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Fall Essential Oil Blends for Soaps (Plus A Fall Soap Recipe with Cocoa Butter)

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August 27, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 4 Comments

Looking for fall essential oil blends for soaps? Try one of several great essential oil blend recipes in your fall inspired soaps this autumn. Plus learn how to make my easy fall soap recipe. Decorated with cute leaf embeds, this cold process fall soap recipe with cocoa butter is the perfect choice for daily cleansing as temps cool down and the stifling humidity of summer dissipates.

Plus discover fall skin care recipes for pumpkin spice bath bombs, DIY sugar scrubs, vanilla chai latte lotion bars and rebatched apple pie spice soap!

Crafting Fall Soaps with Essential Oils

Fall is more than just pumpkin spice. So if you’re looking for creative ways to scent your fall soaps, then you’ve come to the right place.

Essential Oil Safety Tips

There are a number of fall essential oil blends for soaps that you can use in your homemade soap recipes for a natural fragrance. However, it’s important to keep in mind that some essential oils, while they may smell amazing, aren’t always skin friendly.

Cinnamon bark essential oil, for example, is not skin safe. It causes skin irritation and therefore should not be used homemade soaps or skin care recipes. On the other hand, cinnamon leaf essential oil, while also an irritant can be used as a small percentage of your recipes when properly diluted – sans those sensitive parts and mucous membranes. However, I know that I am allergic to cinnamon essential oil. Even in small concentrations as part of a fragrance oil, it makes my skin red, irritated and itchy when used in soaps. So it’s important to perform a patch test on skin prior to using oils that are known irritants.

It may be that you choose to avoid using cinnamon leaf essential oil in order to avoid possible skin sensitivities when making soaps for your family. Therefore I’ve chosen to include several fall essential oil blends for soaps that omit cinnamon essential oil entirely.

There’s so much to learn about essential oils. Not only are some essential oils, such as cinnamon, known skin irritants, many are also not safe to use when pregnant. While other essential oils should not be used on children, are or if you have certain medical conditions. Certain essential oils, including most citrus oils, can also be phototoxic. Therefore care should be taken to cover skin and use sun protection when spending time outdoors. Pets can also be affected by essential oils being diffused in your home. So follow up with your vet on which essential oils are not pet safe to avoid causing harm to your pets. You also should never leave your pets in a closed room with an essential oil diffuser.

Where to Learn More

If you aren’t sure whether an essential oil is a skin irritant or not – unfortunately many of the scents for fall have the potential to be – you can check out the essential oil profile for each of the essential oils in these fall essential oil blends for soaps at Mountain Rose Herbs to learn more. You can also discover more tips for safely using essential oils here as well as an essential oil dilution chart here.

I’m so excited to use my own custom fall essential oil blends for soaps in upcoming recipes. Any one of these essential oil blends is the perfect match for my fall soap recipe with cocoa butter. So pick your favorite to customize the perfect homemade soaps for your family this fall! Or, if buying multiple essential oils is outside of your reach financially at this time, try out my fall soap recipe with your favorite seasonal, fall fragrance oil instead.

Fall Essential Oil Blends for Soaps

Ready to bask in your favorite fall scents as part of your morning bath routine? Following are a number of my favorite fall essential oil blends for soaps. They can be used in both cold process soap recipes as well as melt and pour soap recipes and hot process soap.

As these fall essential oil blends for soaps contain essential oils that can irritate skin if not properly diluted, I don’t recommend using more than .5% (or a half percent) in your soap formulations for those containing a high percentage of spice essential oils such as cinnamon and clove. However you can increase the amount up to 2% maximum for fall essential oil blends that either omit those essential oils or that are used in lower concentrations in a scent blend. Essential oils such as patchouli, lavender and frankincense have higher usage rates as they are generally skin safe and not irritating.

Additionally, if you’re looking to get more bang for your buck scent wise, you may find you can use a smaller percentage of fall essential oil blends in melt and pour soap recipes as well as hot process soaps. Alternately, you can also pop your soaps in the fridge, if you are making cold process soap, to prevent gel phase. (You can learn more about the gel phase in soap making at Lovin’ Soap here.)

