Thyme & Witch Hazel Facial Bars. Photo by Jan Berry.
Today, Jan Berry of The Nerdy Farm Wife was kind enough to share this recipe for Thyme & Witch Hazel Facial Bars from her new book, 101 Easy Homemade Products for your Skin, Health and Home. The book is full of unique and simple recipes for cold process soap, scrubs, lotions, balms and more. Jan is also the author of several eBooks, including Natural Soap Making, Things To Do With Roses and Things To Make With Mint.
For this recipe, the distilled water is infused with fresh thyme. Then, witch hazel is combined with honey and added to the soap at trace. The large amount of olive oil and sunflower oil creates a gentle bar, making it great for delicate facial skin. Castor oil boosts lather and tamanu oil is added for its anti-inflammatory properties. To learn more about tamanu oil, click here. Because of the small amount of hard oils, so you may find this recipe takes a little bit longer to reach trace.
The water in this recipe is infused with fresh thyme. Photo by Jan Berry.
I was intrigued by the idea of adding witch hazel at trace, as I previously avoided adding witch hazel to cold process soap. My thought was the alcohol content in the witch hazel would react poorly. Once, I accidentally sprayed witch hazel on top of my soap rather than 99% isopropyl alcohol and it caused some separation. When I tested Jan’s recipe, I found the witch hazel behaved wonderfully with no problems at all. Even after 20+ years of soaping, I’m still learning new things. =)
Jan reports that adding witch hazel to soap at trace can lead to a slightly medicinal smell while the soap cures. When I made this recipe, I found the curing bars had a slightly sweet/medicinal smell that I really enjoyed. After about two weeks of curing, this scent faded.
What You’ll Need:
Thyme Infused-Water
1/2 cup Chopped Fresh or 1/4 cup Dried Thyme
8 oz. Simmering Hot Distilled Water
The Soap
10″ Silicone Loaf Mold
15 oz. Olive Oil
8 oz. Coconut Oil
4 oz. Sunflower Oil
2 oz. Castor Oil
1 oz. Tamanu Oil
4.17 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
0.5 oz. Raw Honey
1 oz. Witch Hazel
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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, Pure Soapmaking. You can also check out 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.
THYME-INFUSED WATER: Place the thyme in a heatproof jar or pitcher. Pour the simmering hot distilled water into the jar and let steep for up to 1 hour, or until cool. Strain and set aside. If you’re using dried thyme, you may only need to steep it for 30 minutes, otherwise the water may turn darker and discolor the soap. Dried thyme is stronger than fresh thyme.
HONEY & WITCH HAZEL MIXTURE: In a small bowl, blend the honey and witch hazel together in a small bowl and set aside. This will be added to the soap later at trace.
ONE: Once the thyme tea is completely cooled, slowly and carefully add the lye to the thyme water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool. The water may turn a different color as the lye is added.
TWO: Melt and combine the olive, coconut, sunflower, castor and tamanu oils. Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 110-120° F degrees or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and begin stick blending. 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 about 2 teaspoons sodium lactate.
Photo by Jan Berry.
THREE: Continue stick blending the mixture until you reach a thin to medium trace. Because this recipe contains a high amount of liquid oils, this may take several minutes. Thoroughly stick blend the honey and witch hazel mixture into the soap. Pour the batter into the mold, and tap on the counter to help get rid of bubbles.
Photo by Jan Berry.
FOUR: Honey tends to make soap heat up more than normal, so you do not need to insulate the soap. You can also pop it in the fridge or freezer for 5-24 hours to keep the soap from overheating. Read more about working with honey in soap here. Spritz with 99% isopropyl alcohol to help prevent soda ash. Allow the soap to stay in the mold for 2-3 days. Because this is a softer recipe, it may need more time in the mold than normal. Remove from the mold and slice into bars. Allow the bars to cure for 4-6 weeks and enjoy!
A big thanks to Jan for sharing her recipe. Have you ever tried using witch hazel in soap before? I would love to hear about your experience with it!
