Inspired by the popular song, this Lime in the Coconut Milk soap is a tropical vacation in bar form! Coconut milk powder replaces water in this recipe to give additional moisture. Coconut milk powder is full of vitamins C, E, B1, B3, B5, and B6, along with potassium and folate. The lauric acid of coconut milk also gives the bar a luxurious and fluffy lather. If you have never worked with milk in soap before, check out the How to Add Lye to Milk post for tips on keeping the milk cold. Looking for more information? The Goat Milk Soap Tutorial demonstrates how to add lye to milk, with examples of scorched milk vs. non-scorched milk.
This Lime in the Coconut Milk Cold Process features a fresh smelling blend of Lime Essential Oil and Coconut Lemongrass Fragrance Oil. Adorable melt and pour lime embeds are placed on the top, giving the illusion of a fruity, tropical drink. Mica is brushed on the embeds to help the details really pop.
What You’ll Need:
Tall 12″ Silicone Loaf Mold
1.9 oz. Avocado Butter
1.9 oz. Castor Oil
11.1 oz. Coconut Oil
5.6 oz. Green Tea Seed Oil
1.9 oz. Mango Butter
14.8 oz. Olive Oil
5.2 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
1.5 oz. Coconut Milk Powder
12.3 oz. Distilled Water
Chrome Green Oxide
Fizzy Lemonade Colorant
Titanium Dioxide
1 oz. Lime Distilled Essential Oil
1 oz. Coconut Lemongrass Fragrance Oil
Embeds:
Citrus Slice Wax Tart Mold
2 oz. Clear Melt and Pour Base
Yellow Lip Safe Mica
Chrome Green Color Block
Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart! Make the Embeds
ONE: Cut and melt 2 ounces of clear melt and pour base in the microwave using 5 second bursts. It’s easy to burn such a small amount of melt and pour, so using small bursts helps avoid this. Add small shavings of the Chrome Green Color Block and stir until a rich green color is achieved. Carefully pour the soap into each cavity until the citrus shape is covered; don’t fill the cavity all the way. Spritz with alcohol to disperse any bubbles. Allow to fully cool and harden.
TWO: Remove each embed from the mold. Use a paintbrush to lightly dust the lime shape with Yellow Mica. This step is optional, but the mica really helps the details pop! Set embeds aside.
If you’ve never made Cold Process soap before, stop here! I highly recommend checking out our FREE four part SoapQueen.tv series on Cold Process Soapmaking, especially the episode on lye safety. And if you’d rather do some reading, Bramble Berry carries a wide range of books on the topic, including my newest book, Soap Crafting. You can also checkout the digital downloads for that instant gratification factor.
SAFETY FIRST: Suit up for safe handling practices! That means goggles, gloves and long sleeves. Make sure kids, pets, and other distractions and tripping hazards are out of the house or don’t have access to your soaping space. Always soap in a well-ventilated area.
COLOR PREP: Disperse 1 teaspoon of the Chrome Green Oxide into 1 tablespoon of sunflower or sweet almond oil (or any other liquid oil). Then disperse 3 teaspoons of the Fizzy Lemonade Colorant into 3 tablespoons lightweight liquid oil. Finally disperse 1 teaspoon Titanium Dioxide into 1 tablespoon light liquid oil. Use a mini mixer to get the clumps of color worked out smoothly. Please note this is an optional tip but it does help with the titanium dioxide clumping in the soap =) To micronize colorant, simply use a coffee grinder to blend the colorant to break up any clumps of color and prevent streaks of white from showing in the final soap. We like to use a coffee grinder that has a removable, stainless steel mixing area for easy cleaning.
FRAGRANCE PREP: Mix 1 oz. of the Coconut Lemongrass Fragrance Oil and 1 oz. of the Lime Essential Oil. Set aside.
MILK PREP: Mix 1.5 oz. of coconut milk powder into the distilled water. When using this Coconut Milk Powder we found it was a little tricky to mix into water however, heating the water slightly (to about 95°F) made it easy. Once the powder is completely mixed into the water and contains no clumps, pour the milk into ice cube trays and place them into the freezer until completely hard (several hours to overnight).
