Super-Premium Soap?

[BrewerGeorge]

Has anyone made soap without price constraints?

I'm generally a pretty frugal person and that carries over to my soap making. I use a lot of shortening; I use FOs mostly. Avocado and castor are as "premium" as I typically get.

But I'm considering making a facial bar where price is no object. Something just for me, and maybe a kid or two if they're nice to me. Since the oil cleansing method revelation my previous facial bars are focused on things that I no longer want. I now want something that's relatively low cleansing and high SF, using EOs with therapeutic benefits.

I'm only beginning to have the first glimmers of an idea and am not even close to a finalized recipe, but I'm thinking of things like Tamanu and jojoba oil as SF (using an HP process to control SF). All-veg recipe so I can share it with my vegan daughter: palm/palm kernel, lowish coconut, middling olive, middling avocado, bit of castor. Maybe work some walnut in there somewhere. Carrot seed EO, Cedarwood Atlas EO, something like litsea or jasmine as a top note. (Very open to suggestions for blend here...)

As you can see, this would be a quite expensive soap. My main question for the collective before I go any further down this road is if you think this is even a good idea? Are those premium ingredients wasted in soap - even if it's HP? Or are they best saved for lotions and such that don't get washed off? If so, there's a middle path of picking Tamanu OR jojoba for SF and dialing back the $50 worth of EO's. I just need some help deciding which direction to move.

 

[kumudini]

Why not make a bar with low cleansing numbers and simple ingredients, you don't yet know which oils or EOs you want to use will actually suit your skin. And if you make a bar that didn't work you wouldn't know which one you should omit in a future batch. I would probably do a CP Bastille soap with things like honey or aloe to boost the bubbles, use lavender and tea tree for EOs, may be some clay/ AC as additives, lye discount of not more than 5% and allow it a nice long cure.

ETA: and the carrot seed EO is pretty expensive, I would put that into a face serum rather than in a soap bar.

 

[Arimara]

I'm afraid babassu is as premium as I will get unless I can find rice bran oil in a supermarket. Though I guess cocoa butter and shea butter can be considered premium, I can get them within 30 minutes

 

[dixiedragon]

Jasmine Absolute is $25 for 1/8 oz at Camden Grey.

I'm actually making some super premium solid perfume for my family members this Christmas. I'm using floral wax and real sandalwood EO. IMO, those ingredients would be wasted in CP. Sure, if I were independently wealthy I might make myself a CP bar with sandalwood and jasmine EO. But I think you could get the same enjoyment of those rich scents with a lotion for a fraction of the cost.

If I were to make a premium bar for my skin, I'd go with ingredients like avocado oil, tea tree EO, lavender EO, Dead Sea mud.

 

[shunt2011]

I agree, you don't need the luxury oils for soap. Save the expensive stuff for leave on products. At least that's my theory. Also, for a really gentle soap try the shampoo bar recipe that's on the forum. It's pretty nice. I use shea butter and avocado. That's as luxury as I get for soap.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

The oils aren't really that big of an expense in the grand scheme. Even the Taramu would only add 75¢ per bar as a 5% superfat.

It's the EO's that suck up the cash. So then, the question becomes whether or not an EO will actually have any therapeutic properties in a wash-off product, other than immediate effects like anti-bacterial or anti-fungal.

 

[navigator9]

Cost aside, those pricey oils are not on your face long enough to make a difference, just a few seconds and then you rinse them off. If I were going to use anything fancy/expensive, I'd use it in a leave on product, like a face cream.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Cost aside, those pricey oils are not on your face long enough to make a difference, just a few seconds and then you rinse them off. If I were going to use anything fancy/expensive, I'd use it in a leave on product, like a face cream.

But the idea is that some of the SF oil is left on the skin, right?

 

[lsg]

When I first started making soap, I got caught up in using expensive oils. Now I save those very expensive oils and butters for leave-on products.

 

[GraceDarlingSoaps]

Hi Brewer George,
I agree that it is the EO's that add significantly to the cost but I think that Lavender is stunning in CP soap especially after a nice long cure. It is not one of the most expensive EO's and I think it really adds quality to the soap. I do think that even after saponification some of it's wonderful good benefits for the skin are retained such as anti inflammatory effects.
As far as oils go, I like avocado oil and shea butter for a nice moisturizing soap.
Happy Soaping
GDS

 

[kumudini]

But the idea is that some of the SF oil is left on the skin, right?

We hope it is but don't know for a fact. Logically thinking, if the soap cleanses skin grease, it should cleanse its own excess oils too. Absence of more powerful surfactants might be why handmade soaps don't strip more oils off the skin and leave it dry. But whatever it is, if you want to use tamanu oil/ kokum butter/ sal butter or what have you as a superfat and want it to work for you or your daughter, you would want to use them neat on the skin and see how it suits. I use Shea butter in my soaps, body butters, lip balms and now lotions without any issues for my own skin but when I made a HP soap and SFed with SB, it made my husband's skin break out.
Higher price doesn't garuntee great results. If you have used one such premium soap with those ingredients and it worked out really well then by all means, indulge, for you KNOW the results will be great.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Could someone please point me at the famous shampoo recipe? I've checked all the usual places without result...

 

[kumudini]

Here
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=30946&highlight=Shampoo+Lindy

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

On another note, you can't use "Palm/Palm kernel" in that way as it would be like saying "lard/coconut" - Palm and Palm kernel are very different oils for soaping with. Palm is like lard (but not as good) and palm kernel is like coconut in that it is a cleanser and bubbler.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

On another note, you can't use "Palm/Palm kernel" in that way as it would be like saying "lard/coconut" - Palm and Palm kernel are very different oils for soaping with. Palm is like lard (but not as good) and palm kernel is like coconut in that it is a cleanser and bubbler.

I actually knew they were different, but couldn't remember which was which, hence the stroke format. Thanks for setting me straight.

 

[dixiedragon]

Hi Brewer George,
I agree that it is the EO's that add significantly to the cost but I think that Lavender is stunning in CP soap especially after a nice long cure. It is not one of the most expensive EO's and I think it really adds quality to the soap. I do think that even after saponification some of it's wonderful good benefits for the skin are retained such as anti inflammatory effects.
As far as oils go, I like avocado oil and shea butter for a nice moisturizing soap.
Happy Soaping
GDS

Plus, lavender EO is not that much more expensive than an authentic smelling lavender FO.

 

[dixiedragon]

I actually knew they were different, but couldn't remember which was which, hence the stroke format. Thanks for setting me straight.

I remember it by remembering that "palm" and "lard" both have four letters and they are similar.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Plus, lavender EO is not that much more expensive than an authentic smelling lavender FO.

I just don't like lavender in my own soaps. My grandmother was a big Yardley's of London fan, and I can't get past the (literal) grandmother association. I like the scent, but as nostalgia; I don't want to use it at all. Plus, my wife doesn't like it, which trumps everything.

 

[dixiedragon]

I love lavender. It's my very fav scent. My mom hates it!

 

[songwind]

Cedar, orange, lime, bergamot, anise, and a few other EOs aren't terribly expensive but make for very nice smelling soap.