Is this to complicated?

[Miha Engblom]

I have been trying many oils in different combinations and I always have this tendency to mix everything I have at home into my soaps. I want to start selling soap so I am trying to design something nice that I am going to mass produce in the future. I will not use any colorants in my soaps , they will be just simple plain bars, so I guess the only thing that will make my soap special are the oils I use and the EOs
This is the recipe I tried today...

coconut oil 20%
avocado oil 15%
Sesame oil 10%
shea butter 10%
almond oil 10%
cocoa butter 10%
palm oil 10%
mango seed butter 10%
stearic acid 3%
beeswax 2%
SF 8%
Hardness 47,
cleansing 14,
conditioning 50,
bubbly 14,
creamy 32

What do you think?

 

[AnnaMarie]

If it makes a soap that you love and other people love then it's not too complicated. You have a lot of nice ingredients, so I have to imagine that it will turn out nice.
Cheers!
Anna Marie

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

You are combining many things that are similar, so you could drop some out if you wanted to.

Beeswax & steric, for example - you are essentially adding in two hardening agents there.

Palm oil is very similar to shea butter and quite similar to cocoa butter, so you could also drop those % down to 5 and add 10 to the palm, for example.

 

[new12soap]

IMO yes. Take a look at each oil and think about the specific qualities it brings to the soap. If you understand every one of your ingredients and exactly what it is you are going for, I think you will find you can accomplish it much more simply.

Try making a very basic recipe as a small test batch, then change one thing at a time. That will tell you if the differences are even noticeable or worth it. For instance make a batch with 65% olive oil, 25% coconut oil, and 10% cocoa butter, then replace the cocoa butter with 10% mango in another batch and see what if any difference you notice. With another one you can replace 10% or so with the sesame oil, then the avocado, etc.

HTH

 

[judymoody]

Is it too complicated? Yes, especially if you want to see some day. Do you really want to measure small quantities of seven oils every time you make a batch? Stearic is also tricky to use.

So, I'd eliminate the stearic and the sesame oil.
I'd pick one butter (cocoa, shea, or mango) not all three, and I'd use that butter at 10%
I'd divide the 30% that has been freed up between the palm oil and either the sweet almond or avocado oil.

So:

CO: 20%
butter of choice 10%
PO: 25%
Avo: 20%
Sweet almond: 25%

 

[Miha Engblom]

Yesterday I made 100% sesame oil soap CPOP just to test the oil , and I really have to say that it feels super great. From zen single oil soap swap they say also that sesame makes a great soap that bubbles.

 

[shunt2011]

I agree that you have way too much going on in a soap if you are planning on selling at some point. You also need to look at the cost of producing your product so that you can price it reasonably and not at 10.00 a bar just to make a bit of money. You need to then add in packing etc...judymoody gave some really good advice and you should give it a try then you can tweak it a bit until you have something you are happy with.

 

[Miha Engblom]

Today I bought some home made soap for 9.60 Euros 120g or at least something around 9 euros... the shape was a little bit strange( definitely not strait cuts) ... It was a milk and honey soap..., and the ingredients were: palm oil, coconut oil, organic canola oil, cacao butter, castor oil , Fragrance oil, milk and honey.
I think they sell pretty well also... people like them...

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I wonder why they used Canola over OO....................?

 

[seven]

I wonder why they used Canola over OO....................?

cost efficient prolly? not too sure about the prices of oils in europe, but over here in asia, canola is cheaper than olive.

 

[Miha Engblom]

I just made some maths and if i buy all ingredients except for mango butter(my provider is not having organic mango butter) as organic butters and oils, and add the lye price, 100g unscented bar would cost me 1.41 euros. So the oils are not to expensive.... At least not for an almost organic luxury bar .
Just to make clear, I calculated the price for the recipe I posted first.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Is that the original or the revised version? Not too bad a cost per bar - is that including time?

 

[Miha Engblom]

I just calculated the oils and lye price for an unscented bar from my complicated recipe that i posted first. Actually I am not wanting anything complicated only something bubbly that would be so mild that i would not need to use hand cream in the winter. But I do not know if this is achievable ....