Soap Queens Calendula Cleansing bar Recipe

[Jaccart789]

Has anyone made Soap Queens Calendula Cleansing Bar recipe? I have her newest book and found the video. I am concerned of the values I get, and wondering if this is a nice bar? I realize sometimes the best bars might have the craziest values. However, the title says cleansing...the values show-- not so much. Anyone with experience with this bar and do they like it?

The recipe calls for:
5.2 Lye
13.4 distilled water
10 ounces calendula infused s. almond oil
30 ounces olive oil

2.3 ounces of lemongrass essential oil
.5-.8 ounces of calendula petals or 1 cup volume


Values on Soap Calc.:

Soap Bar Quality Range
Hardness 29 - 54
Cleansing 12 - 22
Cond 44 - 69
Bubbly 14 - 46
Creamy 16 - 48
Iodine 41 - 70
INS 136 - 165

This Recipe:
Hardness 15
Cleansing 0
Conditioning 84
Bubbly 0
Creamy 15
Iodine 89
INS 103


the video:
[ame]https://vimeo.com/71913954[/ame]

 

[Rowan]

My husband bought me the same book for Christmas last year and I made this soap straight away after running it through soapcalc. I must admit it's my least favourite bar ever. The figures on soapcalc can be misleading. They are based on calculations of the fatty acid profile of the oils you are using. Other more experienced people will be able to explain more about the science of this than I can! Suffice it to say soaps with a cleansing value of 0 are still cleansing.

Even after a year this soap makes my skin feel very dry and tight. It's not lye heavy and it doesn't zap, but hasn't become milder like my castille/bastille type soaps have. Although its now quite a hard bar, even at a year, it's really difficult to get a lather. The calendula leaves on top feel really odd when you first use it. They also drag through the soap when you cut it. I learnt the hard way to turn it upside down when cutting to stop this happening!

I can't think of a single positive thing to say about this recipe, except that everyone's skin responds differently to different soaps and that someone else may really like this soap.

 

[Jaccart789]

Rowan...Thank you! I truly appreciate it! I think I am going to do one of my recipes and infuse the almond oil and add mix it up some. I REALLY appreciate your answer.

 

[newbie]

I am not a huge fan of bastiles and I love lots of lather so I would personally not be interested in this recipe. I also hate waiting for months on end to try out castiles/bastiles but I do have some aging because some people love them. AS Rowan said, all soap cleanses but you might get a bar you like better if you tweak a recipe with oils you have using soap calc as a starter. DO you have a recipe you've used before?

 

[KristaY]

I've made it and I have 2 family members that keep requesting it. I've changed it a bit over time but not a lot. For example I infuse the calendula in olive oil, then use 50% OO and 50% RBO. I also have a friend that has a 5 y/o who reacts badly to every OTC soap she's tried. When she uses this soap she has no hives, redness or itching. For my very sensitive family and friends, this is my go-to recipe. I make 3 separate scents for them too - lavender, lemongrass & tea tree. Just so they can change it up and not get too bored, lol.

 

[Jaccart789]

I am not a huge fan of bastiles and I love lots of lather so I would personally not be interested in this recipe. I also hate waiting for months on end to try out castiles/bastiles but I do have some aging because some people love them. AS Rowan said, all soap cleanses but you might get a bar you like better if you tweak a recipe with oils you have using soap calc as a starter. DO you have a recipe you've used before?

Oh yes... I have several recipes, but I never tried a predominately olive oil soap and I wanted to find out what was the consensus. I decided to create another recipe with infused almond oil for the calendula that I want to use and to experiment. I have been infusing for a couple of hours, so I will soap it tomorrow.

I appreciate all your help and your thoughts!
Jaclyn

 

[Jaccart789]

I've made it and I have 2 family members that keep requesting it. I've changed it a bit over time but not a lot. For example I infuse the calendula in olive oil, then use 50% OO and 50% RBO. I also have a friend that has a 5 y/o who reacts badly to every OTC soap she's tried. When she uses this soap she has no hives, redness or itching. For my very sensitive family and friends, this is my go-to recipe. I make 3 separate scents for them too - lavender, lemongrass & tea tree. Just so they can change it up and not get too bored, lol.

Thank you Krista! This might be a good one for a baby. I am working on baby number one so this will be something I will keep in my notes. Do you think it would be nice for a baby, minus the fragrance?

 

[KristaY]

Thank you Krista! This might be a good one for a baby. I am working on baby number one so this will be something I will keep in my notes. Do you think it would be nice for a baby, minus the fragrance?

Absolutely! You reminded me I made this recipe just for babies. I had a few baby showers to attend this past summer so made a bunch in the shapes of bugs and frogs. I did scent them with lavender EO at about 2-3%. When I first made this recipe I noticed a lot of concave shrinking with the bars which just looked weird. To fix the problem I used 33% in the "lye concentration" box of soap calc. Worked like a charm!