Autumnal Bouquet Essential Oil Blend

Chai Tea Latte Essential Oil Blend

Pumpkin Spice Fall Essential Oil Blend

Fresh Baked Gingerbread Essential Oil Blend

Earth & Spice Fall Essential Oil Blend

Patchouli Lovers Fall Essential Oil Blend

Mulled Cider Fall Essential Oil Blend

Frankincense Fall Essential Oil Blend

Fall Colors Essential Oil Blend

Fall Garden Wreath Essential Oil Blend

Simple 2-Ingredient Fall Essential Oil Blends

Not quite ready for the more complex fall essential oil blends? Try one of these simple two-part essential oil blends in your homemade soaps or even your essential oil diffuser at a one-to-one ratio. For soap making, I recommend using the Lavender 40-42 essential oil as it is standardized oil used in the perfume and fragrance industry. Primarily used for soap and candle making, it’s important to note that lavender 40-42 is not intended for therapeutic use.

Equal parts lavender & rosemary essential oil
Equal parts lavender & orange essential oil
5 parts bergamot & 3 parts vanilla absolute
Equal parts lavender & fir needle essential oil
Equal parts bergamot mint & fir essential oil

Formulating a Fall Soap Recipe

As the seasons change from summer to fall, the air outside becomes drier and cooler. Our skin feels the environmental effects from this change and as a result it can also feel dry or itchy. Therefore you may find you need to switch up a number of your skin care products to account for this. I always find that I need to make a simple soap swap to negate the effects of the changing seasons. My easy fall soap recipe is perfectly suited for this time of year. It’s formulated so it won’t strip skin of the beneficial oils your skin needs to look and feel healthy as we make the transition from hot summer weather into the fall season.

My fall soap recipe is easy to make. It includes just four soap making fats – castor oil, coconut oil, cocoa butter and pomace olive oil. Perfect for both body and facial skin care, this homemade soap recipe contains a whopping 25% cocoa butter to condition skin in addition to 45% olive oil. While this fall soap does contain a high percentage of olive oil, you’ll find that the higher percentage of cocoa butter not only conditions skin, it also helps the bar harden faster. Thereby reducing the long cure that often comes with Castile and Bastille soap recipes.

Adding Fall Essential Oil Blends to Your Soaps

To scent your soaps, you can make up a master batch of your chosen fall essential oil blends for soaps above. Then add your essential oil blend to your soap batter at a light trace. Alternately you can also substitute the fall essential oil blend with a fragrance oil of your choice. Typically fragrance oils have a usage rate of around 5% for homemade soaps. However, some fragrance oils have a lower usage rate so be sure to refer to manufacturer guidelines when determining the amount of fragrance you need for your fall soap recipes.

You should also be aware that some essential oils, such as black pepper, may increase trace. Typically, if I know an essential oil will hasten trace times, I add it to the oils prior to mixing the soap making oils with the lye. However, should your soap seize on you, don’t give it. As it heats up it will go into gel phase and your fall soap batter will start to look translucent. At this points you’ll be able to remix the soap batter as you would if you were making hot process soap. Once the soap looks a bit like mashed potatoes, it’s ready to go into the mold.

Essential Oil Fall Soap Recipe

Ingredients for Fall Soap Embeds:

.8 oz. castor oil (10%)
1.6 oz. coconut oil (20%)
2.6 oz. cocoa butter (25%)
3.6 oz. pomace olive oil (45%)

2.85 fl. oz. distilled water (36% of oil weight)
1.05 oz. sodium hydroxide/lye (8% superfat)

.05 oz. fall essential oil blend, of choice (about .5%)
1/2 teaspoon apple green moss mica, or desired color
1/2 teaspoon copper sparkle mica, or desired color

Ingredients for Fall Soap Loaf:

2.4 oz. castor oil (10%)
4.8 oz. coconut oil (20%)
6 oz. cocoa butter (25%)
10.8 oz. pomace olive oil (45%)

7.9 fl. oz. distilled water (33% of oil weight)
3.25 oz. sodium hydroxide/lye (6% superfat)

.15 oz. fall essential oil blend, of choice (about .5%)
1 Tablespoon turmeric powder, or desired mica color
additional mica to swirl, if desired in color of choice

Fall Essential Oil Soap Making Notes:

If you’d like to incorporate soap embeds into your fall soap loaf, you will need to make these ahead of time. As the silicone leaf soap mold I chose had lots of smaller nooks and crannies, I did not apply a water discount to the recipe for embeds. However, this did mean I had to freeze my soap embeds the next day for about 3-4 hours to get them to come out of the mold cleanly.

I used this leaf soap mold for the embeds and this silicone loaf mold for the soap loaf. However, you can adjust this fall soap recipe to suit any size mold of your choosing. I also used a pumpkin shaped mold (and cut off the jack-o-lantern faces) to see what pumpkins inside the loaf would look like for two of my fall soap bars.

The embed soap recipe also has a higher superfat. Therefore it is soft enough that you can work with it like playdough to create custom shapes for soap embeds as desired. There is more than enough leftover soap to play with. Alternately, you can always use the same fall soap loaf recipe for both the embeds and the loaf.

