Soap Queen

Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more

Tutorials by difficulty level:

How to Make Charcoal Facial Soap

Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Cold Process Soap

Difficulty: Beginner
Time: 1-2 hours
Yields: About 3 pounds of soap

How to Make Charcoal Facial Soap

Charcoal face soap seems to be everywhere right now, along with charcoal face masks and bath bombs. It’s easy to understand why – charcoal is fantastic for the skin. It binds to dirt and oil and pulls it out of pores, leaving skin clean and refreshed. Because of its oil absorbing properties, it’s especially fantastic for oily skin.

This Tea Tree and Charcoal Facial Soap was formulated with combination to oily skin in mind. It contains activated charcoal, which gives the bars a rich black color. It does produce a slightly gray lather due to the large amount of charcoal, but does not stain washcloths. This recipe also uses tea tree essential oil, which has an earthy scent. Because this product is meant for the face, a small usage rate for the essential oil is used.

How to Make Charcoal Facial Soap

The oils in this recipe were specially chosen for facial skin. A high percentage of olive oil makes the bars gentle. Palm oil makes the bars firm, while coconut oil adds cleansing properties. Usually, I don’t use more than 2-3% castor oil in cold process soap recipes. But, in this recipe, a slightly larger amount of castor oil adds lather and cleansing properties. It also helps draw moisture to the skin to keep it hydrated. The soap is formulated with a 15% water discount to prevent stickiness and help it release from the mold faster. I also highly recommend sodium lactate for this recipe to aid in unmolding.

Last, but certainly not least, is tamanu oil. It is an incredibly unique oil with a dark color and nutty odor. If you search “tamanu oil,” you’ll find it is widely thought to benefit skin scarring, stretch marks and sores, and has anti-fungal properties. However, this recipe hasn’t been tested to prove it helps cure those ailments. We added it because it helps moisturize the skin. Learn more about tamanu oil here. Speaking of medical claims, making claims that this soap treats acne or other skin conditions qualifies classifies it as a drug by the FDA. This requires additional testing and approval. Learn more about cosmetic vs. drug claims here.

What You’ll Need:
12 Bar Rectangle Silicone Mold
1.8 oz. Castor Oil (5%)
9 oz. Coconut Oil (25%)
14.4 oz. Olive Oil (40%)
9 oz. Palm Oil (25%)
1.8 oz. Tamanu Oil (5%)
5.1 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
10.1 oz. Distilled Water (15% water discount)
1.7 oz. Tea Tree Essential Oil
2 Tbsp. Activated Charcoal
Optional: 2 tsp. Sodium Lactate
Optional: Charcoal Soap & Scrub Label Template -Free PDF


Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!

Find the supplies you need for this project below

12 Cavity Rectangle Silicone MoldCastor OilCoconut OilOlive OilTamanu OilSodium HydroxideSodium LactateTea Tree Essential OilActivated CharcoalPalm OilCharcoal Soap and Scrub Label Template - Free PDF

How to Make Charcoal Facial Soap

4.7 from 31 reviews

How to Make Charcoal Facial Soap
 
Print

Cook time

Total time

 

These charcoal facial bars are great for oily, or blemish prone skin.
Author:
Recipe type: Cold Process Soap
Serves: 12 bars

Ingredients
  • 12 Bar Rectangle Silicone Mold
  • 1.8 oz. Castor Oil (5%)
  • 9 oz. Coconut Oil (25%)
  • 14.4 oz. Olive Oil (40%)
  • 9 oz. Palm Oil (25%)
  • 1.8 oz. Tamanu Oil (5%)
  • 5.1 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
  • 10.1 oz. Distilled Water (15% water discount)
  • 1.7 oz. Tea Tree Essential Oil
  • 2 Tbsp. Activated Charcoal
  • Optional: 2 tsp. Sodium Lactate
  • Optional: Charcoal Soap & Scrub Label Template -Free PDF

Instructions
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.
FRAGRANCE PREP: Measure 1.7 ounces of Tea Tree Essential Oil into a glass, essential oil safe container. Set aside.
  1. Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool.
  2. Fully melt the castor oil, coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil and tamanu oil (remember to fully melt then mix your entire container of palm oil before portioning).Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and stick blend until thin trace. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that releases faster from the mold, you can add sodium lactate to the cooled lye water. Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in the recipe. For this recipe, you’d add 2 teaspoons sodium lactate. Stick blend the soap until it’s at a thin trace.
  3. Add 2 Tbsp. activated charcoal to the soap. Use your stick blender to "tap down" the charcoal to start to mix it into the batter. If you turn on the stick blender immediately, the charcoal may "poof" into the air. Slowly pulse the stick blender to incorporate the charcoal.
  4. Add the tea tree essential oil to the soap, and use the stick blender to blend and stir the essential oil until completely mixed in.
  5. Continue to stick blend for just a few seconds, to make sure the ingredients are completely combined. When the soap is a medium trace and is still pourable, pour the batter into the individual cavities of the 12 Bar Rectangle Mold. Tap the mold on the counter to even the soap and get rid of bubbles.
  6. Spritz the top of the soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol to prevent soda ash. Place on a heating pad set to medium heat, and insulate the soap for about 30 minutes. Turn off the heating pad, and leave the soap insulated for 24 hours.
  7. Allow the soap to stay in the mold for at least 3-4 days. Because this soap has plenty of soft oils, it may need up to a week in the mold. Don't rush it! Once the soap is firm enough, unmold and allow them to cure for 4-6 weeks. Enjoy!

