Simple Soap Design: Olive Oil Soap Recipe

This is a recipe of a 100% olive oil soap with oatmeal to learn how to make a simple soap design on top of rectangular soaps. Two designs are shown: small leaves and swirls. THe natural colorant used is activated charcoal. The recipe is very simple, and the soap is unscented, although you may add an essential oil such as lavender.

Difficulty: Easy

Weight: 900g (31,75 oz)

Superfat: 6%

Lye Concentration: 30%

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Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 40

Total Time: 1

Method: Cold Process

Cosmetic: Soap Bar

Servings: soap bars

Author: Sofia Matias

Cost: $4.3 / 4€

Equipment

Ingredients

Lye Water

Oils/Fat

900 g extra virgin olive oil

Add After Trace

15 drops grapefruit seed extract (GSE) (anti-oxidant)
14 g colloidal oat powder
0,25 tsp activated charcoal

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.
Assemble everything: ingredients, equipment, safety equipment. Prepare your workstations. Measure all the ingredients. Don’t start the recipe without having everything ready!

Preparing the colorant

After measuring your oils, remove 1 tbsp of liquid oil and mix it well with the activated charcoal to avoid clumps.

Make the Lye Water

Make the lye solution according to How To Make Lye Water. Add fine salt or sodium lactate to help harden and set the soap. Mix it until the vapors start to dissipate.

Make the Soap Batter

Use as target temperature room temperature (25ºC) for the oil-solution mixture. This will help slow down trace. Lye can be hotter than the olive oil, but the lye and oil should not have a difference of more than 10º between them.
Mix oil and lye with the immersion blender.
Reach trace with the immersion blender. Stck blend for around 10 minutes to reach light trace.

After Trace Ingredients

Add the extract and oatmeal after tracing. Mix with a spoon or spatula. Just use the stick blender if you are finding lumps.

Molding

Retrieve 2 tbsp of soap batter aside to a small bowl (this can be eye balled) and add the activated charcoal. Mix well until you have a black soap batter.
Pour the dough in the molds.

Making Small Leaves

Using a wooden stick or spoon, drop small drops of black soap over the creamy soap tops. Then, using the wooden stick sharp point, draw a semi circle, "cutting" the black drop of soap. Make as much leaves as you want.

Making Swirls

This technique is one of the easiest to make swirls on soap. Draw a line of black soap in the middle of the soap surface, along the soap length. If the soap is too thick to be poured, use a spoon. Then, using the wooden stick, draw big slim "S" along the soap. Finish with lines along the length of the soap.
I have taken advantage of the soap batter getting pasty and also made some textures using the wooden stick. Just draw circles up and down the soap, bringing the creamy soap batter upwards.

Curing

Sprinkle the soap with alcohol at the end to avoid soda ash. Letting the soap set for 3-4 days also helps.
Learn how to clean all equipment with How to Clean Soap Making Equipment.
Unmold and let the bars cure for 8 weeks minimum, or more. See How To Cure Soap and How Do You Store Homemade Soap? Enjoy your soaps!!

Video

Tried this recipe?Send a pic to @herbalcochete!