To make both the fall leaf soap embeds, as well as the fall soap loaf scented with your favorite of the fall essential oil blends, you need to follow basic cold process soap making directions. Simply make the soap embeds first, per the cold process soap making instructions below. Then, once the embeds have hardened, you are ready to make the soap loaf. You can find more detailed cold process soap making directions here to further guide you on your soap making journey.

You need to follow all safety precautions when making cold process soap from scratch. This includes using heat safe containers and non-aluminum containers and utensils. Protective clothing and eyewear is also highly recommended.

Fall Soap Making Instructions:

Now let’s make a loaf of homemade falls soaps with your favorite fall essential oils blends for soaps!

Begin by measuring out the water called for in the soap recipe. Pour into a heat safe container. Then use a digital scale to weigh out the lye into a separate container. Carefully pour the lye into the water in a well ventilated area. Then mix well until all the lye has dissolved and set aside. (This step can emit fumes. Therefore I recommend using an exhaust fan. Alternately, you can mix the lye into the water outdoors.)

Next, weigh out all the soap making oils and butters. This includes the cocoa butter, coconut oil, castor oil and pomace olive olive. Combine the carrier oils and cocoa butter in a heat safe container. Then melt the ingredients on the stove, in a crockpot or at reduced power in a microwave. Once melted, remove the melted oils and cocoa butter from the heat source and set aside.

While the lye-water and soapmaking oils cool, weigh out the the fall essential oil blend you’ve chosen for your soaps into a glass measuring cup. (You should prepare a master batch of your favorite fall essential oil blends for soaps prior to starting the soap making process.)

Then measure out the mica powder or other cold process soap colorant of your choice into a small dish or container separate from the essential oil blend.

Once both the lye-water and soap making oils reach about 85°F-90°F, you’re ready to continue making my fall soap recipe.

For the soap embeds.

Mix the lye water and soap making oils together, using an immersion blender, until the soap batter reaches a light trace. Then pour half of the soap batter into another heat safe container. Add the green mica powder to one container and the copper mica to the other. Then mix separately and pour into your mold(s.)

For the soap loaf.

Start by adding the soap colorant (and the essential oil blend if desired) to the melted soap making oils and cocoa butter. Mix briefly with an immersion blender to distribute the additives throughout the oil mixture.

Follow with the lye-water. Then mix until you achieve a light trace.

Add the fall essential oil blend to the soap batter if you did not add it in previous step. Then continue mixing the soap batter until you reach a medium to heavy trace. (I overmixed my soap batter to be sure I did not get a false trace as my fall soap recipe calls for a high percentage of cocoa butter.)

Pour a small layer of soap into the bottom of the loaf mold, then add any embeds you’d like to appear inside your fall soap loaf. Then pour the rest of the soap batter into the loaf mold. Use a fork or other utensil to add designs to the top of the soap loaf as desired. Then place the remaining soap embeds onto the top of the soap loaf. Set aside.

You should be able to unmold your soaps after 24 to 48 hours. Once unmolded, cut the loaf into slices as desired. Then allow your fall soap bars to cure in a cool, dry location for four to six weeks. After which, you can wrap and label your soaps for personal use or to give as seasonal fall soap gifts.

If you’d like to sell the homemade soaps you create from my fall soap recipe, you need to follow good manufacturing practices (GMP) when making your homemade soaps. The book, Good Manufacturing Practices for Soap and Cosmetic Handcrafters by Marie Gale, is a valuable resource if you’re just getting started making your own homemade soaps, skin care products and cosmetics.

In addition to GMP, you also need to follow FDA guidelines for labeling your homemade soaps. If you’re unsure about the rules and regulations regarding labeling cosmetics, the book, Soap and Cosmetic Labeling: How to Follow the Rules and Regs Explained in Plain English by Marie Gale, spells out everything you need to know to legally label your products in the United States.

Love my fall soap recipe and collection of fall essential oil blends for soaps? Then be sure to pin this post to your Pinterest boards for later!

Creative Ways to Package Fall Soaps

Need ideas for creative ways to package your fall soaps you scented with your favorite fall essential oil blends for soaps? Check out this collection of soap packaging ideas to discover ways to use scrapbook papers, bakers twine, ribbon and other elements to elevate your fall soaps to the next level. There are also soap packaging ideas for using boxes and bags as well as tips for packaging round soaps. You can also find more inspiration for your soap packaging on Etsy here.