ONE: Remove the fully frozen milk from the ice cube trays and place into a container that has been placed in an ice bath. Slowly add lye and stir until the lye is fully dissolved and the milk has become liquid. Click here to see this process and more tips on creating a lye and milk mixture. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that releases faster from the mold, you can add sodium lactate to the cooled lye milk. Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in the recipe. For this recipe, you’d add about 2 tsp. sodium lactate.
TWO: Fully melt and combine the coconut, olive, green tea seed, castor, avocado butter and mango butter. Once the oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below, add the lye milk to the oils and stick blend until thin trace.
THREE: Pour off two containers, each measuring 1 cup. The large container should then hold about 4 cups.
FOUR: To the large container, add 2 tablespoons of the dispersed Fizzy Lemonade Colorant, and 1 tablespoon of the dispersed Chrome Green Oxide. Use a whisk to fully incorporate.
FIVE: To one of the smaller containers, add 2.5 tablespoons of dispersed Fizzy Lemonade Colorant and use a whisk or spoon to fully incorporate. To the other small container, add 2 tablespoons of the dispersed titanium dioxide and use a whisk or spoon to fully incorporate. Add the fragrance oil blend proportionally to each of the three containers (it’s okay to eyeball it!) and use a whisk to fully combine.
SIX: Pour the entire container of green soap into the mold, and tap the mold firmly on the counter to help get rid of any air bubbles. Don’t scrape the bowl clean, leave a small amount of green soap in the bowl for the top.
SEVEN: Pour half of the white soap into the center of the mold. Pour from about 10 inches above the mold; this helps the white soap drop into the green soap, rather than sitting on top and creating layers.
EIGHT: Pour the yellow soap into the green and white soap. Pour the yellow soap from 8-10 inches above the mold to ensure the yellow soap breaks through into the green soap. Leave a small amount of soap in the container for the top.
NINE: Tap the mold firmly on the counter to help get rid of air bubbles. Stick blend the leftover white soap until you reach a thick trace.
TEN: Use a spoon to gently place the thick white soap on top of the green soap. Gently spread the soap to ensure an even layer.
ELEVEN: Use a spoon to place the leftover yellow soap from the container onto the white.
TWELVE: Place any leftover green soap onto the yellow, and use a spoon to create peaks and texture with the yellow, white and green soap.
THIRTEEN: Place the lime embeds into the side of the soap. Ensure the lime is far enough in the soap that they don’t fall out.
FOURTEEN: Spritz the top with 99% isopropyl alcohol to prevent soda ash, and place the soap into the freezer for 24 hours. Doing so prevents the soap from going through gel phase which will scorch the coconut milk. After 24 hours, remove the soap from the freezer and allow to sit in the mold for 3-4 days. Milk soap can be a little softer due to the extra milk fat. Patience is key! Remove from the mold, cut and allow to cure for 4-6 weeks.
Have you used coconut milk in your soap before? Do you have any tips to share with SQ readers? I love the fluffy and moisturizing lather it gives!
- Tall 12" Silicone Loaf Mold
- 1.9 oz. Avocado Butter
- 1.9 oz. Castor Oil
- 11.1 oz. Coconut Oil
- 5.6 oz. Green Tea Seed Oil
- 1.9 oz. Mango Butter
- 14.8 oz. Olive Oil
- 5.2 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
- 1.5 oz. Coconut Milk Powder
- 12.3 oz. Distilled Water
- Chrome Green Oxide
- Fizzy Lemonade Colorant
- Titanium Dioxide
- 1 oz. Lime Distilled Essential Oil
- 1 oz. Coconut Lemongrass Fragrance Oil
- Citrus Slice Wax Tart Mold
- 2 oz. Clear Melt and Pour Base
- Yellow Lip Safe Mica
- Chrome Green Color Block
- Cut and melt 2 ounces of clear melt and pour base in the microwave using 5 second bursts. It’s easy to burn such a small amount of melt and pour, so using small bursts helps avoid this. Add small shavings of the Chrome Green Color Block and stir until a rich green color is achieved. Carefully pour the soap into each cavity until the citrus shape is covered; don’t fill the cavity all the way. Spritz with alcohol to disperse any bubbles. Allow to fully cool and harden.
