Turmeric And Cinnamon Soap Recipe

Try this deliciously fragrant and fun cinnamon soap recipe. Turmeric and cinnamon are both well known for its anti-inflammatory, dissinfectant, anti-fungal and anti-oxidant properties.

Make this turmeric and cinnamon soap recipe at home. Use turmeric as a natural colorant and cinnamon essential oil as a delicious soap aroma. Turmeric in lye water will give your soap a pretty golden light brown color. Shea butter and a rich mixture of oils will make this soap conditioning and creamy, yet still “spicy”.

Learn how to make this soap at home, using a large soap mold. The soap bulk bar can be cut into 11 to 12 soap bars.

Table of Contents

Using Turmeric in Soap as Colorant

I’ve started soamaking using micas and minerals as colorants. But very soon, I’ve got really interested in using natural ingrendients like food, herbs or spices to color soap. It gives soap a nature-like tone to them, instead of bright lipstick red, vibrant blue, deep purple, etc. It also pleases me to use soap with natural colors, making me feel closer to nature.

One spice that I’ve got interested in is turmeric — a bright yellow spice made from the dried and powdered turmeric root. Depending on how much turmeric you use, you can achieve natural soap colors ranging from a pale pinky-yellow, like in this Turmeric and Ylang-Ylang Soap Recipe, to deep burnt orange. It also adds a beautiful speckled effect to your soap although the amount of speckles can be controlled.

In this recipe, the turmeric is added to the lye water. It’s common knowledge from reading articles of several soap makers (including this recipe from Lovely Greens) that this is the best option to have a stronger color on your soap. 

pile of 3 pretty golden brown soap bars made with turmeric
Cinnamon and Turmeric Soap

So, if you wish to have the color shown in this recipe photo, you will add 2 teaspoons of 4 ml to 1 Kg of soap batter. If you wish to have a deeper tone, add 3 teaspoons of turmeric in this recipe. For a lighter tone, add only 1 teaspoon. 

If you wish for a speckled effect (not shown in this photo) add 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder after trace or in alternative do not strain the lye water. In case you don’t want any speckles, strain all the turmeric from the lye water, as it was done for this recipe.

Turmeric and Cinnamon Soap Recipe Ingredients

This recipe uses a mixture of oils that are combined to complement turmeric’s color and to create a delicious bar of soap. Coconut oil gives fluffy lather, olive oil for conditioning and castor oil and sunflower oil for stabilizing the lather. Shea butter add hardness to the bars and a silky creamy texture.

Cinnamon!!

My idea was also to add a vibrant, spicy, earthy scent to go along with the spicy turmeric color. So, I’ve used cinnamon essential oil to the essential oils blend, along with lovely ylang-ylang, clary sage and amyris sandalwood. 

But be aware that cinnamon overpowers the other scents, it’s what comes out the most. Personally? I find it great!

A bit of information and concepts you should know about cinnamon essential oil. There are two types: cinnamon essential oil extracted from the bark and extracted from the leaf, although it’s the same tree. Cinnamon bark is actually what you know in the kitchen. 

pile of cinnamon sticks over white background
Cinnamon bark

Which Essential Oil: Cinnamon Leaf or Bark?

Essential oil from cinnamon bark, due to its chemical compounds (cinnamaldehyde, mostly), it is known to be more prone to be a skin irritant. Cinnamon leaf essential oil is therefore more used in natural skin care, as it is milder but still carries the great cinnamon scent and good properties. I tried cinnamon leaf and personally I didn’t like it, so I keep the cinnamon bark in this recipe, but feel free to use what suits you!

Regardless of what essential oil you use, there are supplier recommendations to its concentration usage in soap. According to this article recommendations go from 0,1% to 0,7%. Ive tried 0,5% on this cinnamon soap recipe of cinnamon bark essential oil. I recommend that you use the same percentage, 0,5%, of cinnamon leaf essential oil.

If you wish to know more about cinnamon essential oil as a skin irritant, you can check this article and this article from Healthline.

Personally, I’ve used this soap bar with spicy turmeric on it and spicy cinnamon essential oil (I’ve used the cinnamon bark, as I’ve mentioned) and had no issues with it, no skin irritation or rash or even dryness. But this is my personal experience. I suppose that, after so many years with harsh bath gels, my skin got resistant to milder skin irritants.