- ½ cup Chopped Fresh or ¼ cup Dried Thyme
- 8 oz. Simmering Hot Distilled Water
- 10″ Silicone Loaf Mold
- 15 oz. Olive Oil
- 8 oz. Coconut Oil
- 4 oz. Sunflower Oil
- 2 oz. Castor Oil
- 1 oz. Tamanu Oil
- 4.17 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
- 0.5 oz. Raw Honey
- 1 oz. Witch Hazel
- 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.
- THYME-INFUSED WATER: Place the thyme in a heatproof jar or pitcher. Pour the simmering hot distilled water into the jar and let steep for up to 1 hour, or until cool. Strain and set aside. If you're using dried thyme, you may only need to steep it for 30 minutes, otherwise the water may turn darker and discolor the soap. Dried thyme is stronger than fresh thyme.
- HONEY & WITCH HAZEL MIXTURE: In a small bowl, blend the honey and witch hazel together in a small bowl and set aside. This will be added to the soap later at trace.
- Once the thyme tea is completely cooled, slowly and carefully add the lye to the thyme water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool. The water may turn a different color as the lye is added.
- Melt and combine the olive, coconut, sunflower, castor and tamanu oils. Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 110-120 F degrees or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and begin stick blending. 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 about 2 teaspoons sodium lactate.
- Continue stick blending the mixture until you reach a thin to medium trace. Because this recipe contains a high amount of liquid oils, this may take several minutes. Thoroughly stir in the honey and witch hazel mixture into the soap. Pour the batter into the mold, and tap on the counter to help get rid of bubbles.
- Honey tends to make soap heat up more than normal, so you do not need to insulate the soap. You can also pop it in the fridge or freezer for 5-24 hours to keep the soap from overheating. Spritz with 99% isopropyl alcohol to help prevent soda ash. Allow the soap to stay in the mold for 2-3 days. Because this is a softer recipe, it may need more time in the mold than normal. Remove from the mold and slice into bars. Allow the bars to cure for 4-6 weeks and enjoy!
Hi there,
Can I add a small amount if dye to give it a little color and swirl? Thanks
Yes, feel free to add color to this recipe. We love powdered colorants for cold process soap, find out how to work with them here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/talk-it-out-tuesday-colorants/
Can you make this without using the infused thyme water. Just use a distilled water and add witch hazel. So it’s just a witch hazel soap.
Yes, you can use plain distilled water. The color may be slightly different but the bars will still feel nice.
Hey! This recipe sounds super wonderful, but as a vegan I cant use the honey. Is there something you would suggest as a replacement for the honey? Thanks!
In place of the honey, you can use plain sugar. It helps create the nice fluffy lather that honey does. I would recommend about 1 teaspoon per pound of soap in this recipe. You can mix that with 1 tablespoon or so of distilled water until it’s dissolved, then add it at trace.
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Would the sugar only be added to water and not the witch hazel? Also if I use the sugar instead of the honey can it be a hot process recipe? Thank you
We haven’t tried adding sugar to witch hazel so I’m not sure. You may try a small test batch to see if that works. You’ll want to heat the witch hazel first to help the sugar dissolve. Also, sugar can scorch in hot process, which makes the color darker. If you don’t mind that you can add it to your recipe.
Could you make this hot process with the honey?
That may be tricky. When honey heats up in the soap, it can caramelize and cause discoloration. It can also make the soap a bit dry or brittle: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/adding-honey-to-cold-process-soap-tips-tricks-recipe/
You may try a small test batch and add the honey at the end of the cook. That should help prevent scorching. You can also pop it in the freezer to ensure it stays cool. If that works nicely, you can make a larger batch.
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I want to make a small batch of this,about 20 ounces of oils. What percentage of witch hazel and honey do I use?
I would recommend about .2 oz. of honey and about .4 oz. of witch hazel. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I used dried thyme and only soaked it in hot water for about 5 min and it immediately turned brown, so my lye water turned a dark red, the resulting soap was the same butternut squash that others reported, very disappointed. Possibly the amount of dried thyme should be only 1tsp or less, this needs adjusted.
Thanks so much for the suggestion, I’ll pass that along to Jan. She did say dried thyme is a bit stronger, so it will create a darker color. You can use fresh for the next batch or reduce the amount of dried thyme to 1/8th cup.