- Remove each embed from the mold. Use a paintbrush to lightly dust the lime shape with Yellow Mica. This step is optional, but the mica really helps the details pop! Set embeds aside.
- Remove the fully frozen milk from the ice cube trays and place into a container that has been placed in an ice bath. Slowly add lye and stir until the lye is fully dissolved and the milk has become liquid. Click here to see this process and more tips on creating a lye and milk mixture. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that releases faster from the mold, you can add sodium lactate to the cooled lye milk. Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in the recipe. For this recipe, you’d add about 2 tsp. sodium lactate.
- Fully melt and combine the coconut, olive, green tea seed, castor, avocado butter and mango butter. Once the oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below, add the lye milk to the oils and stick blend until thin trace.
- Pour off two containers, each measuring 1 cup. The large container should then hold about 4 cups.
- To the large container, add 2 tablespoons of the dispersed Fizzy Lemonade Colorant, and 1 tablespoon of the dispersed Chrome Green Oxide. Use a whisk to fully incorporate.
- To one of the smaller containers, add 2.5 tablespoons of dispersed Fizzy Lemonade Colorant and use a whisk or spoon to fully incorporate. To the other small container, add 2 tablespoons of the dispersed titanium dioxide and use a whisk or spoon to fully incorporate. Add the fragrance oil blend proportionally to each container (it’s okay to eyeball it!) and use a whisk to fully combine.
- Pour the entire container of green soap into the mold, and tap the mold firmly on the counter to help get rid of any air bubbles. Don’t scrape the bowl clean, leave a small amount of green soap in the bowl for the top.
- Pour half of the white soap into the center of the mold. Pour from about 10 inches above the mold; this helps the white soap drop into the green soap, rather than sitting on top and creating layers.
- Pour the yellow soap into the green and white soap. Pour the yellow soap from 8-10 inches above the mold to ensure the yellow soap breaks through into the green soap. Leave a small amount of soap in the container for the top.
- Tap the mold firmly on the counter to help get rid of air bubbles. Stick blend the leftover white soap until you reach a thick trace.
- Use a spoon to gently place the thick white soap on top of the green soap. Gently spread the soap to ensure an even layer.
- Use a spoon to place the leftover yellow soap from the container onto the white.
- Place any leftover green soap onto the yellow, and use a spoon to create peaks and texture with the yellow, white and green soap.
- Place the lime embeds into the side of the soap. Ensure the lime is far enough in the soap that they don’t fall out.
- Spritz the top with 99% isopropyl alcohol to prevent soda ash, and place the soap into the freezer for 24 hours. Doing so prevents the soap from going through gel phase which will scorch the coconut milk. After 24 hours, remove the soap from the freezer and allow to sit in the mold for 3-4 days. Milk soap can be a little softer due to the extra milk fat. Patience is key! Remove from the mold, cut and allow to cure for 4-6 weeks.
I tried this recipe today, but made a substitution. I had frozen goats milk, so I used 8 oz frozen goats milk, with 5 oz distilled water and 5.2 oz lye. (I did not use the coconut milk powder at all.) I didn’t change anything else in the recipe, and I did add the 2 tsp sodium lactate. Are my substitutions ok? When I tried to get a medium or thick trace, no matter how long I blended…it would not thicken. I have never had that happen before. I ended up just drizzling the extra colors on top, as they would not thicken. Any help you could offer would be great. Still hoping it will turn out! Thank you
Hi Dawn!
I think that should be just fine! Goat milk feels really great in soap.
I’m not exactly sure why that soap didn’t thicken! I ran the recipe through the Lye Calculator and we suggest 12.3 oz. of water. However, the tiny bit of extra water shouldn’t affect that trace too much.
