Is This an OK Recipe?

[ilovesoap2]

Still trying to make my first batch. Should this be ok?

olive oil 50%
palm oil 25%
beef tallow 15%
castor 10%

super fat 5%

This is for problem skin that breaks out easily so no color or
fragrance. I'm using the palm oil because I have it here a few
months for eating but I hate the taste and smell so just using
it up. In the future it would be coconut oil.

2 items I would like to work in are bentonite clay and glycerin, any thoughts?

Thanks for your help.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

First off, the oils and lye combine to make soap and a by-product is glycerin - 25% of your end product will be glycerin, so no need to add it later.

Secondly, did you mean Palm Kernal Oil? Palm oil and coconut oil are very different things - but Palm Kernal oil and CO are very similar.

And welcome!

 

[seven]

This is only for body soap, right? For facial soaps, perhaps lower the coconut or don't use it at all.
I like palm, it makes a hard soap and creamy lather. It has no smell at all once it's soap.

 

[cmzaha]

I would guess she is using palm oil not pko, since palm is usually used for cooking. I see no mention of using co. Yes this recipe would be fine it just will not give a high bubbly soap. Bubbles don't clean anyway! You will get a hard long lasting bar of soap mild bar of soap that you may just love. Problem skin just does not need a high cleansing soap and I do not use coconut in my trouble skin facial bars, or if I do it is a very low percenatage. I like to keep my myristic and lauric total under 5 in facial bars

 

[AnnaMarie]

The recipe itself looks fine, you just may have a soft soap given the high percentage of olive and castor oil. The percentage of Palm may be enough to offset this however. I find if I keep my "hard" oils at at least 50% then my soap stays hard and doesn't get mushy in the shower, but nothing tried nothing gained though. It may work out great for you.
Cheers!
Anna Marie

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I would guess she is using palm oil not pko, since palm is usually used for cooking. I see no mention of using co. .....

That was my thinking - changing from palm to CO at a later stage would send the cleansing through the roof, so if it's for a sensitive face I would also consider not changing to CO one you've used all of the PO

 

[shunt2011]

As stated your recipe should be fine. Have you run your recipe through a soap calc? You can get a very basic idea what the soap will be like. Once you start using coconut I wouldn't exceed 25% as then it will be very cleansing. I generally stay between 10-22% depending on what I'm looking for in my soap. Give it a try and see how you like it as you can always adjust your next batches going forward.

 

[ilovesoap2]

First off, the oils and lye combine to make soap and a by-product is glycerin - 25% of your end product will be glycerin, so no need to add it later.

Secondly, did you mean Palm Kernal Oil? Palm oil and coconut oil are very different things - but Palm Kernal oil and CO are very similar.

And welcome!

Thank you so much for taking the time. It shouldn't be pko, the bottle just says 100% pure unrefined red palm oil. Thanks for the info on the glycerin,
I've just seen other recipes with it where they said for extra moisture?
I'll leave it out.

 

[ilovesoap2]

@seven Thank you.
it will be a facial bar so like others have said will pay attention
to amount if any of coconut going forward.

 

[ilovesoap2]

Yes this recipe would be fine it just will not give a high bubbly soap. Bubbles don't clean anyway! You will get a hard long lasting bar of soap mild bar of soap that you may just love. Problem skin just does not need a high cleansing soap and I do not use coconut in my trouble skin facial bars, or if I do it is a very low percenatage. I like to keep my myristic and lauric total under 5 in facial bars

aaahhh, where did my bubbles go? I would not want to use any more castor. Also, the calculator shows myristic at 6 and lauric at 12. I see you
and AnnaMarieSoaps disagree on hardness/softness? I'll go back to the calc can hopefully bring down the lauric #. Thanks for your help.

 

[ilovesoap2]

The recipe itself looks fine, you just may have a soft soap given the high percentage of olive and castor oil. The percentage of Palm may be enough to offset this however. I find if I keep my "hard" oils at at least 50% then my soap stays hard and doesn't get mushy in the shower, but nothing tried nothing gained though. It may work out great for you.
Cheers!
Anna Marie

I'm going to tweak a little. Will see how it goes. Thanks for helping me.

 

[rizzo1267]

Dont for get to add all your oils. Forgot one in my first batch and had to shred it, melt it, and add the oil. Good luck on your first soap.

 

[ilovesoap2]

I see that a lot, folks forgetting to use an item.
I can see me doing it as it happens to me in
cooking sometimes. I've even forgotten to add
salt

@shunt2011
I am using a calculator and I wish coconut
was not so much a bad guy. What do you use
in place of coconut for good cleansing?

 

[seven]

Whoops sorry, i must've misread your recipe. I tot there was coconut mentioned. My bad, sleep deprived from finishing a 200 pcs order in just 1,5 day. My eyes are playing with me!

I dont have much experience with making facial soaps, only did 2 batches so far, but to answer your question about coconut oil substitute for the cleansing value, the answer is pko.

When i did my facial soaps, i put beeswax and stearic acid for hardness. They're supposed to be non comedogenic. You can always just put either beeswax or stearic.

 

[shunt2011]

I use coconut and love it in my soap, just don't go too high. I generally use up to 22% in my formulas. It's not bad, it's just known to be more cleansing/drying to the skin in higher percentages. Try some small batches with different levels of CO and see how you like them. I started out higher when I was new but have formulated a few recipes that I feel are right for my skin and my customers. Have fun and see where it takes you.

 

[ilovesoap2]

I feel somewhat silly asking for help but not making sure I have all my facts straight

I just realized that I had ran coconut through the calculator and not palm and that's why the lauric and myristic numbers were so high.

This is for oily face so I need some cleansing and the following gives me the min. 12 for cleansing, 7 for lauric and 5 for myristic.

I'll be doing the following % unless you guys tell me otherwise.
oo 32
palm 10
tallow 32
castor 12
coconut 14