Both lemongrass and mint have a refreshing, herbal scent. The new Lemongrass Mojito Natural Fragrance Oil features notes of both plants, along with litsea and a touch of rosemary. It’s a bright, herbaceous fragrance oil that’s perfect for summer.
This Lemongrass Mojito Soap was inspired by the new fragrance oil, along with this Mojito Melt and Pour Tutorial from 2010. The combination of swirls and chunky melt and pour embeds suggest the appearance of a mojito cocktail. The Hanger Swirl Tool swirls the green hues together, creating a unique look in each bar. If you love the look of this soap, you might also like the Shimmering Sea Glass Cold Process Soap.
Wondering what a “natural” fragrance oil is? A natural fragrance oil (a.k.a. nature-identical fragrance oil) is a chemical replica of an essential oil that is created in a lab from the aroma chemicals present in plants, fruits, flowers, and other natural aromatic ingredients. Natural-aroma chemicals are derived directly from the plant, but the specific scent molecule is isolated from the other components of the plant. This single-molecule product differs from an essential oil, which has a more complex profile.
Because it comes from a combination of sources, it can’t be called an essential oil. But, it doesn’t contain the synthetic ingredients that a “regular” fragrance oil contains. Some soapers do not consider nature-identical fragrance oils to be “natural.” As with many ingredients, it comes down to an individual choice to use them or not.
What You’ll Need:
Embeds:
10 oz. Clear LCP Melt & Pour Soap
Kermit Green Mica
Shamrock Green Mica
Base:
10″ Silicone Loaf Mold
Hanger Swirl Tool
1 oz. Castor Oil (3%)
7.3 oz. Coconut Oil (22%)
1.7 oz. Moringa Seed Oil (5%)
9.9 oz. Olive Oil (30%)
8.3 oz. Palm Oil (25%)
5 oz. Sweet Almond Oil (15%)
4.6 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
10.9 oz. Distilled Water
1.4 oz. Lemongrass Mojito Natural Fragrance Oil
Titanium Dioxide
Chrome Green Oxide Pigment
Hydrated Chrome Green Pigment
Kermit Green
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Find the supplies you need for this project below
Make the Embeds:
ONE: Chop and melt 10 ounces LCP Clear Melt and Pour Soap in the microwave using 15-second bursts. Split the batch evenly into two containers – it’s okay to eyeball it. To one container, add 1/2 teaspoon of Kermit Green Mica and stir to combine. Add 1/2 teaspoon of Shamrock Green Mica to the other container and stir to combine. Pour both containers of soap at the same time into a mold cavity of your choice. The exact shape is not super important because the soap will be chopped into small pieces. We used the 12 Bar Square Silicone Mold. Wait for the bars to cool and harden.
TWO: Once the melt and pour has fully cooled and hardened, remove from the mold. Use a sharp, non-serrated knife to chop the soap into small square pieces. The exact size of each embed is up to you. Set pieces of soap aside until you’re ready to use.
Make the Base
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 soapmaking space. Always soap in a well-ventilated area.
COLOR PREP: To ensure that the titanium dioxide blends smoothly into the soap batter, we recommend micronizing it before dispersing it in oil. Please note that this is optional, but it does prevent the titanium dioxide from 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. Then, disperse 1 teaspoon of the colorant into 1 tablespoon of sunflower or sweet almond oil (or any other liquid oil). Then in separate containers, disperse 1/2 teaspoon Chrome Green Oxide, Hydrated Chrome Green Oxide Pigment, and Kermit Green Mica into 1/2 tablespoon lightweight liquid oil. Use a mini mixer to help get rid of any clumps.
FRAGRANCE PREP: Measure 1.4 ounces of Lemongrass Mojito Natural Fragrance Oil into a glass, fragrance-oil-safe container. Set aside.
MOLD & TOOL PREP: Bend the Hanger Swirl Tool to fit inside the 10″ Silicone Loaf Mold.
ONE: 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.
TWO: Fully melt and combine the coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil, castor oil, and moringa seed 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, add 2 teaspoons sodium lactate. Stick blend the soap until it’s at a thin trace.
THREE: Once you reach a thin trace, pour 200 mL of soap batter into three separate containers. To the remaining soap, add 1 tablespoon dispersed titanium dioxide. Use a whisk to mix together.
FOUR: Add 1 teaspoon of dispersed Kermit Green Mica, Hydrated Chrome Green Oxide Pigment, and Chrome Green Oxide into each 200 mL container – one color per container. Use a whisk to mix in the colorants completely.
FIVE: Add the Lemongrass Mojito Natural Fragrance Oil into the containers proportionally. It’s okay to eyeball it. Use a whisk to mix in the fragrance oil.
SIX: Pour about 1/3 of the white soap into the mold. Firmly tap the mold on the counter to release any bubbles.
SEVEN: Pour about 1/3 of one of the containers of green soap into the mold. Pour several inches above the mold; this helps the soap to drop to the bottom of the white soap, rather than sitting on top and creating layers.
EIGHT: Continue pouring the soap from above the mold, using all the colors. Pour enough of each color to ensure you can pour all colors at least three times. Continue to pour from various heights to help the colors reach various depths. Don’t worry about being too precise when you are pouring.