 

Tutorial credits

Photographer: Amanda Kerzman, Research Assistant: Amanda Kerzman,
Like it? Share it!

You may also like these

Watch Love Letter Soap Tutorial HereMake Perfect Lines + Learn to Embed: Love Letter SoapPS000289_BeerCharcoalSoap_mainCharcoal Beer SoapNINETEEN-15 Tips for Unmolding Cold Process SoapQuickMixNewsletter_700All About Quick MixesLemonPoppySeedCP1_700pxLemon Poppy Seed Hot Process Soap

Become an email subscriber

Enter your email address below and you will receive all our new posts directly in your email inbox.

Previous Post:
Next Post:

302 Comments

  1. Hi ! i am so glad that i encountered your space !!!! I would like to ask you about the calculation of ratio of oil and essential oils in the soap. I have a bad acne and oily face condition which i couldn’t use any artisan soap but this recipe below is my life saver, which it is somehow similar to what you are showing. How should i divide the ratio allocated for these ingredients? Because the one making my soap is no longer here….
    Hope you can help me and give me some guidance about the ratio with your experience, thank you 🙂

    Peppermint essential oil
    Menthol
    Activated charcoal
    palm oil
    castor oil
    olive oil
    coconut oil

  2. I was wondering if it would be possible to do this recipe with your Swirl Mix in place of the oils listed. I still would love to add tamanu oil, but I’m having a hard time trying to figure out if that would make for a good face soap. Your help would be amazing!

    • We used Tamanu in this face recipe and loved how it feels! I just made something similar to this recipe with the Lots of Lather quick mix and it seems to be wonderful so far so I would say go for it!

    • Since the recipe makes 3 pounds of soap the 1.7 ounces equals roughly a 3.5% usage rate. The max we normally recommend is 5% for most fragrances and essential oils so the oil will not be as overpowering because of this.

  5. I tried this recipe and I added all oils correctly and did use any substitutions; soap came out a beautiful rich black color. I checked on it the next morning still looked no soda ash nothing wrong with the soap. I went to cut it and unmold and realized it turned gray. I was mortified. I don’t understand what happened. Can you help

    • If your soap doesn’t go through gel phase, it will turn out more grey in the middle. It’s not harmful in the slightest, it’s only an aesthetic issue. Be sure to follow the directions from Step 6 and you shouldn’t encounter that problem again.

  6. Hello. I know you instruct to pour to individual molds but I would like to use a loaf mold instead. Will the loaf still be soft enough to cut with a wire cutter after 4-6 days in the mold?
    Thanks!

    • This recipe would be just fine to use in a loaf mold. It should still be soft enough after 4-6 days in the mold, especially if the mold is silicone.

  8. Hi there! I made this recipe but got distracted during soap making and left out the castor oil. This will make my soap lye heavy….and the soap is in the molds right now. Do I give them a few days and then shred them up to make that oil up in hot process in order to rebatch? I want to save them if possible, but realize they won’t be the nice, smooth, hard bars that I was hoping for. It’s a very expensive combo of ingredients to waste….

    • Hi..Thank you for this recipe I have a question.the charcoal soap which i make after a month take a little of moisture on their surface.. I wanted to know what the reason for this moisture..

      • If you live in a humid environment that can happen. We recommend storing all your soaps in a cool and dry place.

  10. I made this first time and it came out perfect! The second :/ not so much. I want to learn from my mistake but have no idea what i it was? I CP and temp was within 10 and at around 110. It seem to seize ? I am not sure if I added sodium lactate to first batch ..don’t think I did but this second batch I know I added to cool lye water. Seemed to seize within a minute of mixing. There was no eo or fragrance added yet. Can you help suggest what maybe I did wrong ?

    • It sounds like you have a few things happening. First, sodium lactate is used to harden your soap and get it out of the mold faster – it can also contribute to a faster trace. If you find that to be the culprit, then you can omit it with your next batch; sodium lactate is entirely optional. We’d also recommend combining your oils at around 120-130F, this should give you more time to play with your mixture before it begins to set up. If you need anything further, please contact us at [email protected].

  11. Hi! If I don’t have a heating pad, would you suggest that I put this in the oven? And if so, can I put my Bramble Berry 10” silicone loaf mold or my tall 12” silicone mold in the oven?
    Thanks!

    • Those molds are technically rated to do this, but it can cause pock marks inside of the mold because of the higher temperatures. If you do this make sure you put the oven on the lowest setting, leave it on for an hour and then leave the soap overnight in the cooling oven. This process is called CPOP and you can find more information on it here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/hot-process-series-cpop-swirls/

      • Thanks! If I do put it in the oven, will it still be soft enough to cut easily after a day or two in mold?

      • Also (sorry for all the questions!) is there a specific reason that this soap requires this specific treatment (i.e. heating pad) rather than the usual insulation with cardboard and towel?

        • A good portion of the moisture will be baked out up front, but your soap should be ready to unmold and cut right away. We like to use the heating pad to get the internal temperature of the soap up to a point where gel phase occurs. Gel phase, especially with charcoal soaps, will give the bars a deeper shade of color. Forcing gel phase is optional though. Here’s a link to our ‘Jazzed About Gel Phase’ blog post for more information: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/gel-phase/

      • I have successfully made yogurt in my oven by leaving the oven light on and the oven door closed, with the heat off. This heats my oven to around the low 90s. This might work for the silicone molds. I haven’t tried it, because I have a heating pad, but it seems like that might be warm enough to encourage gel, but not damage the silicone.