More Soap Recipes for Your Fall Essential Oil Blends

You can swap out the fragrance oils in other fall soap recipes with your favorite fall essential oil blends for soaps to customize your creations with natural fragrances. Here are some of my other fall soap recipes you may enjoy. Just be sure to reduce the amount of the fall essential oil blends your use in these soaps to between .5%-2% depending on the recommended usage rate for those essential oils.

Not quite ready to try my fall soap recipe with your favorite fall essential oil blends? Then be sure to shop for handmade artisan soaps on Etsy here. I also have a huge collection of pumpkin spice bath and body favorites that you may enjoy. This collection includes not just seasonal fall soaps in pumpkin spice, but bath bombs, bubble bars, body butters, dry shampoo and more!

New Fall Skin Care Recipes to Try

Once you’ve made homemade soaps for fall, be sure to check out some of these other fantastic fall skin care recipes for all over body care. You’ll find that your favorite fall essential oil blends will work great in these cool weather inspired homemade skin care recipes.

DIY Sugar Scrub Cubes (3 Recipes for Fall)

Learn how to make three fall-inspired DIY sugar scrub cubes: fall bouquet, cinnamon churro and caffè mocha. These easy to make sugar scrub cubes exfoliate, moisturize and cleanse your skin all in one simple step. They’re made with melt and pour soap, shea butter and coconut oil for gentle cleansing. Plus, they’re scented with fall essential oil blends and dried flowers so they’re both non-toxic and all-natural. Get the recipes here.

Apple Pie Spice Oatmeal Doughnut Soaps

Turn hotel soaps into adorable DIY apple pie spice oatmeal doughnut soaps for autumn with this easy soap making tutorial. These rebatched soaps are easy to make with bars of soap, ground oatmeal, and an apple pie spice fall essential oil blend. Learn how to make yours here.

Vanilla Chai Latte DIY Lotion Bars

Turn your favorite fall drink into easy DIY lotion bars with this fall skin care recipe! These chai latte massage bars are made with all-natural moisturizing ingredients. The recipe includes traditional chai ingredients (and a hint of vanilla) to spice up your new go-to fall lotion bar. Get the recipe now.

DIY Pumpkin Spice Bath Bombs (3 Fall Bath Bomb Recipes)

Celebrate autumn with three fall bath bomb recipes! Pumpkin spice, pumpkin spice latte and pumpkin pie bath bombs create cozy fall vibes while you relax in the tub. These easy homemade bath bombs are also made with fall essential oil blends and contain natural, moisturizing ingredients that hydrate your skin while you enjoy the aromatherapy benefits of the essential oils. Learn to make them now.

For more homemade soap recipes and essential oil ideas be sure to follow my boards on pinterest. You can also find me on your favorite social media platforms! Follow me on Blog Lovin‘, facebook, twitter and instagram. Or sign up to receive my newsletter to stay in the loop.

Filed Under: Homemade Gift Ideas, Soapmaking Tagged With: bath and body, cocoa butter, cold process soap, cold process soap recipe, cold process soapmaking, crafts, diy, essential oil blend, essential oil recipes, essential oils, fall, fall crafts, gift idea, natural skin care, pumpkin spice, soap recipe, soap tutorial, soapmaking

Gardeners Soap Recipe with Exfoliating Botanicals

June 21, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 1 Comment

This homemade cold process gardeners soap recipe is made with exfoliating botanicals and three skin conditioning body butters. So it doesn’t just get you clean, it also helps to nourish skin!

Life is messy. Sometimes it’s even dirty. So when it comes time to clean up the dirt left behind from your summer shenanigans, projects and gardening, you need a soap that’s created just for such situations.

Formulating a Gardeners Soap Recipe

The problem with a lot of gardening soaps is that they are super cleansing. Obviously if you need soap that’s powerful enough to get off that caked on grime – and whatever else water is fleeing in sheer horror from – they’re likely to strip your skin. You’re clean, but your skin also feels tight and dry. So you try an extra conditioning soap bar instead. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work as well as you need it to on your muck and mayhem. And in this day and age, no one has time to scrub their skin into next weekend.

So why not make a gardeners soap recipe that embraces BOTH of these characteristics? That’s just what I did! Formulated to be extra cleansing – with the inclusion of exfoliating botanicals to help scrub dirt away – this cold process gardeners soap recipe is also extra conditioning. So you get clean AND your skin stays balanced.

I then took my gardeners soap recipe to the next level by adding a simple blend of essential oils that outdoor bugs and mosquitoes prefer to stay very far away from. And while the general consensus is, that soap being a wash off product, isn’t effective at discouraging biting insects, I figure it can’t hurt.