Can you tell me a bit more about your process, including the temperatures you soaped at? Also, how long did you stick blend for? Thank you! 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi Kelsey
Thanks for the response…I didn’t see it until today! This gave me a little time to wait, and yes, the soap did turn out just fine. It isn’t quite the same as the one in this post, but still very pretty. I am trying the recipe today, using the coconut milk. Thanks again!
So glad to hear that soap turned out well! It’s going to feel really amazing on the skin. Also, have fun making this recipe with coconut milk! 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Made this!! So awesome:))
So glad to hear that Desiree! If you have pictures of the soap, we’d love to see them. You can share them on our Facebook page if you like. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Bramble Berry Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrambleBerry
Ok, I finally made this soap recipe. It took 5 days before I could unmold and still was very soft on the bottom. The green color was very dark. I’m wondering if this was a mistake in the recipe. Maybe, it should be 1 tsp of chrome green? Otherwise, everything turned out great. I got the nice white and yellow drop color. The melt and pour embeds are already sweating. I’m wondering if I should use LCP melt and pour instead for embeds?
Hi Jeanne!
Because this recipe is palm free and contains milk, it will take longer to firm up than recipes with palm oil and distilled water. Milk adds extra fat to the recipe. The great news is it feels creamy and soft on your skin!
Adding 1 tsp. of sodium lactate per pound of oils to your cooled lye milk definitely helps that soap release faster. 🙂
Sunday Night Spotlight: Sodium Lactate: http://www.soapqueen.com/bramble-berry-news/sunday-night-spotlight-sodium-lactate/
If you notice your colors are a bit darker, it may be because that milk started to heat up. That can cause those colors to darken. Just make sure to pop your soap in the fridge or freezer as soon as you’re done so the soap stays nice and cool!
Also, if you live in a very hot and humid climate you can definitely use LCP embeds. They have little to no sweating. 🙂
LCP bases: https://www.brambleberry.com/Search.aspx?k=lcp
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Thanks Kelsey for the quick reply. I didn’t realize that palm free recipes will take longer to harden up. Good to know. I did do the sodium lactate and left in the freezer almost 18 hours (still got a small gel circle in the soap). My milk lye mixture was pretty cold and the color was a creamy white after all the lye was added. But I noticed all the lye still wasn’t dissolved (this is my first milk soap) so I kept stirring until I didn’t see anymore but was tough because the milk makes it hard to see. When I poured the milk mixture into the oil it (milk mixture) was pretty cold and I thought I saw one lye chip sneak in. Hope it didn’t survive the saponication process? Anyway, when I added the green, it was just dark so I added extra yellow hoping that would lighten. It didn’t. So I was hoping when the soap came out of the mold I would be surprised with a lighter green. Not! Oh, well it still was fun and a new experience for me. Should I be worried about the lye chip that snuck in?
Hi Jeanne!
Mixing lye into milk is definitely a bit more tricky because you can’t see if that lye is dissolved! If any lye chips snuck in, they may not have turned into soap and can be harmful. I would recommend checking the pH level of your soap to see if it’s lye heavy. You can use our pH strips or cabbage juice to do that: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/test-ph-red-cabbage/
If that soap pH is 9-10, your soap will be just fine to use! If not, don’t throw it out – you can use it to make laundry soap: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/home-crafts/three-diy-laundry-soap-recipes/
To be extra safe the next time you make milk soap, you can pour the lye milk through a strainer. That will catch any stubborn lye flakes that don’t want to dissolve. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
You ‘re simply d best…. I live in Nigeria and all dis ingredients most of them are hard to find…. Do you sell those ingredients and deliver worldwide ?
So glad you like the tutorials Peace! Due to Nigerian importing rules, we can no longer ship there. I’m so sorry about that! A quick internet search may help you find local vendors. 🙂
Read more in the international shipping policies: https://www.brambleberry.com/International-Shipping-Policies.aspx#Nigeria
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
If I wanted to try this recipe using Rosemary and Lime Essential Oils would I still need to add Litsea to help the Lime stick?
Hi Laurel!