  12. Hi, thank you SO much for including percentages! I had been looking at countless recipes with g, oz, ml, cups etc, and spending a lot of time cross referencing to figure out percentages, which is the only sensible measurement because it’s more versatile than any other unit! Thank you!

  14. Hello! how can i replace apple vinegar instead of water?. wath do i have to change in recipe?, can i ad some sea salt to it? can you help me with this information needs?

    • We don’t recommend vinegar because it can react with the lye. Distilled water works best for this recipe.

      As for the salt, you can add that to the soap. Do you want to add salt to exfoliate the skin, or dissolved salt to harden the bars? Let me know and I can offer tips.

  15. I only have 1oz tamanu oil,instead of 1.8. I have palm, coconut, and olive oil. Can I use one of these oils to make up the missing .8oz?

  18. I made this recipe once in a loaf mold and it turned out great. I just made it again using the 12 cavity mold and it turned out light gray and covered in soda ash.

    I sprayed it with the alcohol and insulated it. My oils and lye were around 130 when mixed. It also got thick really quickly both times, which wasn’t a huge problem with the loaf mold but made it hard to get into the cavity mold.

    Is there anything else I can do to make sure it stays black in the cavity mold and doesn’t get soda ash? Thanks!

  20. Hi! I’m a total newbie in soap making. Still on research phase and I’m planning to do this as my first ever batch. 🙂 I just have a question. Is using a Virgin Coconut Oil and Extra Virgin Olive Oil okay with your recipe? Coz I noticed what was listed was just Coconut Oil and Olive Oil, so I’m not sure if it will make any difference or if I will have to adjust the recipe?

  21. Hello,

    Would it be okay to substitute lavender oil for the tea tree oil? I want to make a soap more geared for an oily complexion as opposed to your other lavender charcoal soap recipe.

    Thanks in advance!

  22. Could parts of this recipe be substituted with tallow? I would also like to add pumice and use this as a mechanics soap

  23. Hi! I am new to soap making. I love this recipe but was wondering how I would modify it to dissolve the wax and oil better from makeup?

    Would a higher superfat % work better to dissolve wax and oil based makeup or so I need more oil to lye ratio? Perhaps there’s an oil substitute that I can make in this recipe to achieve that?

    Thanks!

  25. Hi,
    I register my ingredients for my cp soap with Health Canada. We are only allowed
    0.1 to 0.3% of Activated Charcoal in our soap recipes. Does the US not have rules for this product also? This recipe sounds wonderful but the activated charcoal is at 1.9%.

    • We are allowed to use that amount of charcoal. You should still get some of the benefits at that lower usage rate, but you won’t get a lot of color.

    • Victoria, where did you find this information regarding the Activated Charcoal here in Canada? I have been looking but cannot locate. Even asking in FB groups. Thanks.

    • I tried putting this into the forms for the canadian gov site but it didnt say restrictions did they only tell you that after you submitted the form? Just wondering so I know when making this

  27. Hello,
    I have made the charcoal facial soap before and it came out perfect, but yesterday I made it and it has a greenish blue color to it. If you could help me I would really appreciate it.
    Thanks,
    Lisa

    • Did you make any substitutions for the second batch? Also, did you notice your olive oil was more yellow? The color varies from batch to batch and can affect the shade of the final soap.

      • I didn’t substitute any oils but the color of my oils did seem a little more yellow this time. Thank you so much for you help. Take care.

        • That is likely the cause then. The good news is it will still feel great on the skin.

  28. My first attempt at this (slightly modified) recipe didn’t work so well. The soap got rock hard before I could pour. I think it’s because I added my distilled water to a measuring cup and then added the lye chunks until it increased by 5.1oz, which is probably a lot more lye than the recipe calls for. Whoops!

    Also I’m trying to substitute the tea tree oil for a mixture of clove bud, lavender, and lemongrass oils. Any tips on the portions? 🙂

    Thanks!

  29. I love this recipe! This soap was my standard christmas gift to all my family and friends and I have gotten lots of great feedback about it clearing up skin! I actually notice that this soap prevents my skin from getting so dry as it typically does in the winter. I substituted Jojoba oil for the Tamanu oil and it turned out great! I made it for the second time today.

    Thank you for a great recipe!

  30. I was wondering, would it be possible to use a different essential oil in place of the tea tree oil?

  31. Hello,
    I’m a soap making newbie 🙂 and would like to try this recipe.
    What kind of heat pad is used? Is it necessary to use one? What are alternatives to the heat pad? Thanks!

    • This recipe has a 5% superfat. We find that adds luxury without making the bars too soft.

  34. Excellent article! Thank you for sharing. A quick question, would it still work out ok if I decided to just use one type of oil or tallow, instead of the variety of oils in this recipe?

