tea tree essential oil Archives

Lavender & Tea Tree Shower Steamers

June 11, 2018 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Bath Fizzies

If you prefer a shower to a bath, shower steamers are a great option. They’re made with baking soda and citric acid, just like bath bombs. But rather than placing them into a tub, the steamer is placed on the floor of the shower. The water activates the fizzing reaction and releases the essential oils into the air.

The scent creates a spa-like shower. This recipe has tea tree essential oil and Lavender 40/42 Essential Oil to create a relaxing and uplifting scent. The recipe does contain quite a bit of essential oil. Because they don’t come in contact with the skin, you don’t need to worry about using too much. These can’t be used like a bath bomb – the amount of essential oil could irritate the skin.

If you prefer another scent, feel free to swap it out. Citrus oils like 10x Orange or Red Brazilian Mandarin are great for a morning shower. Fragrance oils can also be used – Relaxing Fragrance Oil is perfect right before bed.

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Charcoal Facial Soap Kit

April 10, 2018 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Cold Process Soap

The Charcoal Facial Soap is one of our most popular recipes to date. We decided to make it into a kit so it’s even easier to try. The Charcoal Facial Soap Kit comes with ingredients like tamanu oil, activated charcoal, and tea tree essential oil. The ingredients were specifically chosen for oily and combination skin.

The kit also comes with the new 6 Cavity Silicone Rectangle Mold, easy-to-follow printed instructions, and printed labels. It’s a great project for beginners and advanced soapers alike. To see a larger batch of the recipe in action, check out the How to Make Charcoal Facial Soap video on Soap Queen TV.

This recipe benefits from a slightly high soaping temperature (120-130° F) and being placed on a heating pad (we like this one) once poured into the mold. The hotter temperatures and 15% water discount helps the soap harden faster so it’s ready to unmold in just a few days.

What You Need:
*All items are included in the Charcoal Facial Soap Kit
6 Cavity Silicone Rectangle Mold
0.7 oz. Castor Oil (5%)
3.5 oz. Coconut Oil (25.4%)
3.5 oz. Palm Oil (25.4%)
5.6 oz. Olive Oil (40.6%)
0.5 oz. Tamanu Oil (3.6%)
2 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
4 oz. Distilled Water (15% water discount)
0.6 oz. Tea Tree Essential Oil
2 tsp. Activated Charcoal
1 tsp. Sodium Lactate

3.0 from 1 reviews

Charcoal Facial Soap Kit

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour

Create 6 bars of soap that leave your skin feeling clean and fresh.

Author: Soap Queen

Recipe type: Cold Process Soap

Serves: 6 bars of soap

Ingredients

6 Cavity Silicone Rectangle Mold
0.7 oz. Castor Oil (5%)
3.5 oz. Coconut Oil (25.4%)
3.5 oz. Palm Oil (25.4%)
5.6 oz. Olive Oil (40.6%)
0.5 oz. Tamanu Oil (3.6%)
2 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
4 oz. Distilled Water (15% water discount)
0.6 oz. Tea Tree Essential Oil
2 tsp. Activated Charcoal
1 tsp. Sodium Lactate

Instructions

SAFETY FIRST: Suit up for safe handling practices. That means goggles, gloves, and long sleeves. Make sure kids, pets, 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.

Slowly and carefully add 2 oz. of lye to 4 oz. of water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool to about 120-130 degrees F. 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 1 teaspoon sodium lactate.
Completely melt the bags of coconut oil and palm oil in the microwave with the caps on. Weigh 3.5 oz. of coconut oil, 3.5 oz. of palm oil, 0.7 oz. of castor oil, 0.5 oz. of tamanu oil, and 5.6 oz. of olive oil into a medium glass container. Set aside until it reaches 120-130 degrees F.
With gloves and goggles on, add the lye water to the oils. Pulse the blender on and off to mix. Continue to pulse and stir for about 1-2 minutes.
Once the soap is a pudding-like texture and the oils are fully mixed, add 0.6 oz. of essential oil and 2 tsp. of charcoal. Whisk until combined.
Pour the soap into each cavity of the mold. Tap the mold on the counter to get rid of bubbles. Place the mold onto a heating pad set to medium for 2-3 hours. Turn the heating pad off and allow the soap to harden for 2-4 days.
Pull two sides of the cavity away from the bars of soap. If the cavity releases easily, pull the other two sides away and gently press the soap out from the bottom. If the soap sticks to the mold, let it harden for another day and try again.
Allow the soap to cure on a well-ventilated shelf for 4-6 weeks to create firm, long-lasting bars. Enjoy.

French Green Clay & Milk Soap Tutorial

December 11, 2017 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Cold Process Soap

French green clay is a popular additive in beauty products. It has a fine texture and light green color that comes from decomposed plant matter and iron oxides. It’s known for its fantastic oil absorbing properties. In this French Green Clay & Milk Soap, the clay adds a subtle color and skin-loving properties.