I used to make my brother lemongrass soap every year before his annual camping trips. He swore up and down it worked for him – he never came home with mosquito bites – so I’m not about to knock that notion totally out of the water.

If you’re looking for a leave on mosquito repellent, however, be sure to check out my insect repellent body butter recipe here. You may also want to check out these research based tick repellent recipes with essential oils from the Tisserand Institute.

Now let’s make this cold process gardeners soap recipe!

Homemade Gardeners Soap Recipe

Ingredients:

2.4 oz. babassu oil (15%)
1.6 oz. castor oil (10%)
4.8 oz. pomace olive oil (30%)
2.4 oz. mango butter (15%)
2.4 oz. unrefined shea butter (15%)
2.4 oz. tucuma butter (15%)

5.3 oz. distilled water (33% of oil weight)
2.1 oz. sodium hydroxide/lye (8% superfat)

.1 oz. lemon eucalyptus essential oil
.1 oz. marjoram essential oil
.1 oz. Virginia cedarwood essential oil
1 Tablespoon French green clay
1/2 teaspoon calendula flower powder
1/2 teaspoon cornsilk powder
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
1 teaspoon Alpine green mica, optional

Gardeners Soap Making Notes:

If you’ve never made cold process soap before, I encourage you to check out my soap making tutorial on how to make soap from scratch. Or check out the book, The Complete Guide to Natural Soap Making, by Amanda Gail Aaron.

This homemade gardeners soap hardens up rather nicely and is easily cut the next day if using a loaf mold. If you’re using individual cavity molds, however, I recommend waiting an extra day or so before unmolding so your edges come out clean. Alternately you can use a steeper water discount – I’d recommend 30% of the oil weight – or you can also add either a teaspoon of sodium lactate or salt to this gardeners soap recipe to get a firmer bar out of the mold.

I used both the succulent silicone soap mold from Brambleberry as well as this silicone chrysanthemum mold for my gardeners soap recipe. The end recipe yielded four 2.5 oz. succulent shaped soaps and three 4 oz. chrysanthemum shaped soaps.

I chose the botanical exfoliants for this soap based on what I had on hand. While pumice is common in a gardeners soap recipe, I decided to use gentler exfoliants instead. However, you can swap out any of these exfoliants as desired with those of your choice.

Instructions:

This gardeners soap recipe is made using the cold process soapmaking method. You need to follow all safety precautions when making cold process soap from scratch. This includes using heat safe containers and non-aluminum containers and utensils. Protective clothing and eyewear is also highly recommended.

To make this homemade soap, begin by measuring out the water (or other liquid) called for in the recipe in a heat safe container. Then use a digital scale to weigh out the lye into a separate container. Carefully pour the lye into the water in a well ventilated area. Then mix well until all the lye has dissolved and set aside. (This step can emit fumes. Therefore I recommend using an exhaust fan. Alternately, you can mix the lye into the water outdoors.)

Next, weigh out all the soapmaking oils and butters. This includes the babassu oil, castor oil, olive oil, mango butter, shea butter and tucuma butter. Combine the carrier oils and soap making butters in a heat safe container. Then melt the ingredients on the stove, in a crockpot or at reduced power in a microwave. Once melted, remove the melted oils and butters from the heat source and set aside.

While the lye-water and soapmaking oils cool, weigh the essential oils out and combine in a glass measuring cup. Likewise, measure out the clay, mica and exfoliants and combine in a small dish or container separate from the essential oils.

Once both the lye-water and soapmaking oils are about 95°F, you’re ready to continue making my gardeners soap recipe.

Start by adding the clay, exfoliants and mica to the melted soapmaking oils and butters. Mix briefly with an immersion blender to distribute the additives throughout the oil mixture.

Follow with the lye-water. Then mix until you achieve a light trace.

Add the essential oils.Continue mixing the soap batter until you reach a medium to heavy trace. (I overmixed my soap batter to be sure I did not get a false trace as my gardeners soap recipe calls for a high percentage of hard butters.)

Finally, pour the soap into your molds. Cover the tops of the soap with plastic wrap or parchment paper. Then set a tea towel on top of the soap to insulate the soap and ensure goes through gel phase. (You can learn more about the gel phase in soap making at Lovin’ Soap here.)

Unmold your soaps after 24 hours, then leave in a cool, dry location to cure for four to six weeks. At which point, you can wrap and label your soaps for personal use or handmade gifts.

If you’d like to sell the homemade soaps you make from my gardeners soap recipe, you need to follow good manufacturing practices (GMP) when making your homemade soaps. The book, Good Manufacturing Practices for Soap and Cosmetic Handcrafters by Marie Gale, is a valuable resource if you’re just getting started making your own homemade soaps, skin care products and cosmetics.