    Richard

  35. Ok i’m pretty confused about the concept of using activated charcoal in an oil based soap. The activated charcoal pores preferentially adsorb oil… and once they have adsorbed an oil molecule the pore is “full” and not open anymore to “pull oil” out of the skin… what stops the activated charcoal from just adsorbing all the oils used in the process of making the soap? As in- how can the charcoal still pull oil out of the skin, when it is going to have been adsorbing oil from the soap itself prior to use? There’s a limited number of pores available in each AC particle to adsorb toxins (granted there’s a LOT of open pores in an AC particle), and I know for a fact that AC left in an opened container loses it’s effectiveness because it adsorbs toxins from the air. I’ve never been able to get my head around this concept of facial cleaning products that use AC but have oil as an ingredient… and then there’s the fact that we don’t keep soap in a sealed container either…
    I haven’t actually tried to make it because until I can get my head around the process of how AC works in an oil based soap, I’d prefer to use it for things that it’s proven to work with like brushing directly onto my teeth or using mixed with a little water into a slurry to scrub my face with or ingesting to adsorb toxins in the digestive tract. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter 🙂

    • I’m not entirely sure, but I can tell you we’ve had people with oily skin try these bars with good results. It may be a combination of the charcoal and the cleansing coconut and castor oil. I would definitely recommend giving it a try to see what you think. If you find the charcoal doesn’t give you the effect you’re going for, you can leave it out of this recipe.

      • Well if it works, it works. I can’t get my head around the logic of it because we know that charcoal adsorbs oil (that’s why it’s promoted as being a great addition to facial cleansers) but I can’t see how it differentiates between the oil in the soap or cleanser, and the oil on a face. But just because we can’t explain something from a scientific perspective doesn’t mean it’s not real or doesn’t occur, sometimes our scientific understanding hasn’t yet caught up with nature’s wisdom…

  37. What can i substitute for the 2 tsp sodium lactate and the 1.8 tamanu oil? I need to make these in a pinch and do not have either of those ingredients

  38. What temps did you soap this at? I should have waited for room temp as I did it at about 90 f with the water discount and the Castor and Charcoal it traced too fast on me and I have been a soapmaker for 25 years. Should have known. I tried not to over stick blend, but it traced SOOO fast !!! I mixed my charcoal with some of the oils from the batch. first. I also did a 4 lbs batch for my mold. ( just added 1/3 ) Its came out fine but was impossible to get smooth. I seem to have a allergic reaction to the tea tree oil. I grabbed the bottle without gloves and it had a drip. Glad I did though and didnt have gloves on as it seems it irritates me badly. I used the correct amount. I dont think I will be able to use this one. Sad as it look so nice.

  39. Hi, I plan to make this soap in closed mold. Would you recommend spritzing the mold with alcohol to avoid soda ash? Thanks!

  40. i just made a double batch and think i screwed up. my charcoal wasn’t powdered…i think i was supposed to grind it first? it threw me off because of the charcoal going ‘puff’ in the mixture part of the recipe. we’ll see how it goes. its now a green exfoliating soap. :0)

    i do have another question. i’m obviously brand new. i’ve only made one batch of soap before….but wouldn’t this be considered a hot process soap since the oil was heated over 130 degrees? so when is the soap safe to use? thanks!

    • The oil should not be that hot when you soap it. This is not a hot process at all. You almost always heat oils that high just to melt them.

    • Was your charcoal in liquid form, or just larger grains than ours?

      This soap is cold process because once you emulsify the soap, you pour it into the mold to let it sit. It can be a little confusing because you are using warm temperatures. However, with hot process soap, once the soap is emulsified it’s cooked until it’s fully finished. You can see that process here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxTXwxbpzLM&t=346s

  41. This batch came out great, I used the sodium lactate but wanted to see if there was a way to make the bars a bit firmer without re-batching.

    Thank you!

  42. Hello, I have a question regarding Tamanu oil. I see on the pictures that it is liquid and has a deep green color.
    I ordered from my supplier and got something that was solid in room temperature and has a very pale green color. A little more green than exta virgin olive oil. On it is says that the INCI is Calophyllum Inophyllum Seed oil. Could there be something with the oil? I am really looking forward to make this soap but I don’t want to use an oil that is not good.

    Thank you in advance!

    • I’m not quite sure, I would recommend contacting the manufacturer to learn more.

  43. Hi, I would like to try this recipe. I have everything except palm oil or palm kernel oil. What would you recommend as a substitute? And how much? Can I use unrefined Shea butter? Thanks!

  44. Correct me if I’m wrong but adding an expensive and high antioxidant oil as tamanu oil the first step is a bit waste of money? The active ingrediens in the oil will be destroyed in the chemical reaction, the same goes for much of the components in the essential oils. The oil and the lay will react together for at least 24 house after mixing them. As far as I know, you have to let the soap set, chop it up, store it 4 weeks and then melt it again and in this process it’s useful to ad the better more expensive oils or other fats (like Shea for example) and also essential oils and colours. If you do this you won’t be needing that much essential oils and you will get the full benefit of the oils.

    • It’s tricky to say what survives the harsh environment of cold process soap. Some nutrients may not make it through all the pH changes. I can tell you these bars feel amazing and smell nice and fresh. You may want to make a small test batch and see what you think. If you don’t want to use tamanu or essential oils in soap, you can use them for lotion, body oils, etc.

  45. Hello. Why does this recipe use less lye than it calls for at the Bramble Berry calculator?

    For the same amount of oils, it says to use 151 grams. Why this big difference?

