Gems and crystals make great gifts. If your budget doesn’t allow for the real deal, soap gems are a great alternative. The Silicone Gemstone Mold creates perfectly-sized bars to put in a gift box or bag.
These gem soaps are simple to make and great for beginners. They’re easy to customize with color and fragrance to suit your preference. If you’re giving them as gifts, a variety of colors look lovely in a gift box. Or, create the recipient’s birthstone for an extra thoughtful touch. To help make your gift wrapping pop, print this “You’re a Real Gem” label template on label paper and apply to your gift box.
For this tutorial, the gems are made in batches. Because the mold cavities are so small, it’s tricky to split one batch into different colors. We recommend making a batch of one color, allowing the soap to cool, removing them from the mold, and making another batch with a different color. The recipe below is written for one batch.
What You’ll Need:
Silicone Gemstone Mold
5 oz. Clear Melt and Pour Soap Base
About 1/16 tsp. Fine Silver Rainbow EcoGlitter
3 mL Jade Fragrance Oil
Colorants Used (2-4 Mini Scoops per batch)
Shamrock Green Mica
Lavender Mica
Caribbean Blue Mica
Buttercup Mica
Red Mica
Rose Gold Mica
Super Pearly White Mica
.15 CC Scoop (for measuring colorant)
Dropper (for measuring fragrance)
99% Isopropyl Alcohol in Spray Bottle
“You’re a Real Gem” Label Template
Waterproof Labels
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ONE: Chop 5 ounces of Clear Melt and Pour Soap Base into small even cubes. Place them in a small heat-safe container and melt in the microwave using 10-20 second bursts. Because you’re working with such a small amount of soap, be careful to not burn it.
THREE: Using the .15 CC Mini Scoops, add 2-4 scoops of mica into the melted soap. Some colorants require a little more to get a saturated color, so add 2 scoops at first and add more from there if you like. Use a spoon to mix it in. Because it’s not mixed with alcohol it will be a little clumpy at first, but will disperse into the soap with a little extra stirring.
FOUR: Add 3 mL of the Jade Fragrance Oil into the soap. Use a spoon to mix in.
FIVE: Add about 1/16th tsp. of Fine Silver Rainbow EcoGlitter and stir in. Feel free to add more glitter if you’d like.
SIX: Pour the soap into each cavity of the mold. It’s best to pour the soap when it’s around 125 ° F or the glitter may sink to the bottom. After each pour, spritz the top of the soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol to disperse any bubbles.
SEVEN: Allow the soap to fully cool and harden in the mold. This will take about an hour. Remove each gem from the mold. Repeat the process with a different color. Below is soap colored with Red Mica. Keep repeating the process until you’ve made a variety of colors to place into your gift box. The variety of colors is completely up to you!
EIGHT: Once you’ve made all the soaps you want, print the “You’re a Real Gem” label on label paper and apply to your box. These gem soaps would also look great in a plastic bag tied with a ribbon. The labels could easily be made into hang tags for bags.
- Silicone Gemstone Mold
- 5 oz. Clear Melt and Pour Soap Base
- About 1/16 tsp. Fine Silver Rainbow EcoGlitter
- 3 mL Jade Fragrance Oil
- Shamrock Green Mica
- Lavender Mica
- Caribbean Blue Mica
- Buttercup Mica
- Red Mica
- Rose Gold Mica
- Super Pearly White Mica
- .15 CC Scoop (for measuring colorant)
- Dropper (for measuring fragrance)
- 99% Isopropyl Alcohol in Spray Bottle
- “You’re a Real Gem” Label Template
- Waterproof Labels
- Chop 5 ounces of Clear Melt and Pour Soap Base into small even cubes. Place them in a small heat-safe container and melt in the microwave using 10-20 second bursts. Because you’re working with such a small amount of soap, be careful to not burn it.
- Using the .15 CC Mini Scoops, add 2-4 scoops of mica into the melted soap. Some colorants require a little more to get a saturated color, so add 2 scoops at first and add more from there if you like. Use a spoon to mix it in. Because it’s not mixed with alcohol it will be a little clumpy at first, but will disperse into the soap with a little extra stirring.
