Adzuki Bean Soap Recipe: Decorative Layered Melt and Pour Soap
This melt and pour soap recipe is decorative soap made with adzuki beans. Learn how to make layered soaps with easy tutorial that combines both opaque and clear glycerin soap bases. This homemade adzuki bean soap recipe makes a beautiful gift and is great project for beginner soap makers who want to learn new melt and pour soap making techniques.
Melt and Pour Adzuki Bean Soap
This adzuki bean soap recipe highlights the beauty of adzuki beans by combining both clear and opaque melt and pour soap bases. Left whole, adzuki beans gently massage skin while washing. Alternately, you can grind your adzuki beans to create an exfoliating soap instead.
Highlighting the adzuki beans in a clear soap base in the center of the soap is a simple and easy technique to create a beautiful decorative soap that’s lovely for gifting. You can easily make these in an afternoon for a homemade Mother’s day gift or as a housewarming present.
Adzuki Bean Soap Recipe
© Rebecca D. Dillon
Ingredients:
These are the ingredients you need to craft this decorative melt and pour soap recipe with adzuki beans:
- 3.85 oz. clear melt and pour soap base
- 7.85 oz. white melt and pour soap base
- .5 oz. adzuki beans
- 3.5 mL essential oil or 7 mL fragrance oil, of choice
- several drops liquid soap colorant, of choice
Tools & Supplies:
In addition to the ingredients needed for this adzuki bean soap, you also need a few tools and additional supplies to make melt and pour soap. Here is what you’ll need:
- Ozera 6-Cavity Silicone Soap Mold
- Graduated plastic transfer pipettes
- Mist spray bottle with isopropyl alcohol
- Digital scale
- Utensil, for mixing ingredients
- Chef or utility knife
- 4-cup glass Pyrex measuring cup
- Microwave
- Cutting board, optional
How to Make Adzuki Bean Soap
There are a number of steps required to make this decorative melt and pour soap recipe due to the separate layers. While it is more time consuming to make this layered soap due to the additional steps, the final result makes the process well worth the wait.
Here is how to make adzuki bean soap using glycerin soap bases and the melt and pour soap making method:
1. You’ll begin by making the clear soap strip with the adzuki beans first.
2. Start by using your digital scale to weigh out 3.85 oz. of the clear melt and pour soap base. Using a Chef’s knife or a utility knife, cut the soap into square chunks and place inside your glass Pyrex measuring cup.
3. Heat the clear melt and pour soap base in the microwave in 20-30 second increments until melted.
4. Using a graduated transfer pipette, measure out 1 mL essential oil or 2 mL fragrance oil to scent your soap. Stir the fragrance into the melted soap base. (To avoid having the soap turn brown, be sure to choose a fragrance oil without vanilla.)
5. Place the mold on a cutting board for easy transport. Now weigh out the adzuki beans and place them inside one cavity of the mold.
6. Slowly pour the melted soap base over the adzuki beans. Using a utensil, divide the beans into three sections within the melted soap base.
7. Now spritz the top of the soap with the isopropyl alcohol to remove any air bubbles.
8. Allow the soap to cool and completely solidify. (You can put the soap in the fridge to speed up this process. However do not put it in the freezer as it will cause the soap to become cloudy.)
9. Now remove the clear soap base with the adzuki beans from the mold.
10. Using a Chef’s knife or utility knife, cut the soap into three separate sections.
11. Place the soap with the bean side down into the mold – one each into three of the mold cavities.
12. You are now ready to prepare the opaque/white base.
13. Weigh out 7.85 oz. of the white/opaque melt and pour soap base. Using a Chef’s knife or a utility knife, cut the soap into square chunks and place inside your glass Pyrex measuring cup.
14. Heat the white/opaque melt and pour soap base in the microwave in 20-30 second increments until melted.
15. Using a graduated transfer pipette, measure out 2.5 mL essential oil or 5 mL fragrance oil to scent your soap. Stir the fragrance into the melted soap base.
16. If you wish to color your soap, add a drop or two of desired liquid soap color at a time until you reach the shade you like. I used a few drops of yellow and a few additional drops of red liquid soap colorant to achieve the pink salmon color of my soap. Stir well.
17. Spritz the top of the soap sections in the mold with isopropyl alcohol. Then slowly pour the tinted soap into each of the three cavities around the soaps already in the mold. It’s okay if it’s not perfect. You can wash or cut off any mistakes once you unmold your final bars.
18. Now spritz the tops of the soap you just poured with isopropyl alcohol to remove any air bubbles.
19. Transfer the mold into the fridge using the cutting board for stability if desired.
20. Once your soaps have fully solidified, carefully remove them from the mold cavities.
21. Clean up the adzuki soap bars if needed, then wrap tightly in food service film and label as desired for gifting.
If you like my melt and pour soap recipe for adzuki bean soap, you may also like my Lush inspired massage bar recipe with adzuki beans. Inspired by Lush’s Wiccy Magic Muscles Massage Bar my Lush inspired massage bar recipe is made using a base of shea and cocoa butters. It also includes massaging organic adzuki beans as well as a combination of cinnamon leaf and peppermint essential oils for a warm, tingly sensation that helps to ease and soothe sore muscles. You can find my Lush inspired massage bar recipe here.
In addition, you can use the same silicone mold used for this project to make other melt and pour soap recipes. These include my darling dachshund melt and pour soap and my homemade cold process pink salt and sal butter soap.
For more bath and body recipes, be sure to visit and follow my DIY Bath and Body board on Pinterest. In addition you can also find me on Blog Lovin’, Facebook,Twitter, and Instagram.
