I’m starting to think that lemon essential oil in soap is a bit like vanilla extract in baking—you can add it to almost any other essential oil and you’ll get a lovely smelling bar of soap. I’ll admit I was a bit surprised by how much I loved the combination of lemon and rose in my Vinolia soap. So, I decided to try out lemon and lavender, and I was rewarded with a delightfully refreshing bar of soap. It’s bright and calming, the lemon cutting through the sweetness of the lavender, and unseating any notions of lavender smelling like your grandma.
I chose lavender & white swirls, but lavender & yellow, or yellow and white are also great ideas, depending on what you’ve got on hand. I elected to leave out lavender buds for a smoother soap, but they’d make an excellent addition. So would a bit of dried lemon zest, if you happen to have some.
To get the lovely swirls in this bar, I’d recommend letting both your melted oils and your lye water come down to room temperature before combining them. This gives you plenty of time to get everything mixed in without ending up with a very thick trace that makes swirls much more difficult to achieve.
Also, you definitely need an immersion blender for this soap, or you’ll end up with clods of titanium dioxide and iron oxide instead of a pretty, uniform bar. You’ll love watching the soap go beautifully milky white as you blast apart the stubborn bubbles of titanium dioxide, I promise.
Lavender & Lemon Soap
40% olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada)
25% refined coconut oil (USA / Canada)
20% lard
10% avocado oil
5% castor oil (USA / Canada)Superfat at 6%
Per 500g (1.1lbs) of oils:
- 1 tbsp titanium dioxide
- 1 tbsp white white kaolin clay (USA / Canada)
- 20g lavender essential oil
- 10g lemon 5 fold essential oil
- 2 tsp lavender iron oxide
Follow standard soap making procedure. When you reach a moderate trace (think unwhipped heavy cream), add the essential oils, and use the immersion blender to blend in the white kaolin clay (USA / Canada) and titanium dioxide. The immersion blender is not optional for this recipe unless you want little blobs of the oxides and titanium oxide suspended in your soap.
Pour half the soap into your prepared mold. Use the immersion blender to blend the lavender iron oxide into the remaining soap and pour that soap into the mold, drizzling it back & forth and up & down. Run the handle of a spoon through the raw soap to swirl, but not too much or you’ll just blend it all together since the trace is so light.
Let saponify for 24 hours before removing from the mold and cutting. Let cure for at least 3 weeks before using.
Love it! I just made a soap almost exactly like this! Lemon, Lavender, Honey & Almond with purple, yellow & white in a slab mold & dreamcatcher design. Love the combo & colours! I’m a big fan of lemon. I prefer it GREATLY to the orange eo’s/fo’s that stink in my opinion. Lemon goes with anything, just like vanilla does!
Oooh, your soap sounds just beautiful, Tammi 🙂 I find grapefruit has the universally-awesome thing in common with lemon as well, and it’s a nice change from lemon, which most people are quite familiar with.
Lemon lavender is one of my favorite combos and my best seller for soap during the spring and summer months. I’ve never used color in my soap, though. Are they all natural? Because the process is so involved and the materials can be rather expensive i use only natural and, when available, organic materials.
I am in agreement with you about non-toxic additives. I rely heavily on a resource that might interest you. It is:
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep
They have information on both the titanium oxide and the iron oxide. With this information, you’ll be able to determine if you wish to use those components.
I absolutely love SkinDeep, it is a fantastic resource & every natural-minded person’s best friend when it comes to researching ingredients 🙂
I wrote an article a while back on ways to naturally colour soap that you can read here. Be sure to read the comments as well, as there are some great suggestions in there 🙂 Oxides are inorganic, derived from rust (oxidized iron), and then refined to remove harmful contaminants. Some, like red and brown, are really close to the colour of rust, so it’s easy to see the relation. Others, like the ultramarine pink I used for this recipe… less so. I haven’t been able to find an information about the processing differences between oxides and ultramarine oxides, but the stark differences in colours makes me think the ultramarines require a bit more monkeying with.
Lemon and lavender is my most commonly used combination for soaps and bath oils.
Another I use a lot is 2 parts rosemary, 1 part lemon, and 1/4 part lavender for a scent that my husband doesn’t feel too girly washing with but still smells great to me. 🙂
OOh, your rosemary/lemon/lavender blend sounds just lovely! Isn’t it funny how much effort we put into trying to create DIY products that men will use? My dad is pretty darn particular, but I really want him using my soaps 😛
Lovely soap. Thank you so much for sharing both your soap recipes and your techniques. With this soap, after it is in the mold, do you cover it, wrap it in blankets, etc?
