Three ingredient soap recipe- Avocado, coconut, cocoa

[Maaki]

Hello guys. Im new to the forum and first post here . Im somewhat of a newbie and I am planning on making a very m̶o̶i̶s̶t̶u̶r̶i̶z̶i̶n̶g̶ conditioning and luxurious bar trying to use exclusively avocado oil, coconut oil and cocoa butter in HP and would like your opinions on the matter. The reason for choosing these ingredients is that i can actually get them quite cheaply and of great quality directly from the producers and Id prefer to use exclusively locally produced oils. (I live in Mexico)

I have thought of making it as follows:

7% superfat

30% 76 coconut oil
25% cocoa butter
45% avocado oil

I know that I am pushing the boundaries of cocoa butter and avocado oil so I could balance them with OO and include a 5% of castor oil but I would prefer to stick to those three. Im just somewhat afraid that the bar will come out too brittle and with a poor lather. Does anyone have experience on doing something similar? Or does anyone have any opinions one what the results will be/ how to improve the recipe?

Thanks a lot everyone and looking forward to actively participate in the forums

 

[cmzaha]

First off, soap is not moisturizing, it cleans. I would definitely cut the Coco Butter down to 10-15% so your bar will not be as brittle. As for the 25% CO you may love it and just need to try it. I would also cut the superfat to no more than 5%. Avocado oil is nice but it does not create a bar that lathers so your 25% CO just may work. Making small batches and testing is the only way you will know if a soap is what you want. We can look at the numbers but every soapmaker has a different opinion of what makes a great soap. Testing is the key

Over a year ago I did a single Avocado Oil soap and it is still not lathering unless used with a bath pouf, although it feels luscious.

 

[shunt2011]

Hello and welcome. Cmzaha has given you some good advice. I would also add 5% Castor to your recipe. Make a small batch and see how you like it. Soap can be less stripping but unfortunately isn’t moisturizing.

 

[Relle]

Maaki, as this is your first post, please go to the Intro forum and tell us about yourself.

 

[Maaki]

Sorry. newbie mistake. meant conditioning. . So do you think that 30%CO might be too stripping? Then I do guess Ill bring it down to 25%. I definitely dont want to make it single AvoOil because of whay ive read so thats why im trying to use as much CO and cocoa butter as possible to help balance it. Also as I mentioned before cost isnt a concern so thats why I dont mind splurging on Cocoa Butter or Avo oil. I also thought about the 7% superfat to balance the amount of CO.

I think ill definitely add the 5% castor oil and I guess I will just experiment with the Avo oil /cocoa butter percentage. Thanks a lot for your support. I will start trying some experiments and see how they turn out. Will keep you guys posted .

 

[Maaki]

So. slow forward one month (alas its the waiting part the only one i dislike from soapmaking.) I made a 100g unscented bar with the following content:

25% coconut oil
15% cocoa butter
5% castor oil
55% avocado oil

Today i tested the bar by taking a shower with it. I have the following observations: lather comes out very nice and creamy. even unscented it smells amazing and its like bathing in chocolate. Afterwards i only feel my face slightly dry, but the rest of my body feels absolutely amazing. The only downside I think is that the bar is still soft-ish as cmzaha predicted This is after 5 weeks curing so probably wont get much harder. I will attempt to make another test cutting coconut oil by 5 percent and adding beeswax. However, I am a bit afraid the lather will suffer. (maybe adding sugar will improve it? There goes by far the 3 ingredient idea lol) Anyways, if you are ok with the bar being just a tad softish and slightly striping for face then its a great soap .

 

[Dean]

Unrefined AVO is high in unsaponfiables contributing to softness. Try refined and add 1 tsp salt per PPO for hardness.

CO is stripping/drying. Most use it at 15-20.

BTW u can make ok soap with 3 ingredients. Castor is not nec altho I always use it.

 

[Maaki]

@Dean
I used refined AVO oil, but I believe cutting on CoconutO, removing Castor Oil AND adding salt would maybe be detrimental to the lather. Im now experimenting a batch with unrefined AVO oil but the smell of refined is much more appealing. I also want to make AMAZING soap, not just ok soap. So dont mind being less minimalistic as long as avo oil and cocoa butter are the protagonists.

 

[Saponificarian]

I love this recipe:

20% Cocoa Butter
25 % Shea Butter
35% Rapeseed oil/Avocado oil
20% Coconut oil/Unrefined Palm Kernel Oil

My mum won't use any other soap but this and she usually knows if I try to switch out the soap. It is not brittle AT ALL.
Personally, I will make a tweak of your recipe:

30% Cocoa Butter ( Since cost is not an issue)
20% Coconut oil
45% Avocado oil
5% Castor

Use 2:1 ratio water: lye if you are not swirling and I think you will be okay.

