely, it should look like this:

I have a pretty cool, clean machining mold that does a bit of a different shape that is easier to hold, but you can use any candy mold that is plastic or silicone that will release the soap once hardened.

So here is the finished product!!

Orange: Blood orange essential oil

Purple: Lavender vanilla essential oil

Green: Key lime essential oil

It honestly took about 20 minutes to make 12 soaps. Have fun experimenting with your own shapes, colors, and scents. The possibilities are endless. If you have someone with skin issues or if you have a favorite scent, it would be very easy to treat using an essential oil soap.

Just a word on the essential oils you choose in your soap mix:

1. Always research your essential oils so that they are suitable for your intended purpose.
2. Make sure that whatever essential oil you choose is 100 percent pure and safe for use against the skin. A company that sells 100 percent pure oil will tell you that they send out every oil for third party testing with a mass spectrometer/gas chromatography machine.
3. HAVE FUN!!!! Happy blending!