Hi Anita! For this soap all I did was put the lid on my wooden mold, and then wrap the whole thing in a folded sheet. I never use blankets with my soaps, even in a cold room up in Canada, and I’ve never had any issues 🙂
Hi again! I love the things you come up with. I have not made any soap as of yet. I have been reading your recipes and found several I would love to try, but first I need to stock up on the necessary ingredients!! I have a question…I know that there are some “melt and pour” types that seem much quicker and easier, using fewer ingredients – not using lye. Time for the “stupid” question…what purpose does lye serve in the bar of soap? I’m not being silly, I really have no idea and I feel an experienced person, such as yourself, would be able to guide me in which soap to start with and/or how to start.
Also, you were right…Neem oil smells horrible! A horrible smell is one thing but it is a very strong smell! So, keeping in mind my daughters psoriasis, when I begin making soap I should…… (I’m hoping you fill in the blank, if you hadn’t noticed) lol
I’m wondering if Palo Santo might help with the neem “stink.” Neem smells so ghastly that I didn’t bring it with me when I moved so I can’t try it with Palo Santo right now. Good luck!
Hmmm… well, I’m not of much use here having no experience with either ingredient, but do keep me posted if either of you try it 😛
Lye and oil combine in a chemical reaction to saponify: Make soap. Without the lye it’s just a really watery lotion, with the lye, it’s soap!
Melt and pour soaps have already been saponified, their lye and oils have been mixed, you are just adding colorant/ scent/ mix-ins, and personalizing the shape.
Bang on, Kris 😉
Hello again! I wrote an entire article on why you can’t make soap without lye here, and I think that should get you sorted on that front 🙂 But the gist of it is that lye is what turns fat into soap, sort of like how baking soda/powder is what makes pancakes rise.
From my understanding of psoriasis, some ingredients can be triggering/worse than others. So, I would work on determining which ingredients are troublesome. I’d start with a 100% olive oil bar (which will be quite soft to start with, so you’ll need to let it age) or a 70% olive oil/30% tallow (if you don’t want to wait that long) and see how that works on her skin. I’ve heard coconut oil can be bad for some people, so you may want to be wary with it. Take notes, and be sure to give each “experiment” enough time to notice results, whatever they may be. Have you looked at any possible dietary triggers?
Melt and Pour are great fun to make with grandchildren but when it comes the soap that is going to be cleaning my body, I like to have control of the ingredients that are used. Lye can be a little frightening to a “newbie” but it is well worth the effort to learn how to make your own customized soap. If you don’t have anyone to teach a great place to learn is Brambleberry.com. Brambleberry Soap Making Supplies have several videos that will teach you how to make the soap safely. Lye is caustic and you do need to take precautions but don’t let the lye keep you from learning how to make your own soap. Follow basic safety…wear eye protection, rubber gloves, put your pets in another room and wait until the kids are not in need of attention. You do not want to have pets or toddlers running around begging for attention. I have been making soap for about five years now and will never buy another bar of soap. My skin is very sensitive but since I starting making my own soap I have not had any problems. There are lots of recipes online that can get you started, just be sure to run the recipe through a lye calculator to verify the amounts are correct.
I couldn’t agree more—homemade soap is definitely worth the effort! I also have some pretty handy DIY guides on making your own soap here and here 🙂 And yes, always double-check the lye amounts! That’s why I don’t provide lye amounts in my recipes—to force everybody to look it up themselves 😉
Meant to say…hope your dreams settled down…lol
Also, just thought…in making soaps, creams and such, which oils (base oils) are absorbed best/quickest? Would that be jojoba, vitamin e, argon, cocoa butter, Shea butter. When a person is just starting it’s so hard to determine. My daughter won’t use the quick cream that’s just coconut oil with lavender oil, “it’s too greasy” she says – “I dont like to be greasy, I just want to be hydrated and soft” she said. H E L P, 17 year olds. Hahaha
Ha! Yes, they did—I haven’t been on that many antibiotics in a long time, so there’s been no fuel on that particular fire 😛
I wrote an article on carrier oil substitutions that has a handy chart on absorption speeds here. My favourite fast absorbing oil is grapeseed. Our of the ones you mentioned, jojoba, argan, and cocoa butter are probably the best. Shea is very slow, and vitamin E isn’t really a true carrier oil (and it’s very sticky to boot).
It’s no surprise that “quick cream” is greasy, it’s not a cream at all 😛 It’s coconut oil… with lavender essential oil 😛 Which is perfectly lovely, but when you’re looking for something that will sink in quickly, you’re looking at a lotion or a proper cream—both of which are emulsions, and usually about 75% waters/25% oils. They absorb beautifully, especially when made with a fast-absorbing carrier oil. They’re also much more like what you’re likely used to lotion being when you buy it from the store. You’ll need an emulsifying wax (I like emulsimulse, but polawax and emulsifying wax NF are also great), and after that it is super easy. I’ve got a bunch of different lotion recipes here 🙂
Hope that helps! Have fun 🙂
The lip balm I’m carrying in my coat pocket this winter is Lemon and Lavender! I love the combination. I still have not tried to make soap, but I love reading along with your experiments!
That sounds just lovely 🙂 And you should totally try and make soap, it’s super fun & totally addictive, haha.