NINE: Insert the Hanger Swirl Tool into one side of the mold. Then, use loop-de-loop motions to swirl the soap. There is no right or wrong way to do this! Just keep moving the Hanger Swirl Tool in circular motions. Some “loops” should be big and some small. Once you’ve swirled the soap about 5-7 times, remove the Hanger Swirl Tool by bringing it up and out on one side of the mold.
TEN: Begin dropping in the melt and pour embeds. If you drop the embeds from several inches above the mold, they will fall into the soap. We let the first “layer” of embeds fall into the soap, then placed the remainder on top so they stuck out from the top of the mold.
ELEVEN: Once you’ve placed all the embeds into the soap, spritz with alcohol to avoid soda ash. To prevent the embeds from melting, this soap needs to be kept at cool temperatures. If you live in an extremely hot climate, place the soap into a fridge or freezer for several hours to keep temperatures cool. Allow the soap to sit in the mold for 2-3 days. Unmold, and use a sharp non-serrated knife to cut into bars. Allow the bars to cool for 4-6 weeks. Enjoy!
- Embeds:
- 10 oz. Clear LCP Melt & Pour Soap
- Kermit Green Mica
- Shamrock Green Mica
- Base:
- 10″ Silicone Loaf Mold
- Hanger Swirl Tool
- 1 oz. Castor Oil (3%)
- 7.3 oz. Coconut Oil (22%)
- 1.7 oz. Moringa Seed Oil (5%)
- 9.9 oz. Olive Oil (30%)
- 8.3 oz. Palm Oil (25%)
- 5 oz. Sweet Almond Oil (15%)
- 4.6 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
- 10.9 oz. Distilled Water
- 1.4 oz. Lemongrass Mojito Natural Fragrance Oil
- Titanium Dioxide
- Chrome Green Oxide Pigment
- Hydrated Chrome Green Pigment
- Kermit Green
- Chop and melt 10 ounces LCP Clear Melt and Pour Soap in the microwave using 15-second bursts. Split the batch evenly into two containers —it’s okay to eyeball it. To one container, add ½ teaspoon of Kermit Green Mica and stir to combine. Add ½ teaspoon of Shamrock Green Mica to the other container and stir to combine. Pour both containers of soap at the same time into a mold cavity of your choice. The exact shape is not super important because the soap will be chopped into small pieces. We used the 12 Bar Square Silicone Mold. Wait for the bars to cool and harden.
- Once the melt and pour has fully cooled and hardened, remove from the mold. Use a sharp, non-serrated knife to chop the soap into small square pieces. The exact size of each embed is up to you. Set pieces of soap aside until you’re ready to use.
- 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.
- Fully melt and combine the coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil, castor oil, and moringa 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, add 2 teaspoons sodium lactate. Stick blend the soap until it’s at a thin trace.
- Once you reach a thin trace, pour 200 mL of soap batter into three separate containers. To the remaining soap, add 1 tablespoon dispersed titanium dioxide. Use a whisk to mix together.
- Add 1 teaspoon of dispersed Kermit Green Mica, Hydrated Chrome Green Oxide Pigment, and Chrome Green Oxide into each 200 mL container—one color per container. Use a whisk to mix in the colorants completely.
- Add the Lemongrass Mojito Natural Fragrance Oil into the containers proportionally. It’s okay to eyeball it. Use a whisk to mix in the fragrance oil.
- Pour about ⅓ of the white soap into the mold. Firmly tap the mold on the counter to release any bubbles.
- Pour about ⅓ of one of the containers of green soap into the mold. Pour several inches above the mold; this helps the soap to drop to the bottom of the white soap, rather than sitting on top and creating layers.
- Continue pouring the soap from above the mold, using all the colors. Pour enough of each color to ensure you can pour all colors at least three times. Continue to pour from various heights to help the colors reach various depths. Don’t worry about being too precise when you are pouring.
- Insert the Hanger Swirl Tool into one side of the mold. Then, use loop-de-loop motions to swirl the soap. There is no right or wrong way to do this! Just keep moving the Hanger Swirl Tool in circular motions. Some “loops” should be big and some small. Once you’ve swirled the soap about 5-7 times, remove the Hanger Swirl Tool by bringing it up and out on one side of the mold.
- Begin dropping in the melt and pour embeds. If you drop the embeds from several inches above the mold, they will fall into the soap. We let the first “layer” of embeds fall into the soap, then placed the remainder on top so they stuck out from the top of the mold.
- Once you’ve placed all the embeds into the soap, spritz with alcohol to avoid soda ash. To prevent the embeds from melting, this soap needs to be kept at cool temperatures. If you live in an extremely hot climate, place the soap into a fridge or freezer for several hours to keep temperatures cool. Allow the soap to sit in the mold for 2-3 days. Unmold, and use a sharp non-serrated knife to cut into bars. Allow the bars to cool for 4-6 weeks. Enjoy!
Must I do anything different if I do not want the embeds?
No you can go ahead and just remove that section from the recipe and make the cold process part as it is.
This turned out beautiful. My embeds on the top are glistening. Is that okay or should I cover them?