Rather than water, this recipe uses raw unpasteurized cow milk. You can also use pasteurized in this recipe – we just happened to have raw unpasteurized cow milk on hand. If you’ve never made milk soap, there are a few extra precautions to keep in mind. The lye can scorch the milk if it gets too hot, which can produce a dark color and unpleasant smell. Learn more about how to add lye to milk here.

This soap can be used on the face. It’s best suited for combination to oily skin. Learn more about which clay is right for your skin here. The recipe is made with a refreshing blend of lemongrass essential oil and tea tree essential oil. If you’re planning on using this as a facial soap and you have sensitive skin, you may consider removing the essential oil or using a lighter usage rate. [Read more…]

Pure Charcoal Melt & Pour Soap DIY

February 21, 2017 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

A few weeks ago I shared a recipe for Charcoal & Tea Tree Facial Bars made with cold process soap. I got quite a few requests to create something similar with melt and pour, so these Pure Charcoal Melt & Pour Bars were created! They are made in the brand new Pure Soap Silicone Tray Mold, which was specially designed by the Bramble Berry team. The details in each cavity are deep enough to make filling in each space as easy as possible. This new mold is suitable for cold process and melt and pour as well as lotion bars.

This soap is created with Aloe Vera Melt and Pour Base which contains 5% aloe vera gel. It has a slight green tint, but the activated charcoal covers that right up. Tea tree essential oil gives the bars a refreshing and earthy scent. The soap contains two full teaspoons of charcoal so they’re great for oily skin. The charcoal does create a gray lather but it’s very faint. If you prefer, you can reduce the amount of charcoal to prevent any color in the lather. Learn more about charcoal here.

Want to see this recipe in action? Scroll down to the bottom of this post to watch Anne-Marie make these bars!

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Cleansing Charcoal Facial Scrub DIY

January 27, 2017 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Soaks & Scrubs

Leave your skin feeling smooth with this Charcoal and Clay Face Scrub. Made with a liquid soap base, it has a gentle lather. Additional tamanu oil and hazelnut oil are added because of their amazing skin benefits. In particular, they are great for oily skin types. If you prefer different oil for your skin, feel free to swap them out. Just keep in mind it may change the consistency a bit!

The Natural Castile Liquid Soap Base is made exclusively from olive oil, resulting in a very mild soap. It has a light lather and gentle cleansing properties so it’s suitable for delicate facial skin. If you have extremely dry skin, this recipe may not be the best as it contains kaolin clay and charcoal, which may be drying. Decreasing the amount of kaolin clay and charcoal may help make it suitable for dry skin types; a small test batch may help you find the right ratio for you.

Medium sized jojoba beads give this scrub a gentle amount of exfoliation. Jojoba beads are great for the face because they are round and won’t scratch delicate face skin. The amount of scrub in this recipe is light; if you prefer more exfoliation feel free to add more jojoba beads. Don’t get jojoba beads confused with micro-beads – they are quite different! Learn about the difference here.

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How to Make Charcoal Facial Soap

January 25, 2017 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Cold Process 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.

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.

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DIY Sea Clay Face Mask

January 11, 2017 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Lotion

Sea clay is a classic ingredient for facial masks. It originates from mud laid under the sea millions of years ago and has a grayish green color. Sea clay has great absorption properties, which makes it perfect for oily skin. This Sea Clay Face Mask was specifically formulated for oily skin with a combination of kaolin clay and sea clay. Tea tree essential oil gives the mask a fresh scent.

Because this mask contains plenty of clay, it has a nice thick texture. It also dries on the skin after about 10-15 minutes, giving you that classic “dry” clay mask feeling. You know the one! If you’d like to tweak this recipe for more normal or combination skin, you can decrease the amount of sea clay to 1-2 ounces. If you decrease the amount of clay, it may take a little longer to dry on the skin.

If you have extremely sensitive skin, tea tree essential oil sitting on the skin for 10-15 minutes could be a little irritating. If you’re concerned, you can omit it completely from the recipe. You can also switch out the extract for another if you prefer.

A few notes about recipe substitutions and changes:

Polawax Emulsifying Wax is a highly reliable and strong emulsifier. It could be substituted for the generic version, Emulsifying Wax, if you prefer, although this recipe was not tested with Emulsifying Wax. Due to the clay in the recipe, we splurged and used Polawax Emulsifying Wax to avoid any chance of separation.
This recipe calls for avocado and hazelnut oil. Other oils can be used instead if you prefer; we recommend staying with liquid oils that absorb easily into the skin. Changing the total amount of oil in the recipe will change the overall texture of the mask.
Because this recipe is essentially a lotion and contains a large amount of water, a preservative is necessary to avoid mold and bacteria growth. We chose Optiphen, but other water soluble preservatives will work. Learn more about preservatives here.
Decrease the total amount of clay if you want it to be better suited for dry skin. Decreasing the amount of clay may create a thinner product.
If you prefer to use different clays, feel free to swap them. Clays have different absorbing properties, which will affect how it feels on the skin. Learn which clay is right for your skin.
If you have very sensitive skin, fragrance and essential oils can be irritating. Omit from the recipe if you prefer.
Ginseng extract can be substituted with a different extract if you prefer.

[Read more…]

Find the supplies you need for this project below