If you like my gardeners soap recipe, then be sure to pin it for later. You can also try my gardeners soap recipe from last year. It can can be found here.

Not quite ready to make my gardeners soap recipe or simply need a scrubby soap you can use right away? Shop for handmade artisan gardeners soaps on Etsy here.

For more homemade soap recipes and ideas be sure to follow my boards on pinterest. You can also find me on your favorite social media platforms! Follow me on Blog Lovin‘, facebook, twitter and instagram. Or sign up to receive my newsletter to stay in the loop.

Filed Under: Soapmaking Tagged With: cold process soap, cold process soap recipe, cold process soapmaking, crafts, diy, essential oils, exfoliating soap, gardener's soap, gardening soap, gift idea, mosquito repellent, natural skin care, soap recipe, soap tutorial, soapmaking, spring, summer, summer skin care

Creative Cactus Soaps (To Buy or For DIY Soap Making Inspiration)

May 13, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 2 Comments

Cactus soaps are all the rage these days. Now that unicorns and mermaids seem to be trending down, cacti and succulents are trending up. While it may seem strange to bathe with a soap that mimics a plant with sharp needles, that doesn’t seem to be off putting where artisan soaps are concerned.

Buy them to add a touch of summer to your guest bathroom or to give as simple housewarming or hostess gifts. Or simply gather inspiration for crafting your own unique DIY cactus soaps at home. Plus discover 7 soap making tutorial for making homemade succulent soaps as your next weekend soap making project.

Creative Cactus Soaps for Succulent Lovers

If you love cacti and other succulents, then be sure to shop these amazing artisan soap finds from Etsy. Beautiful cacti and succulent soaps for handmade gifts or DIY inspiration. Here are just a few of my favorite handcrafted cactus soaps. For more soapy inspiration, be sure to visit my collection of artisan soaps on Etsy here.

Clockwise: Desert Blooms Cactus Soap by Grouchy Owl Soaps / Cactus Flower Soap by Skyline Soapworks / Blooming Cactus Soaps by Joan’s Garden / Succulent Garden Soap by Sinfully Scented Shop

Clockwise: Succulent Soap Gifts by BeeUtifully Organic / We’re Rooting for You Succulent Soap Gift Box by Sunbasil Soap / Southwest Succulent Soaps by Soap Etiquette Inc. / Cactus Succulent Soap Favor by Seaside Soap Kitchen

Clockwise: Green Cactus Calendula Infused Soaps by Calendula Skin Soaps / Cactus Succulent Soap Favors by So Cute Soap / Artisan Succulent Soaps by Wild Poppy Soap Co. / Cactus Flower Soaps by Honey Butter Bath Co.

Clockwise: Desert Rose Cacti Soap by Moon Shine Suds / Potted Succulent Soap by Seapoint Trade / Fresh Succulent Soap Garden by Joan’s Garden / Sedona in Bloom By Trinity Soaps

Clockwise: Cactus Succulent Desert Bloom Soap by Land of Soap / Tequila Sunrise Eagles Inspired Soap by A Sea of Soaps / Margarita Cactus Gardeners Soap by Grounded Sage Skincare / Unscented Mini Cactus Goat Milk Soap by Soap Nerd Shop

Clockwise: Rustic Cactus & Sea Salt Soap by The Little Soap Store / 3D Crafted Cactus Soap by Nerdy Soap / Cactus Soap Favors by Sunbasil Soap / Cactus Flower Soap Bar by Wild Elephant Soap

Make Your Own DIY Cactus Soaps

Cactus Soap Making Molds

Ready to make your own DIY cacti or succulent soaps? You can find a plethora of unique and interesting soap molds for making cacti or succulent soaps and embeds here. (Including the cactus soap molds pictured above from Gold Miss Craft Supplies.)

Cacti & Succulent Soap Tutorials

Also be sure to check out this collection of cacti & succulent soap tutorials for even more DIY ideas for your next soap making project.

You can also learn how to make your own custom cacti and succulent soap molds with this soap mold tutorial from Soap Queen. Then use your homemade soap molds to make unique one-of-a-kind melt and pour soaps.

Love these handmade artisan soaps and DIY soap making ideas? Be sure to pin this post for later!

Discover more DIY soap making ideas you can craft for handmade gifts by following me across your favorite social media platforms. You can find and follow me on Pinterest, Blog Lovin‘, facebook, twitter and instagram. Or sign up for my semi-weekly newsletter to stay in the loop.