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
The same thing happened to my batch. When we added the lye to the thyme water it immediately turned a reddish orange. Still a fun weekend activity, but I would like to know what to do differently next time 🙂
Because the dried thyme is a lot stronger, can use fresh for the next batch or reduce the amount of dried thyme to 1/8th cup. That should help with that discoloration.
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Always love your recipe. But i dont have thyme and its difficult to find here. Can i use another additve, can u help me? Thankyou very much
You can try another herb you have on hand! I would recommend making a small test batch to see how it does in this recipe. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Do you have a recipe for face soap for wrinkles that is all natural
Products used for wrinkles are considered a drug by the FDA and regulated as such. Because our products are intended for cosmetic use, we don’t have a recipe that’s intended for wrinkles. Read more about cosmetics vs. drugs here: https://www.soapqueen.com/business/understanding-fda-cosmetic-vs-drug-claims/
That being said, this recipe is nice and moisturizing! It’s a great option for the face. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I have a problem with every batch I make! It has this gel phase ring in it (((
It happened again with this recipe, I m trying to figure it out , why .
I have my oils temperature around 99 my lye water around 90. I have followed the recipe step by step . I have placed my soap in to the freezer for 12 hours and I cut it after 24 hours because it was getting hard to cut.
Please need help !
Thank you
Usually gel phase doesn’t happen with lower temperatures and when the soap is cold, so I’m not sure why that’s happening! Are you using any products with sugar in your batch, or any fruit/vegetable purees? Also, what fragrance are you using? Fragrances can sometimes heat the soap up, even in the freezer. Let me know and I’ll help you troubleshoot. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi,
I have a bottle of witch hazel extract, stated the ingredient with 14% alcohol. I would like to ask if I could use this on soap making ? I concern if the alcohol will react extremely ?
Our witch hazel is mixed with alcohol and it worked well in this recipe! To be extra careful, I would recommend a small test batch to ensure it works well. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Witch Hazel: https://www.brambleberry.com/Witch-Hazel-P4212.aspx
Hi!
Since this is a facial soap, is the ph lower? How do we make a Neutral or slightly acidic soap?
Thank you!!
Krystal
I believe the pH of this soap is normal (around 9-10 pH). However, the witch hazel may affect that slightly. You can pH test the bars to find out for sure! Find out how here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/troubleshooting-lye-heavy-soap/
Typically, you can add citric acid to lower the pH of soap to 7. However, I’m not sure how that would react with the witch hazel in this recipe. You may want to make a small test batch just to be sure. 🙂
Read more about using citric acid here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/sudsy-shampoo-bars/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
HI! Firstly, thank you for this recipe. Secondly, if you infuse the thyme in one of the oils (eg placing the thyme in the olive oil over a double boiler for a couple of hours and then straining) instead of the water, would you be more likely to retain any properties of the thyme? Or, either way, do any properties get destroyed during saponification, regardless of whether the thyme is infused in the oil or the water?
Thanks.
Hi Maya!
That’s a great question! It’s tricky to say what properties make it through the saponification process. It’s a really harsh environment with a lot of pH changes, so some of the properties may not make it through even if infused in the oil. You may try making this both ways – with the thyme in the water and in the oil – and see which one you like better. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I made this recipe last night with 1/2 cup of dried thyme (I probably should of use less than it suggested since the demo was used fresh thyme). The soap turned to (much) darker color than the picture. I don’t really mind of the dark color, but I am wondering whether there is any harm to use too much/strong of thyme?
You can use fresh or dried thyme in this recipe! I’m wondering if the thyme tea is burning. It may help to pop the tea into the fridge to chill it before adding the lye. We do that with coffee and green tea to help prevent some of that discoloration. You can chill it overnight in the fridge or even freeze it into cubes before adding the lye. That may help the bars have a lighter color. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I kept the tea in the fridge overnight. The tea was already dark color to start with and the smell was strong. I thought it’s because I put 1/2 cup of dried thyme (not fresh thyme; don’t you think I should reduce the amount since I used dried ones?) Would TOO much thyme bad to use on our skin? Thanks.