Turmeric and Cinnamon Properties

It’s always debatable if plant chemical compounds resist the saponification process, due to lack of studies on natural soaps. Some believe they do, some disagree. It’s mostly opinions, as there are no serious studies to backup one or another. 

Personally, I take plant medicinal properties to be actually effective in topical usage with leave-in products like creams, lotions, tonics, as well as ingested as tea infusions. Still, it won’t harm to list the benefic properties of turmeric and cinnamon, knowing that their major contribution for the soap was for color and scent. 

Like most spices, they are both anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, dissinfectant, anti-fungal and anti-oxidant. No wonder they were used along the centuries and preservatives. Well, doesn’t harm to know that your soap might have some anti-bacterial properties… 

white spoons of colorful turmeric powder, turmeric root in the background
Turmeric powder

Using a Soap Loaf Mold

This is the first recipe in this blog with instructions to use a soap loaf mold. Loaf molds allow soap makers to do a variety of designs, like layers, multi-color swirls, and shapes. In addition, it will give you the freedom to cut soap bars as you wish, with the size and weight you want.

In this recipe, we will learn only how to use the loaf mold, and how to avoid gel marks, by insulating the soap loaf mold. 

Insulating your Soap Mold

After you mix your after trace ingredients, it’s time to pour the dough in your soap mold. You might have some experience with the silicone ones, this one is easier, you just need to pour it all in one go, then tap it a little to avoid air bubbles inside the soap.

If you want to give it  try, you can add some texture to your soap, see the following paragraph. If you leave it straight, trust me, the soap will still look great. There is beauty in simple things.

Then you should thermically insulate the soap loaf mold. First sprinkle the dough with alcohol to avoid formation of soda ash, and place a transparent film on top of the mold. Then insulate the mold with one of the two alternatives:

  • Wrap the mold completely on all six sides with a blanket or a thick towel.
  • Pre-heat your oven to 40ºC then turn it off. Place the mold inside the oven.
  • Leave the mold to sit for 48 hours insulated until it gets completely cold (room temperature). 

After 48 hours, unmold the soap bar carefully, and use preferably a wooden box with a cutter to cut the soap into small bars. In this recipe, I’ve used a wavy cutter. The bars looked lovely.

For more on how to cut, cure and store soap bars, see How to Cure Handmade Soap and How Do You Store Homemade Soap?

Creating Effects on Your Soap

If you feel bold, you can add some texture to the top of the soap. Watch this video explaining ten techniques, by using a spoon, spatula or fork. 

Apply this immediately after pouring the dough inside the soap loaf mold. It’s funny, but if you leave a very slight indent on your soap batter, it will be much more visible in your soap bar later on.

bulk bar of turmeric soap inside a wooden mold
My poor attempt at making a top texture design… I need more practice

Enjoy this turmeric and cinnamon soap recipe!!

Find Where to Buy Handmade Turmeric 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 turmeric soap in the following links:

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

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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.

How To Make Soap – Homemade Soap Making for Beginners – Shona O’Connor

635090 4503show?id=LKzmQGcauXs&bids=1060092
Botanical Skin Care Course Leaderboard1
pile of 3 pretty golden brown soap bars

Turmeric and Cinnamon Soap Recipe

This is a recipe for a deliciously fragrant and fun cinnamon soap enriched with shea butter and colored with turmeric. Be aware that, when containing spices, the soap might turn skin irritant to very sensitive skins. Please, make a skin test with this soap before using it.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Weight: 1 Kg (35,20 oz)
Lye Concentration: 28%
Superfat: 5%
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Method: Cold Process
Cosmetic: Soap Bar
Servings: 10 soap bars
Author: Sofia Matias
Cost: $10 – $40 / 8€ – 32€

Instructions

Get Ready!