Filed Under: Decorating, Homemade Gift Ideas, Shopping, Soapmaking Tagged With: artisan, cactus, cold process soap recipe, cold process soapmaking, crafts, diy, gift guide, gift idea, handmade gifts, handmade soap, melt and pour soap recipe, melt and pour soapmaking, shopping, soap tutorial, soapmaking, succulent

Homemade Soap Recipes for Every Skill Level

April 10, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 2 Comments

130+ homemade soap recipes to make for every skill level. Learn how to make a variety of homemade soaps for three different types of soap making – cold process soapmaking, melt and pour soapmaking and hand milled soapmaking. This huge collection of homemade soap recipes can be made to naturally care for your family’s skin or to gift to friends. Many of these recipe you can also make to sell at your local farmers market, craft fairs or online on sites like Etsy.

I’ve been making my own homemade soap recipes for close to two decades now. I’m constantly amazed by how the craft of soapmaking has changed and evolved over time. I was also a bit stunned by just how many different homemade soap recipes I’ve formulated or shared in that time. (And that doesn’t even count the recipes that never made it to my blog.) So, for those of you interested in trying more of my homemade soap recipes, but aren’t sure what to search for, I’ve compiled over 130 soap recipes all in one place for your convenience. (You can also sort through most of my soap recipes with photos via this Pinterest board.)

Homemade Soap Recipes

Following you’ll find collections of my favorite homemade soap recipes ever made. Whether you want to make melt and pour soap, cold process soap or even hand milled soap, these homemade soap recipes make beautiful gifts as well as everyday skin care products for you and your family.

Homemade Cold Process Soap Recipes

I supply a basic overview of the cold process soapmaking method, along with homemade soap recipes suitable for beginners, here. You can also learn how to customize your own cold process homemade soap recipes via my easy to understand tutorial here.

Creative Melt & Pour Soap Recipes

Hand Milled (& Other) Easy Soap Recipes

How To Package Your Soaps to Gift or Sell

Now that you’ve made one or more of my favorite homemade soap recipes, it’s time package and label them for sale or to give as handmade gifts! You can find some amazing DIY ideas for packaging your homemade soaps here. (There are even creative ideas for tackling the packaging for round soaps.) You can also learn how to create custom soap labels with this tutorial.

130+ homemade soap recipes to make for every skill level. Learn how to make a variety of homemade soaps for three different types of soap making - cold process soap making, melt and pour soap making and hand milled soap making. A huge collection of homemade soap recipes to make for your family, to gift to friends or to make and sell for extra money online, at your local farmers market, craft fairs or on Etsy.

Pin this post.

Discover more homemade soap recipes along with ideas for DIY bath and beauty products by following me on Pinterest. You can also find me on Blog Lovin‘, facebook, twitter and instagram. Or sign up for my semi-weekly newsletter to stay updated on new recipes.

Filed Under: Soapmaking Tagged With: cold process soap recipe, cold process soapmaking, hand milled soap making, hand milled soap recipe, homemade soap, homemade soap recipe, melt and pour soap recipe, melt and pour soapmaking, soap packaging, soap tutorial, soapmaking

Creative Ways to Package Soap for Sale (Or Handmade Holiday Gifts)

November 20, 2018 By Rebecca D. Dillon 3 Comments

If you’re looking for creative ways to package soap for sale to set your product apart at craft fairs and events, then you’ll love these easy soap packaging and labeling ideas! Keep reading to learn the best ways to package homemade soap for sale and put your soaps a head above the competition. Plus learn how to make some of my favorite homemade soap recipes for winter skin care.

Creative Ways to Package Soap

Just because the homemade soaps you sell need to include the weight and ingredient list doesn’t mean you’re stuck using a traditional soap label. If you’re looking for creative ways to package your cold process soap bars, then try thinking outside the box. (Learn how to legally label your soaps for sale.)

Easy Ways to Package Soap Using Scrapbook Supplies

I used scrapbook supplies and bakers twine to decorate these homemade soap bars. Simply print out your ingredient list and other information onto squares of cardstock. Then use bakers twine or a decorative ribbon to attach the ingredient list to the bottom or back of your soap bars. Simply slip the ingredient list under the bakers twine to safely secure it to your soap.

This is also a great way to package soap for seasonal handmade holiday gifts. It’s really as simple as wrapping chipboard elements, cardstock cutouts and felt shapes onto your soaps using ribbon, string or twine.

You can also use patterned scrapbook papers to wrap your soaps like little presents. A custom cigar band then displays your information or message. I love this custom cigar band and patterned poppy paper combo from The Creative Artisan Co. You can order these personalized soap labels as a set or separately with your own custom business logo or message for handmade soap wedding favors.