I am not entirely sure! I emailed Jan to see if she has any ideas about why that may be happening. Once I hear from her I’ll let you know. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi Lina! It sounds like your tea was on the strong side. The darker the herbal tea, the darker your soap will turn out. I think you’re exactly right that the dried thyme made a more potent tea than fresh would. Even though it turned out more concentrated, the amount of herbal compounds in a strong thyme tea is still low enough so your soap will be completely safe to use! 🙂
Thanks for quick response.
Another question. I ended up making the recipe as above, except because I couldn’t find fresh thyme, I used dried thyme. I used distilled water and it was about 90 degrees when I added the lye to it. Exactly like Elizabeth above, my lye water turned dark reddish brown and smelled kinda burnt when I mixed in the thyme tea. I continued making the soap, and finished batch looks exactly like butternut squash soup. Should I have used less dried thyme than is called for above?
When we tested this recipe we found the tea darkened a bit, but the bars still had a creamy ivory color. I’m wondering if the thyme tea is burning. It may help to pop the tea into the fridge to chill it before adding the lye. We do that with coffee and green tea to help prevent some of that discoloration. You can chill it overnight in the fridge or even freeze it into cubes before adding the lye. That may help the bars appear more white than yellow!
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Yep. The tea was hot when I mixed it with the lye. Duh. I’m going to try to make it again, this time with COLD tea. Thanks for your reply.
You’re welcome Cathy! 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi, I’d like to try making this but in a smaller batch in the 4 inch mold for example. Is there a way you could give me the percentages of the ingrediants so I can use a calculator to resize? Thanks in advance.
You can use our Lye Calculator to resize your batch! It can also be used to find percentages of recipes. Learn how in this post: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-resize-cold-process-soap-recipes/
We have updated our Lye Calculator since then, so it does look a bit different. However, it still works the same. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Is there any way to make a facial bar with melt & pour? or anything else besides lye?
We have a great recipe for melt and pour facial bars! It includes an option for both dry and oily skin. I’ll link that below. 🙂
Fresh Face Cleansing Bars: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/melt-and-pour-soap/cleansing-soap-dry-oily-skin/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Is there anyway to use goat milk in this soap?
We usually use goat milk in place of water, so you can do that! I’m not sure if the thyme will infuse well into the milk. Instead, you can add a couple ounces of goat milk at trace! Make sure to discount the thyme water amount so your soap doesn’t get too wet. Then, pop the soap in the fridge or freezer for 5-24 hours. That will help prevent the milk from scorching. 🙂
Read more about working with milk here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-add-lye-to-milk-for-cold-process-soap/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Was the sunflower oil used in this recipe regular or high oleic?
Our sunflower oil is high oleic! It has a high amount of vitamin E and a shelf life of about 6-9 months. 🙂
Sunflower oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Sunflower-Oil-P3208.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Thank you for this recipe. It came out beautifully. Love it! 🙂
Yay, so glad it came out beautifully! Enjoy Lorie. I have a bar in my shower and love it on the face. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berrt
The thyme tea and the lye turned a very dark brown when I made this soap. I feel like I should have known better and stopped here. I’ve never had any luck mixing lye with herbs; they always turn brown. Once added to the rest of the oils, my soap batter was an off putting orange-y brown color, not the pale green as pictured. Even when I added a little Kaolin clay to lighten it up, the results were just not as pictured. It’s a bit of a disappointment, but I’m hoping that it will lighten up enough during the cure to look decent.
I am sorry about that Elizabeth! When we tested these bars the lye did darken the water a little bit. What temperature was the thyme water when you added the lye? Also, were you using distilled water? Let me know and I’ll help you troubleshoot! 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
My questions are about ph testing. Is it done after soap is finished or when you slice for drying? also does it matter where you get the Ph strips from ? I have a bunch from when I had an illness. or are those the same?
Hi Rochelle!
