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* 8 oz weight cocoa butter
* 5 oz weight palm oil
* 3 oz weight castor oil
* 2.2 oz weight lye
* 1 cup cold milk (full fat)
* 1 cup water
* 1 tablespoon essential oil (based upon the magical intent for the soap)
* 1 tablespoon dried herbs (based upon the magical intent for the soap)
Note - make sure the essential oil and herbs are skin compatable. Nothing too rough either.
Heat all the fats on the stove top until the solids have become liquid, and then pour into the blender with the essential oil and herbs. Because this is the Equinox, and the Solstice is on the horizon, so to speak, why not think about making Sun King or Earth Goddess soap using the oils and blends from the Aromatherapy section in last issue and this one? Or you could make a Winter King blend with pine....Maybe even a spiritually uplifting blend to help your household combat the winter blues?
Back to soap making. Mix the milk into the water, add the lye, and add
to the blender as well. Secure the blender in position, put the lid on, and process at the lowest speed for about 30 seconds, or until the mixture looks smooth and a uniform colour.
{Note - if you have made soap before, you will probably be expecting
to check for tracing (when the passage of the spoon through the liquid
soap momentarily leaves a fine line behind it). This will not occur with this recipe.}
When you stop the blender, wait a moment before opening it. Sometimes
the soap will "burp". Then pour it into prepared moulds (either small
individual ones, or use larger ones and chop the soap up into bars later).
Set the moulds somewhere dark and temperate - evenly temperate - to
set. This should only take a few days, but can take longer. Cover it with a towel or blanket to help prevent sudden temperature changes. Once the soap is firm and dry, freeze the moulds to help release the soap. If necessary, chop it up into individual blocks, before setting it out to age. Lay the soap out on baking paper (temperate zone, no moisture) to age for 3 weeks. Put the towel over the soap again!
When the soap is aged it should be dry, firm, and just like soap! If you are so inclined, you can dedicate or bless it to meet your magical intent. You might like to offer a sliver from the first bar to your god/s with a request that they bless the soap too.
To add herbs to soap:
Dried herbs - use 1 tablespoon to 1/4 cup of finely powdered herbs per
1 pound of soap. Add to the fat before adding the lye. Fresh herbs - use 1-2 tablespoons finely chopped herbs per 1 pound of soap. Add to the fat before adding the lye.
To add essential oils to soap:
Add between 1 teaspoon and 2 tablespoons oil or oil blend to the fats
before adding the lye.
To superfat soap:
Adding an extra 2-4 tablespoons fat to the recipe makes "superfat" soap - this is moisture rich and good for delicate or dry skin. Emollient-type fats (such as castor oil) as it will create a moisture-rich soap. It also alleviates the issue of potentially using too much lye. You can also reduce the lye by 2 oz. There is a myth that some soap is "lye-free" making it safer for use. In reality all soap should be fat-free when finished as the process of making the soap does this. However no soap can be made without the lye in the initial stages. The lye's reaction with the fats is what create the
"soap" and its ability to clean. In this reaction, the lye is removed. When too much lye is used (such as in a recipe where the ratio of fat to lye is miscalculated) then the soap will not form properly. The easiest solution in all cases is to aim for superfat soap - increase your fat and ensure that all the lye is thus used up.
To emboss soap:
Use oven baked clay to create the image or symbol you want to emboss
your soap with. Dry and bake it and then use a little glue to fasten the shape to the base of each mould. If you are making a large mould to be chopped up later, divide it up with lines to create rough "soap" shapes and place the embossing-shapes in the centre of each. Lightly coat each embossing-shape with Vaseline. When you pour in the soap, it will take on the shape and set that way. After you take it out of the mould, turn it up so the embossing is on the top before you chop it up.
Rich Moisturising Herbal Soap
Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time.
~Deborah Chaskin
Most historians believe monks or craftsmen in Pisa (or perhaps Venice), Italy produced the first form of eyeglasses around 1285-1289. The magnifying lenses for reading were set into bone, metal, or leather mountings, shaped like two small magnifying glasses with the handles riveted together to form an inverted "V" shape that could be balanced on the bridge of the nose.
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