Or consider all-in-one custom soap packaging like this custom soap packaging design from Andrea Tips that wraps and labels your soap all at one with just one product.

There’s even a soap wrapping tool that allows you to hand wrap your homemade soaps perfectly every single time!

I also love this simple idea for tying leather cording around shaped soaps and accenting with herbs like rosemary. It’s a really easy way to add that extra touch to your handmade holiday gifts.

How to Package Round Soap

One of my favorite ways to package round soap is by using washi tape. You can do this one of two ways. You can either tightly wrap your soap in foodservice film, then wrap a piece of washi tape around the diameter of the bar. Or, you can cut brown paper to fit the diameter of your soap. Then wrap the paper around the diameter. Tape the paper closed. Then add decorative washi tape over the brown paper (as pictured above.)

If you’re looking for ways to package your soaps to sell you can also put your label around the diameter of your soap in lieu of the washi tape. Or try one of the following ways to package round soap. I love how attractive the soap label is on these ways to package soap from Etsy sellers.

This sweet fig goat milk soap from Fish Princess Farm illustrates one of the more common ways to package soap using patterned paper or fabric and a round sticker label.

You can also use plain colored tissue paper similar to this soap example of a bar of homemade shaving soap from Crow Sparrow Wares. To give your homemade soaps as handmade holiday gifts, you may want to use a simple, round handmade with love sticker for your round soap bars.

I also love this twist on using paper as one of the ways to package soap. Instead, The Humble Soaper uses breathable, gauze-like fabric as a unique way to wrap her homemade soaps. Rather than folding the fabric into the center of the soap bar, she instead ties the fabric on top as illustrated by this example of her natural round soap bars.

Ways to Package Soap in Boxes

Soaps boxes are one of the easiest ways to package soap. Just because you use a box to package your soap, however, doesn’t mean it has to be “square.” This holiday inspired unicorn bath bomb box from Tyars Essentials would also work beautifully for unicorn or horn shaped soaps. (This is a downloadable file so you will need a Cricut machine for this project.)

Eco-friendly carton soap boxes will make your green friendly soapmaking business shine. The carton soap boxes from GREENKraft come in three sizes, are made with recyclable cardboard and are 100% recyclable. They also feature a nifty little window so you can show off your homemade soaps inside. I think they look especially nice with these custom apothecary labels from Substation Paperie.

Gable boxes and pillow boxes, like these from Cookiebox Store, are another wonderful way to package your homemade soaps for handmade holiday gifts.

Or give these clear boxes a try. These clear soap boxes make stylish packaging for melt and pour macaron shaped soaps and are perfect for homemade soap wedding favors.

How to Package Homemade Soap Bars in Bags

Bags are also one of the easiest ways to wrap soap for sale or to give as handmade holiday gifts. Monita Natural Care sells decorative burlap bags for her homemade soaps that you can for gift giving. However, it’s also great inspiration for designing your own burlap bags for handmade holiday soap gifts.

These cotton muslin printed bags from USCreativeshop are available in bulk for employee gifts, wedding favors or soaps for sale. They come in a variety of size options to best fit your needs. I also love that these bags can be reused time and again.

For more ways to package soap for sale or to give as handmade holiday gifts, be sure to check out more soap packaging and labeling ideas on Etsy here. You can also shop for homemade soaps from my curated collection. Alternately, keep reading for some of my all time favorite homemade soap recipes for winter skin care.

Best Homemade Soap Recipes for Winter Skin Care

If you suffer from dry skin or eczema in the winter, or other times of the year, it may be time to switch up your natural skin care routine. These homemade soap recipes are perfect for winter skin care. Made with natural skin conditioning ingredients, all of these winter homemade soap recipes nourish skin without stripping it. You’ll love the difference a moisturizing, low cleansing soap can make for your skin!

Have photos of your homemade soaps or great soap packaging ideas? Then be sure to tag your pictures with #soapdelishowoff when you share ways to package soap on instagram.

For homemade soap recipes, you can follow me on your favorite social media platforms. You can follow me on G+, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’ and Instagram. Alternately, you can also subscribe to Soap Deli News via email for future updates, DIY projects and recipes.

Filed Under: Homemade Gift Ideas, Small Business Marketing & Tips, Soapmaking Tagged With: cold process soap recipe, cold process soapmaking, gift idea, holiday gift, holiday gift giving, holidays, packaging, selling soap, small business, soap labels, soap packaging, soap recipes, soap tutorial, soapmaking, winter, winter skin care