We recommend testing the pH of the soap about 5 days after it’s made. During the first couple days it’s still saponifying, so the pH may be a bit high. After 5 days it should be around 9-10. The soap is also usually firm enough to cut, which makes it a bit easier to test. Also, you can use any pH strips you have on hand! As long as they have an indicator on the end and a pH chart to compare the color to. 🙂
Read more about pH testing your soap here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/troubleshooting-lye-heavy-soap/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Oh, thank you Jan! Love your recipes 🙂 I will def try Neem instead of Tamanu, since that’s what I have on hand, and to try to battle some acne, too! Can’t wait to try this!! <3 Michele
Have fun Michele! Let us know how it turns out. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Think I’ll add some Tyme essential oil 🙂 any idea how much to get a slight scent?
Hi Keith!
That’s a great idea! You can use our Fragrance Calculator to find out how much essential oil to add to get a light scent: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
Thyme is a fairly strong essential oil, so a little goes a long way! 🙂
White Thyme Essential Oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/White-Thyme-Essential-Oil-P4439.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Made this recipe with hempseed oil instead of tamanu. The soap turned out yellow! I was expecting green given the thyme and hempseed oil 😳
Vera
Oh interesting! I’m not entirely sure why that happened. Maybe the hemp seed oil reacted with the witch hazel and thyme to create that yellow color. It should still feel great on the skin though! 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Thank you for sharing! My garden is bursting right now and I’m looking for ideas for Thyme. I really love the scent and flavour of Thyme! Does the soap retain the scent once it’s cured?
Hi Penelope!
Unfortunately, the scent of herbs rarely makes it through the soapmaking process. The completely cured bars have a slightly sweet smell, but are otherwise unscented.
I really enjoy using thyme from my garden too! It’s great to infuse in apple cider vinegar or witch hazel for toners. I also infuse it in isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol or vodka to use in counter cleaner recipes. It’s fun to incorporate in bath soaks and lotions too!
I hope you enjoy your garden bounty! 🙂
Thanks so much for the feedback and tips! I’ve been making lots of rose water lately too, it’s so velvety, I plan to make soap with it. Have a beautiful weekend!
Thanks for answering questions Jan! 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
What can I replace tamanu oil with?
Hi Vera!
Tamanu was added since it’s great for your skin, but you could use another skin-loving oil instead. My personal first choices would probably include neem, hemp or jojoba oil, but since it’s just a tiny bit of the recipe, almost any oil (such as sweet almond, rice bran, apricot kernel, etc) or butter (shea, mango, cocoa) that you have on hand could work in that spot and still make a great soap.
I went ahead and double checked that a variety of substitutions for that tiny bit of tamanu won’t alter the amount of lye significantly, but you should always run any recipe change through a lye calculator, like this one:
https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx
OK, everybody, laugh if you want to: really, It’s OK. Why would you call this a facial bar vs just a bar of soap? I’ve made my own soap for several years and I’ve made hundreds of batches of cold and hot process soap so I’m pretty good. However, I use my one bar literally from head to toe, including my hair. I’ve had chronic dandruff since I was a child and I no longer have it with my soap. Have I discovered the perfect recipe? I doubt it, just a quality recipe with quality natural ingredients that my sensitive skin likes and that’s why I ventured into soap making. Just wondering about the face vs body vs shampoo bar, etc. Thanks!! I’ve gotten A LOT of my ideas from all of you.
Hi Eric!
It sounds like you’ve created an amazing recipe – that’s awesome! 🙂
This bar includes ingredients that might be helpful for someone struggling with problem skin or blemishes (witch hazel, thyme, tamanu oil, honey). Sometimes facial bars also have extra luxurious oils that are especially good for your skin.
But basically, you’re right – many times it’s just a matter of labeling! I made a special bar of soap chock full of herbs specifically for my son’s skin when he was younger, and my friend loved it as a shampoo bar. I have another friend who loves a shampoo bar I gave them – but they never used it for their hair, just as a body bar. They both used their soap in a way that met their needs, in spite of the labels I applied. 🙂
I have a recipe I use from head to toe… but I can’t wait to try this facial bar! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!!
Hi Janelle!
So happy that you like the recipe & I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
May I have the recipe please, Thank you.