  46. If I couldn’t get tamanu oil, and only had access to the following alternatives, which would you suggest?

    Jojoba oil,
    Hemp seed oil,
    Wheat germ oil,
    Grape seed oil,
    Sweet almond oil

  47. Hi there, I made this soap almost 4 weeks ago. Thank you for the recipe!! It turned out great and I was so proud of it, as I’m a new soap maker.
    Last night I tested it on my face and afterwards I had a slight tingling burning feel on my cheekbones and my husband said his lips also felt like that. I put on my moisturizer as always and the feeling was gone after about 5min. I googled about tea tree and they say some people do get a burning reaction to it. Do you think this soap has that problem? I don’t want to give or sell this soap if other people is going to have this reaction also. And the ingredients where I stay is very very expensive, so I don’t want to make a lot of test batches. Do you think the tea tree oil is my problem here or could it be something else? Thank you! 😉

    • You may be allergic or have a sensitivity to one of the ingredients. I would recommend talking with your doctor to learn more. If it is the tea tree, you can reduce the amount in this recipe or leave it out completely.

  48. Are you ok with people making your recipes and selling them?
    what is required if anything? Thinking as a hobby but I have a few friends who own salons and they wanted to sell this…

    this turned out great! thanks

    • Feel free to use any of our recipes to use or sell, that’s what they’re here for. If you use any of our photos, we just ask for credit back to SoapQueen.com.

  49. I recently made a charcoal soap from your recipe and put it in small individual molds but the trace was very thick and didnt fit the molds well. Is the any way I can hot process this soap so I can try to make a good looking soap? If so how do I do it?

    • You’re welcome Carol, that’s really important to us. Have fun giving this recipe a try. 🙂

  51. I have a basic but very good goats milk soap recipe. Could I just add activated charcoal to it?

  52. Hello…when making your Charcoal bar can I substitute sweet almond oil for the Tamanu oil…and if so do I use the same amount? Thank you

  53. I am a first time soap maker and this recipe came out perfect. i use it everyday to reduce the negative effects of combo skin. I have given to my two teenagers to control their oily skin. I will use for life.

    • So glad you’re enjoying the recipe Cory! I have oily skin too, so I really enjoy this bar.

  54. Hey so i tried this recipe, and subbed out the tamanu oil. My soap is extremely crumbly. I figure i probably have a lye heavy soap. I was wondering if I can rebatch it into laundry detergent or is this not a good idea because of the activated charcoal. Any information is extremly appreciated. Thank you!

  55. I want to try this recipe but without lye. Can you help as to how can I replace lye with a natural melt and pour soap base?

  56. Hi, I was wondering if this bar could also be used on the body? I tend to have acne prone skin and I think this would be wonderful in aiding with that. Thoughts?

    • Absolutely! I have used this as a body bar, and my skin really loves it. It would be great for oily skin in particular.

      -Amanda Kerzman

  58. Hi, I am new in soap making and your site has helped me a lot to learn. I have tried many recipes of your’s and every time I have got good results. But when I tried this recipe something has gone wrong. Instead of perfect black color, my soap is looking more like ash grey, it also has got different color patches. I have no idea what went wrong. I would like to send you an image to give you idea. How can I send image?
    Thank you very much for such a wonderful site.

  59. Can this soap be made using HP instead of CP with the exact same weights/ingredients? Also, if yes, would you still recommend adding sodium lactate to the lye-water as an option?

    • Yes, you can make this recipe using the hot process method. The main difference is you’ll add the color and scent at the end of the cook, rather than at trace. Also, sodium lactate helps make the soap more fluid, so you can keep that in as well if you like.

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

      Hot Process Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxTXwxbpzLM&t=3s

  60. I just made this soap today. I used the same ingredients except I substituted Sweet Almond Oil for the Tamanu oil. I just opened my box to check on it for the night, and there is a crack down the center of the soap. Is it because of the Tea Tree essential oil?
    I just made two other batches of soap with other essential oils, and I am afraid to insulate them as I don’t want this to happen to them as well.

    • Cracks are often due to temperature or a large amount of butters. It sounds like the soap got pretty hot. What temperatures did you soap at, and was your house pretty warm?

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  61. Hello! I am so happy that I have found your site. I am in the process of starting my Etsy shop and I wanted to add something like this product to my store. Do you think that that this product is sellable?

    • This recipe feels great on the skin, and activated charcoal is very popular right now. That being said, it does depend on the market you’re in. You may make a small batch and put it on your Etsy/social media sites. If you notice it doing well, you can make a larger batch for the next round.

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  62. Love this product it looks awesome if I wanted to not use palm oil what can I replace it with? In Australia people are tending to not want to purchase products with palm oil. Cheers

  63. I made this with cupuacu butter instead of palm oil (ran it through the soap calculator, of course), and i subbeb lavender for half of the tea tree oil. Came out amazing! I have now used this recipe for several other soaps. I also subbrd out shea butter for olive oil…talk about luxurious!

  64. Is it possible to do this recipe hot process? I’m going on a trip in a few weeks and would love to take a bar with me!

    • Absolutely, this recipe works for hot process as well. You’ll just add the color and scent when it’s finished cooking, rather than at trace. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  65. Hi, I followed this recipe pretty closely (except I made 450g and didn’t water discount). I mixed lye and oils at 110˚F and wrapped the mold in a blanket. The trace was gritty, something I’ve never seen before and attributed to the charcoal. The soap was really hot during the reaction. When I unmolded, the soap is really porus from air bubbles. The soap is fantastic (great recipe, thanks!), just not very pretty. What could have caused these bubbles and how can I prevent them to help make a smoother looking bar?