The Rosemary Essential Oil is an herby and earthy scent. It will help anchor the Lime Essential Oil on its own. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Rosemary Essential Oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Rosemary-Essential-Oil-P3817.aspx
Hi Kelsey,
Thanks so much for the quick reply. I will try it without the Litsea then.
You’re welcome! Have fun making the soap. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
thanks so much for this post. i’ll try this soon 🙂
You are so welcome Rinche. Have fun making it, and let us know how it goes! 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
These are the same colors I used in my Ginger Lime glycerin soaps! this soap is a bit more elaborate than mine and now I want to try it 😀
I love this color palette! It’s so bright and fresh. Hopefully you have a chance to give this recipe a try! It’s a lot of fun to make. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
could u use coonut milk in a can instead of powered coconut milk pls
Hi Pat!
You can! Just make sure that coconut milk doesn’t have any extra sugar added to it. Extra sugar can cause your soap to overheat. Otherwise that it’s just fine to use. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Looks great!! I thought that citrus EOs don’t stick in cp soap. Does Lime EO stick? I’m making a coconut milk tomorrow, but I’m only gonna use Litsea and a touch of Lemongrass in just half of the soap. I just want it to be lemony and I want to keep it white and light yellow with natural color from the EOs.
I use Lime EO in CP and have no problem with it sticking. I have been using it for over 8 years and have never had an issue with it. Brambleberry has the best Lime EO I’ve tried. It’s clean and fresh and smells like a lime. It’s wonderful!
Hi Martina!
Typically, citrus essential oils can fade in cold process soap. However, you can anchor them with a deeper, earthier scent to help them stay. In this case, the Coconut Lemongrass Fragrance Oil acts as the anchor!
Listea and Lemongrass sounds like a lovely combination! 🙂
Litsea Essential Oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Litsea-Essential-Oil-P3824.aspx
Lemongrass Essential Oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Lemongrass-Essential-Oil-P3822.aspx
Also, so glad you like the essential oil Merryn! It’s one of my favorites. I actually have a bar by my desk right now and my desk smells like fresh lime. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Thank you Merryn and Kelsey! You convinced me! I used Lime EO (1.4oz) with just a bit of Litsea (0.6oz) for anchor. 🙂
I left most of it uncolored white with just a touch of green swirl. Sprinkled some white and green sugar pearls on top. Smells really nice and lime-y.
My recipe was 11oz olive, 9 oz coconut, 9 oz Palm and 4oz almond oil. I used coconut milk from a can which was super thick (Organic Thai Kitchen), so I used 6.5 oz and froze it. Then I measured 4 oz of water and added my 4.6 oz of lye to it to dissolve. Then slowly added to frozen coconut milk. Soaped when lye mixture and oils were 96 degrees each. It was very slow to trace, and kept thin trace the whole time. I kept it in the fridge overnight. Since I just made it at midnight last night, I’ll unmold it tomorrow. 🙂
You’re welcome! That sounds like an awesome recipe. I bet the pearls on top look really elegant beautiful. Let us know how it turns out! 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Yet again, I am thrilled to learn more from the Soap Queen! Thank you! Quick question about stick blending the last bits for the top, as I have been looking for a solution like this (speeding up thick trace for textured top). When there is not much left in the container, how do you avoid air bubbles when stick blending?
Hi Molly!
You’re welcome, so glad you like the recipe! It can be tricky to stick blend small amounts of soap without adding extra air bubbles. We typically tip the container toward us so the soap pools in one place and the blades of the stick blender aren’t exposed. You can also pour the soap into a smaller container so there is less head space.
If you’re still getting air bubbles, you can let the soap sit for 5-10 minutes. It will start to thicken naturally. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
So cute! I love your colors, and milk soaps are just fantastic! I always add some now. Once you try them there is no going back 🙂
Hi Margaret!
Thank you so much, glad you like the soap! Also it’s true – that creamy feeling is hard to beat. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Love Love Love this. Looks so fresh and bright.
I will be making this, the recipe look great!!
Thank you BB
So glad you love in Diane! It smells amazing, have fun making it. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry