How to Choose Your Soap Formula:
Soap is the product of a reaction between a strong base (sodium hydroxide) and oils. The oils you choose will determine the hardness of the soap, the type of lather, and the moisturizing properties.
OILS: General soap formulas start with coconut oil (hard soap, cleansing, fluffy lather), palm oil (long lasting soap, creamy lather) and another more nutrient rich oil like avocado, olive or almond. A little castor oil is usually added to provide stability to the lather and is also good for your skin. Choosing these oils will make a hard bar of soap with a nice lather.
You can customize your soap by replacing any of these starting ingredients with ingredients more suited to your skin type and adding ingredients that will benefit you. Adding shea butter, kukui nut oil, evening primrose oil, cocoa butter, and/or jojoba will provide luxurious moisture. LIghter oils like high-linoleic safflower oil, hazelnut, and grapeseed oil are better for oily skin. Neem oil and other specialty oils can be used to benefit specific skin conditions. If you know what percentage you want of each oil, please let me know!
ADDED INGREDIENTS: Then choose added ingredients such as herbs, herbal infusions, exfoliants and essential oils to suit your needs. Popular additions are aloe, silk powder, ground oats, ground vanilla bean, carrot seed oil, calendula oil, chamomile oil, licorice root powder, slippery elm bark, blessed thistle, sulfur, and horsetail. Olive squalane is also an excellent addition for mature skin or very dry skin.
Rosemary Oil Extract and Natural Vitamin E are highly recommended to help prevent spoilage. These are natural anti-oxidants which prolong the shelf-life of the natural soap oils.
SCENT: You may choose no added scent, pure essential oils or fragrance oils as you like. I will custom order whatever I do not have in stock.
COLOR: I use natural mineral pigments or ground herbs to add color to soaps. I can swirl, layer or leave uncolored. Please note I can not guarantee a certain color or specific pattern. The base oils will change the starting color of the soap and any fragrance containing vanilla will change the color to a shade of brown.
COST: The price is determined by the cost of materials and labor. Custom soap is similarly priced to the pre-made bars that we sell - typically between $4.00 and $8.00 per bar. I will quote your order and then send an invoice through Paypal.
WHEN WILL I GET MY SOAPS? Once payment is received, I will order any ingredients I need to fill your order. When those arrive, I will make your soaps and then let them cure for 3 weeks before shipping out. The soaps are fine to use at this point though they will continue to harden and become milder over the next few months.
NEED SOME HELP?: If you'd like some suggestions, I'm happy to work with you to come up with the right formula for you. Please let me know a bit about your skin type, skin conditions and allergies/sensitivities.
It may be easiest to start with a soap I already make and tweak the ingredients to your liking. For example, say you love the Uber Moisture Lavender Bar but wish it were uncolored and had aloe and oats added to it? No problem - Just let me know!