  66. Love this recipe but PLEASE don’t use PALM OIL 🙁 !!! I saw with my own eyes how Boreno’s primary jungle has turned into a flat land of palm oil plantations. Is horrific, there is no need for us to use palm oil.

  67. Made mine today and I am super excited to see it and use it eventually. It came out black. I had read through comments before and was not sure how it would turn out. I noticed some people has said they used charcoal capsules, maybe that’s why. I dunno. I am certainly no expert. I used all the same ingredients (except the sodium lactate) and my activated charcoal is in a bag as a powder.

    • That’s awesome, glad it came out well Lori! Enjoy. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  68. And one more question😋 in the middle cure time, let say 3 weeks what ph should have this soap? My one has about 11 ph and I am a bit worry… what do you think? Thank you for all that work, big fan of soap qeen from Poland😃😍

  69. Hi, I have already done that soap, and I am wondering to make soap with hemp oil instead of other oils plus coconut and castor in % as stated in recepy. Just swap other oils for hemp oil if you know what I mean? What do you think about that?

  70. I made this soap in a loaf mold and it cracked down the middle. I followed the recipe exactly except for adding tussah silk to the lye water. It’s a long crack right down the middle. Do you know why> I read it could be lye heavy but i followed your recipe, so I don’t think its that. I placed my mold on a heating pad and insulated it,

  71. I can’t wait to make this soap this weekend! Bought all our ingredients (even the mold) at Bramble Berry and love it!! Quick questions; we just want to make 6 bars, can we just half the ingredients? Fairly new to soaping and I know it’s tricky when dealing with lye. Thanks in advance! We just love your products <3

  72. Can I use your shea melt and pour base and add the charcoal, tea tree etc. To that?

  73. Hello, I ordered everything on the list but forgot the castor oil. Is it possible to make this without it?

  74. Hi..can u explain more why you don’t use more than 2-3 percent castor oil in cold process soap..I usually use about 10 percent of castor oil in my cold process soap..

    Thank you

  75. I really love this project. I love the template. I want to make different things with this font. Can you please let me know what the font is?

  76. Hi, i am to try this soap this week and this is my first ever soap making experience. I have a question on Lye. I bought Lye from a local chemical store here in India, i feel skeptic about 5.1 Oz, (i.e 1.44gms) would it be fine to use that much of Lye. I have this beginner fear i think.

  78. another great recipe! I made these at about 7 pm last night, and by noon today I was already popping them out of the mold to set up to cure on racks! I spooned half into little heart-shaped silicone molds, and half into a loaf pan for little short but cute bars – they have a little mohawk ridge. My whole house smells divine. I don’t have a heating pad (yet) but just through some towels in the dryer, put my molds on the hot towels, and tented them all together. Seemed to work out in a pinch. My color is almost as dark as the photo – of course my bars aren’t wet, and I haven’t shot them with the DSLR, so I’m sure they’d look even better with some creative care. 😉 I can’t wait until they cure. I’m prepping the rose clay recipe now!

  80. I recently got some of this from one of the commercial brands. I really liked it and it worked great but making my own would be fun!

    • What’s nice about making it from scratch is that you can customize it for your skin type and personal preferences! That way it’s a perfect bar for you. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  81. Hi I was wondering what percentage you used for super fatting?
    I made this soap using the standard 5% and used Argan oil instead of Tamanu Oil. Also used a blend of Lavender, Litsea Cubeba and Rosemary instead of the tea tree oil. I know it might be defeating the purpose by not using the Tea Tree oil but I just can not stand the smell.
    I didn’t gel it either, instead I put it in the fridge. Used a loaf mold and it came out gorgeous! Just as black as can be from just the charcoal. It was actually the second batch I did like this. I used the tea tree in the first and couldn’t stand the smell. By mistake I used 2 tsp instead of the 2 Tbls and it didn’t come out as black. So folks that didn’t get as black a bar check and make sure you used the 2 Tablespoons. I wish I could post pictures here cause it is a gorgeous bar. Also, don’t be afraid to make it your own by changing a few things up. 🙂

    • That’s awesome, so glad your bars turned out well Dana! These are superfatted at 5%. We find that adds a luxurious feeling without making the bars too soft. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  82. Hi, I just wanted to say that I don’t normally make any soaps other than melt and pour but this one was just so beautiful that I had to try it. It was not anywhere near black so we added about a quarter bottle of black color to the recipe. Even with the charcoal and all the black dye it is still nowhere near black. I cannot believe that your bar turned out such a beautiful black when mine is a horrific greenish. I would like to know how yours became so black. If something different was done then you should put it in the recipe. Now I am stuck with a lot of really ugly soap, which is bad enough but I only made it because yours was so beautiful. Very disappointed.

    • Mine didn’t come out as black as theirs either. I also had to ‘glop’ mine in the mold so they’re pretty rough looking on one side and the sides that were in the mold are not shiny and black like the pictures.

      • I was really bummed. I only made them because they were so pretty. And I added a TON of black dye too. Oh well, you just never know. Hopefully they work great.

        • I’m sorry about that Lynda. The soap batter does have a green tint because of the tamanu oil, but the 2 tablespoons of activated charcoal should cover that up. I’m not quite sure why your batter is staying green. Did you use colorant from Bramble Berry? Did you gel the soap after? Let me know and we can figure this out.