  • Wear goggles and gloves! Look at “Safety Precautions” in the video above or in Soap Making Safety Precautions
  • Watch the video above about "Cold Process Soap Making Tutorial" or read the post Learn To Make Cold Process Soap for instructions on cold process soap making before starting. These are generic but important steps for all recipes.
    Pouring essential oils into soap batter
  • Assemble everything: ingredients, equipment, safety equipment. Prepare your workstations. Measure all the ingredients. Don’t start the recipe without having everything ready!
    soapmaking-workspace-preparation

Heat the Oils

  • Heat the oils until the solid oils are completely melted (it is not necessary to heat all the time).
    Heating soaping oils in a microwave

Prepare the Lye Water

  • Make the lye solution according to How To Make Lye Water. Add the turmeric to the water before making the solution. Mix it until the vapors start to dissipate.
    Everything is ready to make lye water adding turmeric as a natural colorant
  • Measure and add the turmeric to the lye water, and mix well. If necessary, use a whisker. There should be no clumps and lye water will turn dark yellow/light brownish.
    Lye water with turmeric - the lye water is orange-brown
  • Optional step – If you wish to have decorative dark spots on your soap: before adding the turmeric, stir the lye water very well until there are NO visible lye crystals. Then add the turmeric and mix with a spoon or whisker to avoid turmeric clumps. You can then skip the step of straining the lye water to have the turmeric spice floating on your soap. You can also add a teaspoon of turmeric later with after trace ingredients.
    soap making lye water
  • Strain your lye water into the oils to catch all the turmeric and any remaining undissolved lye crystals.
    pouring orange colored lye water into oils

Make the Soap Batter

  • Use as a target temperature 40ºC for the oil-solution mixture. If necessary, you can reheat the oils, but not the lye solution. Reach trace with the immersion blender.
    A batch of turmeric and cinnamon soap batter at middle trace
  • Add the extract and essential oil(s) after tracing and stir with just a spoon. Cinnamon essential oil is known to accelerate trace so be aware, the mixture can turn solid very quickly, although I didn't have that experience.
    Pouring essential oils into soap batter

Molding and Cutting

  • Pour the soap batter into the large soap mold and, if you wish, make some effects on the top of the dough with a spoon, spatula or fork (see video or chapter above "Creating Effects on Your Soap")
    soap designs
  • Sprinkle the dough with alcohol or witch hazel. Cover it with a transparent film.
    bulk bar of turmeric soap inside a wooden mold
  • Now you need to insulate the large mold, so that the soap gels uniformly. You can cover it all around with a blanket or a thick towel. You can also use your oven: pre-heat the oven with 40ºC. Turn it off then place the loaf mold inside. See chapter above "Using a Soap Loaf Mold"
    NOTE: this is not an optional step, if you don't insulate your loaf soap mold the soap will gel in the center and not in the extremities. You will get a dark round mark on your soap. However, if this happens, the soap is perfectly good to use, the problem is purely visual and nothing else.
    insulated-soap-mold-with-wool-case
  • Wait 48 hours, keeping an eye on the hardness of the soap.
    bulk bar of turmeric soap inside a wooden mold
  • Unmold the soap and cut it into bars. See How To Cure Soap, in the chapter "Unmoulding And Cutting Soap" for more detail on how to cut soap.
    cutting soap from bulk bar
  • Let the bars cure for 4 to 6 weeks. See How To Cure Soap.
    turmeric-and-cinnamon-soap-cut-in-small-bars-and-curing

Video

Tried this recipe?Send a pic to @herbalcochete!

6 thoughts on “Turmeric And Cinnamon Soap Recipe”

  1. I have used tumeric for cooking and I know it is also use for medicinal purposes. I never knew tumeric could be used for making soap. I was a bit wowed reading this article. You also mentioned cinnamon being used in soap too. This is really nice. I feel so glad getting to know all these. Thanks for this creative write up.

    • Hello Nelson and thanks for your comment.

      Turmeric does have some medicinal properties, but in soapmaking is used mainly as a natural colorant. It’s debatable if herbs and spices’ medicinal properties survive the saponification chemical reaction. Again, maybe some of its properties do survive the saponification. We know that calendula petals color resists saponification, so why not other properties from other herbs and spices? There is just lack of enough scientific studies to prove it.

      Still, cinnamon scent and turmeric color makes for a pretty and scenty soap!

      Enjoy this recipe and let me know how it went for you!

      Cheers,

      Sofia

  2. Thank you very much for giving us this nice cinnamon and turmeric soap recipe. I will surprise my family today by preparing it. I checked it out in it seemed super easy to prepare and I like that it takes less than to hour to prepare and cook. This is the type of recipes I like!

    • Hello and thanks for your comment.

      Yes, this is one of my favorite soap recipes, I really like cinnamon scent.

      Cheers,
      Sofia

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