I think the not using Cocoa butter in high percentage rule can be broken depending on other oils in your recipe. I reckon with 45% Avocado oil, your soap shouldn't be brittle. Mine wasn't and my shea butter is harder than my Mango butter at room temperature in hot and humid Lagos.

 

[Dawni]

Sugar helps with bubbles, so milks, which contain sugar, do the same. You might not need Castor oil if you add sugar to your water before the lye, and/or add milks to your oils (powdered is easiest btw).

You can still experiment with upping cocoa if you want to see how hard it'll go. I've tried it at 20% with shea at 10% (and vice versa) and I've not noticed extra brittleness in the soap. Mango is another good alternative or addition.

I want to try that first recipe @Saponificarian, sounds lovely

 

[Saponificarian]

@Dawni, please do and let me know how you like it.

 

[Dawni]

@Dawni, please do and let me know how you like it.

I will

I'm gonna HP it. My foray into CP hasn't made me wanna change my preference for HP lol Also I can at least do the initial test right away.

 

[Maaki]

Wow well I guess there is only one way to find out. Time to start making some soap . I will definitely try your suggestions. Its annoying that I cannot easily find shea/mango butter in this country. But will try experimenting a bit with the resources at hand. One thing I havent tried and I think ill definitely experiment with is adding some agave syrup to a bar. I mean if I'm going full Mexican mode in my ingredients I might as well try it.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Wow well I guess there is only one way to find out. Time to start making some soap . I will definitely try your suggestions. Its annoying that I cannot easily find shea/mango butter in this country. But will try experimenting a bit with the resources at hand. One thing I havent tried and I think ill definitely experiment with is adding some agave syrup to a bar. I mean if I'm going full Mexican mode in my ingredients I might as well try it.

Can you get agave pulp or gel at all? That might be nice? Kind of 'aloe' ish?

 

[Maaki]

@KiwiMoose I think that unlike aloe vera, the leaves of agave are very fibrous and can only be used for feeding livestock. ( But we do use them for cooking sometimes). What I could definitely use for soap is agave juice (which is very sweet and is what tequila is made of) instead of water... hadn't thought of that possibility but sounds like something Id really like to try. I only wonder if the slimyness of it will transfer to the soap.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Is this an agave?

 

[Maaki]

That definitely looks like an agave. Although a species I'm not familiar with.

 

[cmzaha]

If you want an "amazing" soap, in my opinion you are going to have to use other oils to accomplish such. While a nice 3 oil soap can be made it is not going to be amazing in my opinion. High CO is just not going to give a nice non stripping soap. I keep CO below 20% adding in Lard, Tallow, Avocado, Castor, and another liquid oils such as HO Canola, HO Sunflower, or Safflower. As a side not for years I use regular Sunflower and Canola, not over 10% , with no dos issues. OO also is fine I am just not a fan of OO in soap.

Not knowing what part of Mexico you live I know some areas do not have great plumbing. I am talking about Cities on the Gulf of California and Baja. I have not traveled to Mexico City areas. The point of this is, high superfat soap is not good for plumbing issues. I live in a house with issues so I had to design a soap with low CO, to cut down on a stripping soap, that still lathers, but has a very low superfat. Superfat also contributes to cutting down lather. It has taken years of experimenting to come up with my go to recipes.

 

[Dean]

@KiwiMoose I think that unlike aloe vera, the leaves of agave are very fibrous and can only be used for feeding livestock. ( But we do use them for cooking sometimes). What I could definitely use for soap is agave juice (which is very sweet and is what tequila is made of) instead of water... hadn't thought of that possibility but sounds like something Id really like to try. I only wonder if the slimyness of it will transfer to the soap.

Me and many others substitute water with aloe juice for its lather boosting ability. It doesn’t make slimy soap.

 

[Alfa_Lazcares]

Wow well I guess there is only one way to find out. Time to start making some soap . I will definitely try your suggestions. Its annoying that I cannot easily find shea/mango butter in this country. But will try experimenting a bit with the resources at hand. One thing I havent tried and I think ill definitely experiment with is adding some agave syrup to a bar. I mean if I'm going full Mexican mode in my ingredients I might as well try it.

You actually can get butters here in Mexico. I found two providers so far that ship eveywhere (or search in mercado libre), but the point is, they are not that hard to come by, its just that depending on your provider they can get expensive.
As for aloe, i am pretty sure you have a tia somewhere that has an aloe plant! Get her or him to give you a pup and then you’ll have a supply.