herbs and flowers in soap

[SubLowe]

so we have a lot of mint, lavender, basil, thyme and a blooming honeysuckle bush and hibiscus flowers. ive been drying mints here and there thinking i can add them to tea , maybe to soap. but today i picked a bunch of honeysuckles, bruised the petals and added avocado oil to infuse them in. i just made an order for more oil and that and almond was the only oil i had on hand so i chose that one. what can i do with my live mints and lavenders and basil and thyme and dried hibiscus flowers? someone mentioned using mint in tea and then adding.

what would you do if you had all these on hand?

 

[carolyntn]

How nice to have such lovely herbs and flowers in your garden! You could dry the lavender buds, hibiscus and honeysuckle flowers and sprinkle them on top of your soap for decoration. You could dry the basil and thyme and use them in an oil infusion - might make a nice "Garden Herb Soap". I would never add fresh herbs to soap as they could mold and most dried herbs will turn brown in soap. Also, no scent will come through the saponification process. I have some dried peppermint leaves that are infusing in oil now and I plan on making a tea with more dried peppermint leaves to make a "Triple Mint Soap" - scented with peppermint and spearmint eo's.
Carolyn

 

[Fragola]

I've just used fresh mint leaves for both tea and oil infusion. Both soaps are minty, the oil infusion a bit more.

 

[SubLowe]

I've just used fresh mint leaves for both tea and oil infusion. Both soaps are minty, the oil infusion a bit more.

which oil did you infuse the mint leafs in? we have soo many mint plants, we have peppermint, spearmint, citrus mint, apple mint, chocolate mint and lemon balm i think we have more mint plants too. i want to make a minty soap with no FO added though. how many leafs would i put in the oil to infuse? fill up a mason jar then add oil? how much oil ? lol sorry i dont know where all these questions poured out of, they just kept coming as i was writing

 

[lsg]

I would dry all I could of your flowers and herbs. You can make sachet bags, potpourri and put them in large tea bags for bath teas. If you want to use them fresh, the only thing I can think of is using them to make infusions and tinctures.

 

[SubLowe]

I would dry all I could of your flowers and herbs. You can make sachet bags, potpourri and put them in large tea bags for bath teas. If you want to use them fresh, the only thing I can think of is using them to make infusions and tinctures.

i just purchased a dehydrator for fruit rolls up im making for my daughter and there are pictures and instructions on how to dry herbs. i think i will dry some herbs in that and see how that works. i have never thought of bath teas! what a great idea!!! i only want to make one or two batches of mint soap, and we have a lot of herbs so maybe i will try making a batch tea. do you have any good links for recipes on how to make them? i could add all kinds of good for your skin stuff in there. hmmm

 

[lsg]

Here is the method used shown on the Soap Queen blog, you can make up your own blend.

http://www.soapqueen.com/personal-rambl ... ath-tea-2/

Here is one using bath salts:

http://www.pvsoap.com/recipe_greentea.htm

and finally:
http://www.elementsbathandbody.com/recipes

 

[Fragola]

which oil did you infuse the mint leafs in?

Olive, but I don't think it matters.

how many leafs would i put in the oil to infuse? fill up a mason jar then add oil? how much oil ?

Yes, something like this. Fill a jar with mints and cover them with oil.

 

[dcornett]

Here is the method used shown on the Soap Queen blog, you can make up your own blend.

http://www.soapqueen.com/personal-rambl ... ath-tea-2/

Here is one using bath salts:

http://www.pvsoap.com/recipe_greentea.htm

and finally:
http://www.elementsbathandbody.com/recipes

Love, love these links!! I love growing and using herbs every chance I get and I absloutley love the bath tea idea...thanks for sharing these!