It sounds like they may be sweating. It helps to keep them in a cool, dry place. You don’t want to cover them because cold process soap needs to cure in the open air. If you have a fan or dehumidifier, you can run that over the bars.
Hello,
Just wanted to let you know that the lye calculator has not been updated to access IOS 11. There for I can not access my recipes or the lye calculator. Is there any way I can get my recipes from the apt? Thank you for your attention in this matter.
Linda
Sorry about that, we’re working on getting that updated.
Hi! So with this recipe you don’t cover it? It says to put it into the frig or freezer. Also, how do you know which recipes to cover & which ones do not need covering?
That is correct, you don’t want to cover this soap. If you cover the soap can get so hot it melts the embeds. Cool room temperature is best, or the fridge or freezer if you live in a hot area.
Your recipe, temperature, embeds, etc. all affect whether you insulate that soap or not. This post talks about when to cover the soap: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/when-to-insulate-handmade-soap/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
This is so sool. Could I make this with goat milk instead of the melt and pour? What would be different?
Are you wanting to replace the water with milk and skip the embeds?
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I am wanting to make this soap with milk instead of water…I am guessing? Would I not be able to make the embeds and the base out of goat milk soap instead of melt and pour?
Thanks,
Andi
Yes, you can make cold process embeds using goat milk instead of water. You’ll want to make the embeds a few days ahead of time using the same recipe, then make the soap as soon as the embeds are unmolded. That way they will cure at roughly the same time.
Learn more about how to work with goat 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
Hi! I was going to leave this comment on the Sodium Lactate post but it seems I can’t comment there 🙁 I was really curious about sodium lactate. I have heard from many forums that the effects of sodium lactate is temporary and after a few months that it the hardness of the bar with SL would be the same without it. I am wondering if this is true. Also, would you recommend SL to a soaping beginner?
Sodium lactate is mostly used to help with unmolding. We have noticed a real difference when using it – we can usually unmold 1-2 days earlier than batches made without it. As the bars cure, they will harden the same with or without it. Personally, I feel like bars made with sodium last a bit longer, but you may not find the same thing.
If you’re a beginner, I would definitely recommend it. Waiting is one of the hardest things about making soap. Sodium lactate definitely lets you see your designs earlier, and helps prevent any drag marks or dents. 🙂
Sodium lactate: https://www.brambleberry.com/Sodium-Lactate-P5127.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
oh, those look so cool! I really want to try cold process more, I’ve only made one loaf using the CP Beginner Kit. I tried formulating my own recipe but I’m have a question:
So I’ve been using the lye calculator and for some reason I still can’t get the math to work. So I have a 7.5lb mold, which is 120oz. I tried the 33/33/33/ method for palm, olive and coconut, 39.6 oz each, figuring it would equal 120 oz but then when I calculate it, it says it yields like 170something oz because of the lye. So basically that’s too much soap to fit the mold. Or would it still be ok?
How would I know what my total amount of oils should be? Like, would it be a certain percentage of the total yield? Sorry, I know this question isn’t relevant to this topic of this mojito soap, but I didn’t know where else to ask it.
thanks!
No worries, we’re happy to help! The oil weight takes a bit of guesswork – you can use our Lye Calculator to find it. To do so, select “Percentage” from the calculator. It will ask you to enter the oil weight. That’s when you guess! If my batch was 32 ounces, I would first guess 25 ounces of oils. Then, enter the percentage of your oils and calculate. The 25 ounces of oils gives me 37.5 ounces of soap, which is too much. So, you can enter a lower number in the “Resize Batch” section. After a few more guesses, I found that 21 ounces of oils gives me 31.5 ounces of soap.
Lye Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Can I use a different FO? Can I use any FO I want?
You can – any skin-safe fragrance or essential oil will work just fine. Just make sure to read the descriptions, as some fragrances can accelerate or discolor. Find out how much to add to this recipe with our Fragrance Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
Fragrance oils: https://www.brambleberry.com/Fragrance-Oils-C161.aspx
Essential oils: https://www.brambleberry.com/Essential-Oils-C157.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Thank you for this tutorial! Even if I don’t make this exact recipe, the instructions for pouring the batter and swirling with the hanger tool answered some questions I’ve been having about getting my swirls to look like the ones in that soap! You guys must have been reading my mind. I have some melt and pour squares all cut up in a container all ready to go however, they are a lot smaller but I can come up with my own creation. You guys ROCK!
Oh thank you Lynette, your sweet message means a lot to us. Definitely let us know how your creation turns out. It’s so fun cutting into the bars to see how your swirl came out. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I have both Lemongrass EO and peppermint EO. Can you recommend what proportions I should mix these two so that I can replicate the FO you use in this recipe?
Thank you!
This fragrance is a mix of lemongrass, litsea, verbena, peppermint, rosemary, lavender, etc., so you won’t get an exact match with those two essential oils. You can start with a 4:1 ratio of lemongrass to peppermint for a similar scent though. If you want more peppermint, you can add from there.
Learn more about blending essential oils here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-blend-essential-oils-safely/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
These colors are gorgeous. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Have fun, and let us know how it goes. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry