Pink Clay Soap Recipe

Try this easy pink clay soap recipe, an olive oil soap scented with rose geranium essential oil and colored with french pink clay and red clay. You will get a very gentle cleansing, conditioning and wonderfully scented soap.

Rose Geranium Essential Oil

Rose geranium essential oil is distilled from Pelargonium graveolens. It grows for essential oil production mainly in Egypt, China, Morocco, Crimea, Ukraine, Georgia, India, and South Africa. It is a type of geranium plant with leaves that smell strongly like roses. This species of geranium is native to certain parts of Africa. The plant has velvety, plush leaves and flowers that bloom pale pink or almost white.

Pelargonium species have been used medicinally by the Hottentots and Zulus of South Africa for hundreds of years. They’ve used it for dysentery, coughs, upper respiratory irritations, gastritis, tuberculosis, and other problems. 

Rose geranium oil is an active ingredient in some cosmetic products, like lotions. A 2017 review of studies demonstrated that antioxidant properties in rose geranium oil may help reduce the signs of aging. It has also shown anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antifungal, and antiviral properties.

Rose Geranium For Cold Process Soap

However, rose geranium essential oil is famous in cold process soap not because of its medicinal properties, that most likely won’t survive saponification. But because it is a great and relatively cheap substitute for the very expensive rose otto essential oil, the true rose essential oil.

Geranium essential oil rosy scent goes better in soap than if you smell it undiluted. Mixed with patchouli essential oil makes for a delicate, exquisite rosy scent blend. I personally love it and use it often in my soaps and other skincare.

A word of caution: although rose geranium essential oil is safe for most people, it is very potent and may cause reactions to very sensitive skin. If you plan to make this soap for sensitive skin, or you have allergy to this essential oil, you can use a smaller quantity than the one on the recipe, or skip it entirely. Unscented olive oil soap still smells great :).

French Pink and Red Clays

French pink clay is one of the mildest of all the clays. Works well for normal, sensitive and mature skin types. In this recipe, pink illite clay works as a natural colorant, helps with its mild cleansing properties, and works as a “scent fixer”.

Red illite clay is also used for coloring purposes. Red clay is stronger than pink clay, being more effective at cleaning oily skins. The difference is due to the amount of red iron oxide, bigger in red clay and smaller in pink clay.

Use Clay At Your Convenience

So, if you have oily skin, pink and red will be a very good combination for your soap. But with more sensitive skin, only pink clay is preffered. Actually, you don’t need to purchase both clays for this soap, you can use only one of them.

If you have really sensitive skin or skin with conditions, consider using white kaolin clay, or skip the clay in this soap. Afterall, is mostly used as a colorant, it will still be a worderful olive oil soap without it.

Depending on the strenght of your clays, namely the iron oxide content, this soap might have a stronger or softer pink shade. As the soap is fresh, it will look more cream/skin colored than pink, due to the olive oil color. Once the olive oil color begins to fade, the pink hue will be more prominent. In summary, the more the curing, the more pink/less creamy the soap will become.

Still, I find handmade natural soap beautiful in any way. Even if the soap doesn’t have the desired pinky-pink color.

Pink Clay Soap Recipe

With rose geranium essential oil, pink and red clay, and the mildness and conditioning properties of olive oil, this soap recipe provides a very gentle cleansing, conditioning and wonderfully scented soap to enjoy at home. A great alternative to the French Green Clay Soap Recipe if you have oily skin, but more sensitive.

Find Where to Buy Handmade Pink Clay Soap

If you’re not yet ready to try to make this recipe at home, but you still wish to enjoy natural soaps, you can find handmade soap at the following links:

• Rose Geranium and Pink Clay Soap
• French Pink Clay Soap
• Bella Rose Shampoo Bar
• Other Soaps – Handmade Soaps and shampoo Bars – Apple Valley Natural SoapsApple Valley Rosemary Mint Shampoo Body Bar

How To Use This Soap

In the shower or bath, wet your hands and rub your soap in them to create a lather. Wash your hands first, then repeat the process and apply soap to your whole body using the soap directly and your hands. You may also wash your face with it. Rinse hands and body abundantly. Also wash your soap from lather before placing it in your soap dish or bag saver.

Washcloths and sponges should be avoided. Avoid washing your intimate zone and your hair, soap pH in not adequate for those parts of your body. Avoid eye contact with soap to prevent stinging. Make a patch test before using your soap. Stop using your soap if you feel any immediate adverse reaction in your skin (red skin, rashes, itching).

To take best advantage of your handmade soap (made by yourself or store-bougth), read How Do You Use Handmade Soap?

Related Posts

Ingredients and Recipes

• Vegetable oils: Oil Properties For Soap Making
• Essential oils: Best Essential Oils for Soap Making
• Colorants: How To Color Your Soap With Kitchen Ingredients
• Beginner Recipes: Soap Recipes for Beginners
• Cold Process Soap Recipes: Free Cold Process Soap Recipes

Soap Making Techniques and Troubleshooting

• Cold Process Tutorial Guide: Learn To Make Cold Process Soap?
• Soap Making Methods: How To Make Soap At Home
• Soap Making Trace: Know Everything About Trace in Soap Making
• Soap Acceleration: Causes, How To Avoid It Or How To Fix It
• Soda Ash In Soap: What It Is, How to Remove It

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Watch This Video About Safety

Cold Process Soap Making Tutorial Video

Cold Process Soap Making Lessons

The tutorials in this blog are a great – and free! – help to start with cold process soap making. Practice is the next step to harness the art of making soaps at home. However, I understand if you prefer to have some formal lessons, where you will feel more supported with the steps. Feel free to join these courses at Udemy.