There are so many options available to make natural cold process soap. Natural colorants and essential oils are great alternatives to fragrances and micas. There is absolutely no compromise on the aromas that can be achieved with experimentation and use of various essential oils. Similarly, there are also lots of great natural products that can be used as colorants that can achieve a variety of hues in the soaps. This natural aloe vera soap is fairly simple in the design, however packed with great ingredients.
This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. See full disclosure here.
Natural Aloe Vera Cold Process Soap recipe:
I find it useful to have recipes in percentages, that way I can always calculate for the specific batch size that I plan to make.
- 12% Sweet Almond Oil
- 6% Castor Oil
- 8% Cocoa Butter
- 20% Coconut Oil
- 20% Responsibly Sourced Palm Oil
- 20% Olive Oil
- 14% Shea Butter
Please make sure to run through your favorite calculator to determine the amount of sodium hydroxide needed. My favorite lye calculator is soapcalc.net
I use a 6-8% super fat and a 2:1 water:sodium hydroxide ratio.
For this recipe I replaced 100% of the water with natural aloe vera.
Steps to make natural aloe vera soap
Before making cold process soap, please make sure that you are familiar with the process and that you wear the proper personal protective equipment. At a minimum I use safety glasses, gloves and an apron.
Step 1: Weigh out the oils, sodium hydroxide and aloe vera needed based on the size of your recipe. I used the percentages above and set the soap weight to 16 ounces.
Step 2: Place the container that has the aloe vera juice in a larger container with ice cubes and water. This will help cool the lye solution faster and help avoid burning the aloe vera juice. Carefully and slowly add the sodium hydroxide to the aloe vera juice. Mix well and ensure fully dissolved. Then allow to cool to room temperature.
Step 3: Combine the aloe vera/sodium hydroxide solution with the oils and blend the mixture using the immersion blender. Mix for only a couple of seconds enough to achieve a medium trace consistency.
Step 4: Add the essential oils and mix using a whisk.
I used one of my favorites combination of essential oils. This combination of essential oils give the soaps a complex and earthy aroma I absolutely love.
Ready to start making your own cold process soaps? Then this eBook with 25 different cold process soap formulations is the perfect resource. With so many formulations, you will have lots of inspiration to experiment and find the perfect one.
This eBook also includes best practices to modify the formulations to your liking.
Essential Oils combination for a lovely scent:
- 50% Lavender
- 20% Patchouli
- 20% Sweet Orange
- 10% Spearmint
Make sure to use a calculator similar to eocalc.com to determine the right amount of oil needed for your batch size.
Step 5: Separate the soap into two equal parts and add one tablespoon of French green clay to one and one tablespoon of Brazilian purple clay to the other. Mix the color well using a whisk.
The colorants used in this soap are French green clay and Brazilian purple clay. You can find a great set of other natural colorants here.
Step 6: Pour the soap into the mold and allow at least 24 hours before trying to remove from the mold and cut.
Step 7: Allow the soap to “cure” for four to six weeks and then enjoy your natural aloe vera soap.
I hope you have fun making this natural soap. Let me know how it turns out.
I think it is a great soap. Definitely one of my favorites. The aloe vera adds silkiness to the soap and feels super luxurious on the skin. Also the aloe vera adds to the lather which is great. This soap has a wonderful lush lather.
Want to learn how to make a more complex design using the kiss pour technique? Then head over to my Kiss Pour and Handmade mold Cold Process Soap post. You will learn how to make a small soap mold using a cardboard box and get another free cold process soap recipe. Also, have fun creating soap embeds with left over soap batter with my soap dough embeds tutorial and for the coffee lover the Coffee Soap and Scrub is another great soap idea.
All the cold process soapmaking most common questions finally answered in one single place
You can purchase my artisan cold process soaps at jasandjulsoaps.com
Leave a Reply