          -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

          • Yes, I believe I got the activated charcoal and the black dye from Bramble Berry. However I do not believe I did the gel thing. Every day this soap gets uglier. Now it is all white and greener. I really messed up somewhere. The only thing I did not do is use the heating pad. Other than that I believe everything else was the same. Its a mess. No clue what went wrong but its bad.

          • Is it really necessary to gel the soap. What happens if I don’t gel it? I don’t have a heating pad and don’t want to go buy one just for this project. Thanks,

      • After my soap has cured, I give them a dip in some cool water and let them air dry. They have a gorgeous sheen to them!

        • I’m going to try that! I first made this recipe a couple of weeks ago, but it looked awful. I made it again today and I think I did a better job. It wasn’t clumpy like last time. I also added cucumber melon instead of tea tree this time. Thanks for the tip.

    • Update: after I took the soaps out of the mold and scrubbed them clean they aren’t so bad. They aren’t the nice dark black but they look pretty good. I remelted half of them to add some more charcoal and they are blacker but now they are soft. I am just learning to do these, I normally stick to melt and pour. Is there something I did wrong that made them soft? I now wish I would have left them alone after washing them. Thank you

      • If you added extra oil with the charcoal, the soap will be a bit softer because of that extra oil. If you added water to help the soap mix easily, that will also make the bars softer. I would recommend letting them cure for a week or so. That will help excess water evaporate, which makes your bars firmer. 🙂

        -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  83. Hello, I just made this soap and realized I forgot the sodium lactate. Is this going to result in a very mushy bar? Should I just re batch it or see how it turns out?
    Thanks for your time! Clara

  84. Hi,

    I just made this soap tonight and it is my first time making cold process soap! So fun! I do have a question about the trace and color however. I believe I may have over mixed my batch because it didn’t pour and I had to spoon it into the mold. The color also came out gray rather than black, although I did add the correct amount of activated charcoal. Why would my color be so much lighter? Or will they darken up as they cure?

  85. This will be a dumb question but I prefer to use loaf molds when possible. I use wooden molds and line with freezer paper. It sounds like this soap is pretty soft but if I use the laurel sulfate and my wooden mold, do you think it would be ready to unmold faster? Planning around an event so was trying to gauge time to cut. Thanks! Just received my tamanu oil from you all so looking forward to trying this recipe!!

    • The individual cavities do help the soap unmold faster, but if you use sodium lactate and gel the soap it should pop out fairly quickly! This recipe also has a water discount, which helps it unmold faster as well. As for the SLS, we haven’t tried it in this recipe so I’m not sure how it would work. It doesn’t mix into soap very well. I would recommend skipping it!

      Learn more about gelling soap here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/gel-phase/

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  86. Is there a recipe card for this? I like to print them out and keep them in my soap binder. Sorry if this has already been asked.I have made basic CP soap before but nothing on the level of what this site provides…… I love this site and all the helpful tips and great recipes. Thanks Bramble Berry and Staff!!!!!

  87. Hello!
    I just made this recipe yesterday following exactly including tamanu oil, but I did add a touch of lemon eucalyptus with the tea tree. I ran the soap under cold water and it definitely produces a greyish lather and water. Mine aren’t even quite as ‘black’ as yours although I did use 2 tablespoons of AC. Being my first experience with AC as 100% of the color, is it normal to bleed grey bubbles and water? Maybe it needs to cure completely? I was too curious and had to check.

    Thanks for your reply!

    Pam

    • Activated charcoal can definitely give you a gray or black lather. You can sort of see the gray tint in the lather pictures above. You may find that happens less after the soap cures though! When it’s really fresh it’s still pretty soft, so what you may be seeing is soap coming off rather than just bubbles. After 6 weeks it may be a lighter gray lather. If you’re not a fan of that, you can use less in your next batch. 🙂

      Learn more about working with activated charcoal here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/activated-charcoal-skin-benefits-tips-for-use/

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

      • Thanks! I think I jumped the gun a bit and need to be patient. I love the look though and will likely repeat if it’s popular.

  89. Hi, nice recipe! As i would like to substitute the tamanu oil, i need to recalculate all the ingredients. How much superfat you calculated for this recipe? (is also a general question). About the water discount, i read your post already, but if i do not want to calculate manually, where can i do it at your calc? I use a Spanish one (http://www.mendrulandia.es/calc4/) and i can change the superfat % and the concentration %, which goes from 1 to 50%. It is not the same, because i choose 15 % (water discount in your recipe) and it gave me so much water! 🙂 so, how to calculate it?
    Thanks a lot

  90. Hi,
    Could you please provide a printable sheet for this recipe please? I find them extremely helpful and put the ones I use in a sheet book for easy reference.

  93. What oil can be used to substitute the palm oil? Also, if using goat milk, is the amount still the same as water?

  94. Oh my god .this soap looks amazing but in my country i cant find tamanu oil can i use another oil what is your suggest ?

  95. I’m trying to find it again, but I thought I heard you say there is a 15% water discount less than what the recipe calls for… or did the recipe already account for that? I’m brand new to soap making so I am not used to the terms/reasons for doing what you do! I’m so excited about this one though! skin issues is the reason I got into soap making. and last question, do these recipes contain sodium lauryl sulfate if not listed? newbie questions- sorry!

    • The recipe above accounts for the water discount already.