 

[Jaccart789]

Absolutely! You reminded me I made this recipe just for babies. I had a few baby showers to attend this past summer so made a bunch in the shapes of bugs and frogs. I did scent them with lavender EO at about 2-3%. When I first made this recipe I noticed a lot of concave shrinking with the bars which just looked weird. To fix the problem I used 33% in the "lye concentration" box of soap calc. Worked like a charm!

Oh thank you! I also appreciate your usage rates on what you used for lavender essential oil.

Edit...for clarification.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Bear in mind, some parent won't use soap (and certainly not soap with EOs) on a very young child. Lots of discussion one way or the other, but if you are targeting something for being used on babies, please make sure you know what you are doing.

While I don't imagine anyone in this thread so far would do this, I can imagine someone somewhere thinking "Well, I can make this soap. 3% EO? Okay, well my daughter loves Clove, so I'll make a soap for my grandchild with 3% clove EO"

That said, while I think a unscented would be fine, I would think hard before using any scent on a baby.

ETA - I wonder if she was being ironic when she called it a cleansing bar...............?

 

[Jaccart789]

No this would be for my own baby, and most likely would not use essential oil, and if I did then I would do much research. I have a million books and the internet at my finger tips...ohh and plus you all.

But good information for those who might be thinking about making a baby line.

 

[abc]

I just got the Soap Queen's book from the library. I ran a few recipes through soapcalc. I'm just wondering if ANY of her recipes make a nice bar of soap? LOL :shifty:

 

[Jaccart789]

I just got the Soap Queen's book from the library. I ran a few recipes through soapcalc. I'm just wondering if ANY of her recipes make a nice bar of soap? LOL :shifty:

Lol... I purchased her book, not for recipes, but for techniques and ideas. Plus I love books and have collection of soap books.

I like to soap with my own formulas as I am very particular about what I put on my skin. However, this was one recipe that I was considering because I never made a predominately OO soap. I reformulated it to my liking as I like to use the values that SOAP Calc comes up with and after what some other users said, I wasn't willing to take a chance. It works for me.

 

[snappyllama]

I've made bars with calendula tea in place of water (just brew the petals in distilled water and strain). My sieve isn't terribly fine so I get little specks. The soap feels very gentle. I did the same when I made pine tar soap. You could use tea with any recipe. Word of warning: don't microwave distilled water as it can super-heat and explode.

For the one your one posted from the book, I doubt I would like that very much since I'm not a fan of high OO soaps. Their lather feels a little slimy to me, but maybe it's my hard water...

 

[Jaccart789]

I've made bars with calendula tea in place of water (just brew the petals in distilled water and strain). My sieve isn't terribly fine so I get little specks. The soap feels very gentle. I did the same when I made pine tar soap. You could use tea with any recipe. Word of warning: don't microwave distilled water as it can super-heat and explode.

For the one your one posted from the book, I doubt I would like that very much since I'm not a fan of high OO soaps. Their lather feels a little slimy to me, but maybe it's my hard water...

Thank you for all the tips!!! :clap:

 

[hud]

For the one your one posted from the book, I doubt I would like that very much since I'm not a fan of high OO soaps. Their lather feels a little slimy to me, but maybe it's my hard water...

The OO soaps lather greatly when cured enough , I cure mine for one year at least, my water is hard I have no problem.

 

[snappyllama]

The OO soaps lather greatly when cured enough , I cure mine for one year at least, my water is hard I have no problem.

I'll try to give it more time. I think it had 40% and it's been curing for about 3 months. My other recipes are all in 20ish % which I like a lot better after a short month or two.

On a semi-related note... I'm hopefully getting a water softener soon! As much as I love the taste of Colorado mountain well water, I think I'll love not having constant mineral deposits to worry over. I finally convinced DH that it will be a good time to get one when we renovate the utility room to have an on-demand water heater and de-uglify it.

 

[Rowan]

I'm not usually a fan of high OO soaps either. After much trial and error I discovered that my skin finds them drying. I found that the addition of either oats (or oat milk if you don't like the exfoliation) and honey and castor soil makes a huge difference. There's no slimyness, it bubbles amazingly and although it still needs a long cure, it's very mild and soft on the skin. We have very hard water too and I would love to have a water softener. It would be great to hear if it made a difference when you use your soap.

I might try oat milk, calendula and honey next time and see how that works.

 

[cmzaha]

Soap Queen, in my opinion, is not really a soapmaker. She is a supplier that like recipes with expensive oils and ingredients so you can do 1 click and add all in your shopping basket. Marketing at it's finest...

 

[hud]

I'll try to give it more time. I think it had 40% and it's been curing for about 3 months. My other recipes are all in 20ish % which I like a lot better after a short month or two.

On a semi-related note... I'm hopefully getting a water softener soon! As much as I love the taste of Colorado mountain well water, I think I'll love not having constant mineral deposits to worry over. I finally convinced DH that it will be a good time to get one when we renovate the utility room to have an on-demand water heater and de-uglify it.

I visited Colorado mountain and fell in love with it, hope you get everything done in the best way. Wish you great luck with your soap.