My husband is going to want to kill me, but I have got to make soap!
I’m sure he’ll get over it and then quickly learn to love it 😀 My dad & boyfriend both love my homemade soap, and they give me excuses to try out more “manly” scent blends as well 😛
My husband was skeptical in the beginning, so I started with Castile soap (100% olive oil) and the only purchase I made was a thermometer. Like this, in case of failure, I would have spent very little money.
I made the soap. We tried and we loved it. My husband really loves my soaps as they are really gentle on the skin, so gentle that he doesn’t need hand cream anymore.
So for my birthday he bought me a book about soap. I bought some ingredients online and started to experiment.
I love making soap.
Great tips, Mrs G! This is definitely the way to go in case of skeptical husband 😉
I adore the lavender swirls in your soap, a great idea. I have been making and selling Lavender Accessories for years so I am a real fan of lavender.
Mmm, lavender! What’s not to love, eh?
Oh, that sounds yummy. And I have both lemon and lavender EO’s on hand!
Can I ask why you use lard in this recipe instead of tallow? I haven tried lard yet, but I’ve ordered some from our butcher so I can try it out.
It’s not a very exciting answer, but it’s because I had it on hand. Feel free to use tallow if you have it—I treat them as pretty much interchangeable 🙂 Have fun & let me know how it goes!
Just wanted to say I adore your blog! You are an inspiration, thank you.
Aww, thanks so much, Jaclyn 🙂 Feel free to reach out if you have any DIY questions, I’d love to help!
Hello from Edmonton, and thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes. I found your site when I did a search for lard soap recipes. We had some fat in our freezer from a side of local pastured pork, and I didn’t want it to go to waste. We have tried several recipes, using lard instead of tallow, and we really like the resulting soap. Your descriptions of how to make soap are easy to follow and made the whole process seem feasible. Thanks again for being such an inspiration!
Hello from Calgary! I’m sure we can still be friends, despite our geographical differences 😉 How great to meet another Albertan online! We seem to be few and far between. I’m thrilled to hear your soaps turned out well, and I’m happy to help. Thanks so much for DIYing with me!
Thank you for posting this recipe, I have been looking for one that uses beef tallow. Can you tell me where you purchase the lavender iron oxide?
Lavender (ultramarine pink) oxide 🙂
Oops! I’ve been looking a several soap recipes on your blog (and remembered that this one does not have tallow after posting a comment). 😉 Anyway, I do appreciate you sharing your recipes!
You can definitely switch the lard for tallow, Debra—I prefer tallow, I’m just having supply issues these days 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Hi do you use any fixers to keep the essential oil scent from weakening while it is curing? I notice this happens with a lot of my soaps :-/
I haven’t intentionally, but I’ve found that many of the EOs I gravitate towards end up qualifying, like benzoin and pathchouli. I don’t think I’m as fussed about lasting scent as I could be, though. Out of all the scents I use in soaps, only the citrus ones fade significantly, and even then it takes over a year for the 5x ones to fade to the point of being unnoticeable. I should do some experiments, though—those could be really cool! One batch, a bunch of different fixers, labeled bars, and evaluate the outcome after 3, 6, 9, etc. weeks. Hmmmm…. I shall add it to the list!
Hi Marie, this recipe had the honour of being my first batch of soap 🙂 It will be cured in another two weeks or so. You are truly an inspiration! Thank you!
How exciting! Now prepare for two of the longest weeks in recorded history 😉
Hi there, another soap on the list to make..before I do, quick question, is this the water or oil soluble titanium dioxide?
Thanks!
One of the nice things about soap is that is doesn’t really matter which type of titanium dioxide you use, as soap contains both water and oil. Booyah 🙂
Hi Marie,
I have been following your blog for about a month. I’m completely new to all of this and have been impatiently collecting ingredients to get started. Soooooo, in the last 3 days I have made your healing winter lotion, the ginger monoi mango lotion and I just finished my first batch of soap! I didn’t have enough lavender and lemon oil as I bought small bottles to start so I also added honey to get to the correct amount. I hope it works as I realized the honey is a flavoured oil not an EO. This is all so much fun. I can’t wait to get home from work and I have been staying up very late at night to do all of this. Thanks for being such an inspiration. You are a talented lady!:)
Welcome, Jennifer! Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me 🙂 It sounds like you’ve been busy! In the future I’d recommend not bothering with flavour oils in soaps (yum, haha), but it shouldn’t hurt anything 😉 Some fragrance oils can cause batches to seize, though, so do be careful and read up on them before you ad them. Keep on DIYing and be sure to get in touch if you have any questions!
What needs to be changed in the recipe for this bar to be a 3 in 1? Face, body, hair.
Nothing—I’d use it as a 3 in 1 as is 🙂
Hi Marie, love your recipes & generosity. Just wondering if Brazilian purple clay could be used instead of lavender iron oxide?
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It should do! Let me know how it goes 🙂