      As long as you don’t add sodium lauryl sulfate to your soap when making it, it will not contain it. The recipe above lists all the ingredients the finished product will contain. There isn’t a chemical reaction that causes it to be present when making soap. It’s generally only added to commercial soaps and other products to boost lather and bubbles. Hopefully, my reply helps you and makes sense (I’m writing this in the middle of the night so my brain is a bit foggy). My tip to soaping newbies is to never be afraid to ask questions (no question is silly), watch as many tutorials, and read/research as much as you can. It will all start to make sense soon enough. Happy soaping!

    • Thanks for your answer Jenny! This recipe already has a 15% water discount. What that does is help the bar unmold more quickly. Read more about water discounting here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/water-discounting-cold-process-soap-how-why/

      Also, SLS is typically added to commercial soaps to help them bubble. This recipe contains castor and coconut oil, which help the bar bubble naturally. 🙂

      Read more about common oils and what they do in soap here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/free-beginners-guide-to-soapmaking-common-soapmaking-oils/

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  96. Did you wrap these in shrink wrap or anything else besides the band? These are gorgeous. I just saw the charcoal scrub up too. I can’t wait to try the recipes. I see another order coming on…..

  99. Would adding a small pinch of Tussah Silk be ok? And if so, would it provide an added benefit?

  100. What are your thoughts on the pH of facial bars? I’m wondering if its important. Would lowering it be better?

      • I just received my order and now have the citric acid. Can you give me some idea as to what the recommenced rate for citric acid is for soap?
        Also, I do like the idea of having the bar lighter color so I’m happy with what others are writing about it. I’ll be using Sweet Almond instead of Tamanu.
        I was thinking of spitting the batch, half with charcoal and other half with kaolin clay.
        Looking forward to your response. Thanks!!!

        • Kelsey, never mind about the citric acid and ph. I’ve decided to just make the bars as normal. I’ll use the citric acid to make the Sudzy shampoo bars. Thanks for everything. Nitza

          • You’re welcome Nitza! Have fun. For the citric acid, we recommend about .2 oz. per pound of soap. 🙂

            -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

      • I’m sorry but citric acid (or any acid) simply does not lower the pH of lye-based soap. Lye-based soap will always have a pH between 9-11. At a pH of 7, lye-based soap would turn into a non-cleansing, goopy mess of free fatty acids. Adding citric acid to soap only increases the superfat and acts as a chelator, helping with soap scum due to hard water.

        • In our tests and recipes, we found the citric acid lowered the pH to 7. It’s ideal for shampoo bars, as it’s more gentle on the hair. It’s definitely an optional step though! You can skip the citric acid if you like. 🙂

          -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  101. Watched your youtube video, could you post a picture of your heat pad setup and what you do beside that to keep the soap warm. Thank you.

  102. Hi,

    Thank you so much for this recipe!

    I have been wanting to try making a charcoal soap with essential oils. But just recently I read somewhere that any nutrients of additives to an activated charcoal soap would just get absorbed by the charcoal and would not be beneficial. Do you think this is true? I’m just starting and would not want to waste the EOs if this is the case.. 🙁

    Thank you.

    • It’s tough to say! During the saponification process, there are a lot of harsh pH changes. Also, the charcoal does naturally absorb oil, so it may want to absorb some of that tea tree oil. We can’t say for sure. I can tell you I have oily skin and these bars have been working well for me! The tea tree scent hasn’t faded at all. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

      • It’s great to know that the scent hasn’t faded! That’s a good sign for sure 🙂 Thank you Kelsey! Can’t wait to try.

    • Interesting – I have the same thought when I hear about how activated charcoal absorbs oils. Seems like it would be plenty full of oil absorption already being mixed into a whole put full of oils, then fragrance/essential oil. What exactly would it do for the skin that soap in general wouldn’t do?

      • We find the charcoal adds cleansing and oil absorbing benefits! I have oily skin and I’ve been loving this bar for the face. However, it’s definitely personal preference. If you find the charcoal doesn’t work for your skin, you can use another option. 🙂

        -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  103. I don’t have volume on my computer so its very difficult to figure out how to make these. I would love to give them a try, do they need to sit for several weeks like most cp soap? I think I should be able to figure out the rest. Thank you, Lynda

  104. Hi, can I subsitute tamanu oil with grapeseed oil?

    Also, will the tea tree scent fade?

    Thanks!

    • You can use grapeseed oil if you like! It doesn’t have a similar texture to tamanu, so the soap will feel a bit different. You may want to make a small test batch to see what you think. Neem and pumpkin seed oil are good substitutes for tamanu. Whichever substitution you use, make sure to run your recipe through the Lye Calculator again. 🙂

      Lye Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx

      Read more about substituting oils here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-substitute-oil-in-cold-process-recipes/

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

      • To go along with this, when I ordered everything for this recipe and added it all to the cart I only got 1 oz. of tamanu oil, the recipe needs 1.8. Can I sub one of the other oils here to make up the difference? Tried to run it through the lye calculator but it needs to know what % superfat and couldn’t find it listed anywhere. Thanks for your help!

        • Oh I’m so sorry about that. The kit comes with 2 ounces of tamanu oil, so your order must have been missing one. I’m going to have customer service contact you to get this fixed. In the meantime, you can add an extra .8 oz. of olive oil to make up for the difference. Just make sure to run the recipe through the Lye Calculator again. The superfat for this recipe is 5%.

          Lye Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx

          -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

Trackbacks