- Add 3 mL of the Jade Fragrance Oil into the soap. Use a spoon to mix in.
- Add about 1/16th tsp. of Fine Silver Rainbow EcoGlitter and stir in. Feel free to add more glitter if you’d like.
- Pour the soap into each cavity of the mold. It’s best to pour the soap when it’s around 125 ° F or the glitter may sink to the bottom. After each pour, spritz the top of the soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol to disperse any bubbles.
- Allow the soap to fully cool and harden in the mold. This will take about an hour. Remove each gem from the mold. Repeat the process with a different color. Keep repeating the process until you’ve made a variety of colors to place into your gift box. The variety of colors is completely up to you!
- Once you’ve made all the soaps you want, print the “You’re a Real Gem” label on label paper and apply to your box. These gem soaps would also look great in a plastic bag tied with a ribbon. The labels could easily be made into hang tags for bags.
I have another question: I see that the Jade Fragrance Oil is used. Is it safe to use any fragrance of my choice? Do you have any other suggestions on which fragrant oil to use? Also, what is the shelf life of your fragrant oils?
You can use any fragrance oil, their shelf lives are about 1 year. To get their usage rates use our fragrance calculator here: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
I am planning on making these as a wedding gift for the bride; however, I see that the silicone gem molds are discontinued. What do you have to replace this mold to get the same effect?
We do not have a silicone mold like this any longer but you could follow this recipe to make something sort of similar: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/how-to-create-amethyst-crystal-point-soap/
Do you think these coukd be embedded in a bath bomb?
Melt and pour soap has a high water content, so once it’s added to bath bombs it can cause them to fizz too early. That usually happens in just a day or two, so we don’t recommend it.
Instead, you may try making the embed out of a bath bomb. This post did something similar: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/guest-post-sherbet-surprise-bath-fizzies/
how do you wrap the small soaps? shrink wrap or some other method?
Yes, shrink wrapping will work well. You want to wrap them in airtight packaging before putting them in a box. That will help protect against sweating: http://www.soapqueen.com/personal-ramblings/augh-whats-that-all-over-my-soap-2/
Learn more about how to package soap in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD4bJgtaHMg&t=40s
I just made th Caribbean blue, and the sparkle mica white colored ones and I love them. I wish had had more molds. Hopefully they will go on sell soon.
So glad you’re loving this recipe Martha. I would recommend signing up for our newsletter, it lets you know about upcoming sales ahead of time: https://www.facebook.com/BrambleBerry/app/134425496630143/
I am confused regarding the use of powdered mineral(?) colorants. Some directions indicate mixing powdered colorant with alcohol. This has not met my expectations regarding ease of use or quality. Other instructions indicate using oils, avocado, sunflower, sweet almond, etc. I have these available. Please advise.
Your site is lovely! I would like to “join” and am impressed with what I have seen so far. Thank you.
When using powdered micas in melt and pour, mixing them with a bit of alcohol helps create a liquid that is easier to stir into the melted base. If they are not dispersed in alcohol they will still work fine, but it will require more stirring to get rid of clumps of the powder.
If you’re working with a cold process recipe, powdered colorants are dispersed in a lightweight liquid oil (such as sunflower, sweet almond, avocado, etc.) for the same purpose. Just like in melt and pour, it’s easier to mix in the colorant after being dispersed in a liquid. The powder could be added straight to the soap batter, but requires more stirring and stick blending to get rid of chunks.
So glad you’re enjoying the site. If you’d like to receive emails of the blog posts, you can subscribe via the “Become an email subscriber” form on the right hand side of the page, near the top.
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
where can i buys boxes like that?
I think they are business card boxes.
We found these boxes at a local craft supply store, but they’re also available online or at your local packaging store. You can look for business card or jewelry boxes.
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
What size box is shown? I would like to purchase that same size.
I believe these are 3.5″x3.5″x2″.