question about a recipe

[monique]

Hi everyone
I am trying to put a recipe together and I am wondering if someone could tell me if it is a good one. I am pretty new at this and don't want to waste oils if it can be prevented. This forum is so helpful and grateful to have found it.
Here is the recipe:

Olive Oil- 40%
Coconut Oil (76)- 25%
Palm Kernel Flakes- 20%
Shea Butter- 10%
Castor Oil- 5%

Super fat 5%
Lye Concentration 33%

Any advice would be appreciated

 

[galaxyMLP]

You're looking at a recipe with 45% "bubbly" oils. That would be waaaay to cleansing for me. Rule of thumb is usually no more than 30% of those oils. Most like between 10-20% and I'm an odd one who likes less than 5%.

You will want to add a "hard" oil to the mix like lard, palm or tallow.

Otherwise, the lye conc, Shea butter, olive oil, and castor oil amount look good to me.

 

[Sonya-m]

For me personally that's a little too much coconut, I would up the PKO by 10% and reduce the CO to 15% but that's just because I find more than 15% CO drying to my skin

 

[monique]

Thank you. I was not sure. So lowering the coconut, right? What about the palm kernel flakes...get rid of it all together? and add palm oil?
I am about to share one more for opinions...
coconut 30%
olive 30%
palm 20%
PKO 10%
Shea 10%

Suggestions?
Sonya-m,
Just saw your post about dropping the coconut oil...I just had heard it was ok up to 30% from different things I have read which is why I am asking opinions here.

 

[topofmurrayhill]

I am about to share one more for opinions...
coconut 30%
olive 30%
palm 20%
PKO 10%
Shea 10%

Suggestions?

As far as your original recipe is concerned, I think maybe your intent would be more like 20% palm oil rather than 20% palm kernel oil. The best way to think of it is that coconut oil and palm kernel oil are interchangeable and essentially the same thing. So your first recipe has the equivalent of 45% coconut oil. That is too much.

So as you can see, your second recipe has the same problem if you add up the coconut and palm kernel oil.

People will all tell you to use their favorite amount of coconut oil. The actual fact is that anything between 0% and 30% is perfectly fine. You can decide later what you like or what works well in your recipes. 30% CO in one recipe is not necessarily the same as 30% CO in another recipe.

However, for the time being don't go over 30% CO + PKO. There are only special cases where you do that.

 

[Obsidian]

You generally want to keep your coconut and/or palm kernel oil around 20%. If you want both in your recipe, try 10% of each. I like a bit more hard oil in my soap and less olive. Something like this

Palm oil 40%
Olive 25%
Shea 10%
coconut 10%
PKO 10%
castor 5%

 

[monique]

I think I was confused about the role PKO plays.
Thank you for clearing that up.
I'm trying..