Last week, someone posted and asked if there was a way to make cream soap without going through the long process in Catherine Failor’s Making Cream Soap book. I didn’t think so. It was worth a try, though I created 6 different recipes to try and mimic Catherine Failor’s Cream Soap. The next few days on the Soap Queen blog will detail the project, steps, and outcomes of some of the experiments.
What You’ll Need:
Fragrance Oil
Bottles
Labcolors
Clear Melt and Pour Soap Base
White Melt and Pour Soap Base
Handmade Lotion
store bought lotion
Sweet Almond Oil
one soap-only blender
When you make melt and pour soap, it’s best to chop up the soap into small chunks. This helps the melt down process and enables a more smooth, even melt. Cover your heat-safe container with Saran wrap to help keep in any moisture that may evaporate during the melting. Melt the soap in the microwave on short 30 second bursts, taking care to not boil or overheat the soap.
For the first experiment, we used handmade lotion in a 10% addition rate and a 25% addition rate.
Melt and Pour soap is well balanced in its natural state. Additives such as oils or lotions weigh down lather. With normal stirring, oil additives over about 3% – 5% will not stay in the soap. Instead, the extra oil typically rises to the surface of the soap, producing an unattractive oil slick.
The way to get around this tendency is to use a blender. The photo above is showing the melted soap after 30 seconds in the blender. A blender helps to emulsify theoils or extra additives into the melt and pour soap base. Remember that the blender may take on the scent of the fragrance. Only use your blender if you are okay with not using it again for food.
Check back tomorrow to read about the results of the 10% and 25% handmade lotion additive soap.
Have a question about this blog post? Come join us at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and we can help you out with any of your soapy questions!
![lab2[1]](https://www.soapqueen.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/lab21-120x120.jpg)
I’ve never had any problem adding honey to my MP. In fact I have a soap called ‘Shea, Honey!” that is just that, and no frag. added.
Now watch-next time I make a batch, I’ll mess up somehow!
Hi Diane –
Thanks for the hint! My Dad thinks that a stick blender will work better in terms of clean up anyways so it’s good to know that it works!
=) Anne-Marie
Anne-Marie,
I’ve always had sucess using a stick blender with melt and pour, I’ve blended honey,goatsmilk, and she and it’s never separated. The trick is you’ve got to let it whip for at least 2 minutes.
Sorry, the above message was intended for another post. Enjoy the cream soap!
Hi Anne-Marie,
I really appreciate your thoughtful reply. I could not wait but went ahead to google on the book you recommended. Now I have the table of contents of the book printed out sitting on my desk: http://www.thesuccessprinciples.com/TOC.html… until the book comes in! They have already given me some new perspectives. Happiness is a choice but I chose to victimized myself in that negative situation instead of re-developing and empowering myself in a new environment which was the most important and could have been exciting. I was lost. I also realized my failure in doing so in a way contributed to the “disastrous” relationship. If I was not comfortable with and love myself, I could not possibly reach out to love others. I was waiting for my partner to make me happy (and I thought he should do so because I gave up my career, friends and family to be here) and that drained both of us. In hindsight, we would not have been that disastrous a match only if I could see what I see now.
You mentioned “meditation/ quiet time practice”. May I know how that has helped you or helping you in your life or in achieving your life/ business goals?
It was truly thoughtful and genuine of you. Thanks again! I am currently resided in New York and if you would be here for long weekends or vacations in the future, I would be very glad to take you out! 🙂
I will continue to enjoy my soap experiment, dream big and act on it 🙂 I saw the nice goodies bag you put together and I hope I could make all those one day as well. By the way, I saw that your blog is nominated as the Best Hobby Blog – perhaps they also have the Best Women Empowerment Blog? You deserve a nomination also in that department.
Virginia
Sorry, but I don’t know what cream soap is! Please describe… Thanks.
I suspect a blender would have helped the honey-gooey-pocket factor in your MP trial. Honey is so nice in skincare – it would be lovely in soap but I normally do it in CP and not MP soap.
Ooh! This will be really interesting! I often wonder about adding moisturizers to m&p soap base, but the one time I added honey there was a gooey pocket left after it hardened, so I’ve never tried since.
I’ll be tuning in each day to see how this project comes out! 🙂