DIY soap bars

It's the season of decoration, gift wrapping and DIYs. And I love, love, love DIY Christmas presents! Often we make presents that end up somewhere on a shelf because it isn't a useful present. Often we gift things we don't take the time to think about, we desperately search for things to give to a person only because it's Christmas. And so, I'd rather gift something useful or to eat. Taking the time to create something means more to me then just running to a store or ordering something online.

I've made quite a few styles of soaps throughout my life. Mostly I made glycerin soap as it's super easy. I even make little crystals out of them!

BUT this time I wanted a more gentle and natural soap. It isn't the easiest or glamorous process to make these soaps. But I think they turned out pretty cool.
Usually if you use soap flakes to make soap from scratch, you would use lye to dissolve the flakes. But as it's a super chemical process and I've wanted to use things I pretty much have at home anyways, I wanted to make them without lye. And as you can see, it worked!

If you look out for soap flakes, make sure they're plant based. I've used a local brand and got them at a drug store. You should easily find some in your area.

I bought a 1kg bag and ended up with a huge batch of soap. I recommend not using the entire package, I'd say 500g would be enough. And you can make more any time.

So, here's how I did it:

DIY SOAP BARS
vegan - all natural - no lye

Ingredients for the base
330g soap flakes
2 tbsp shea butter
1.5 tbsp cacao butter
1tsp avocado oil
1-1.5 cups of water

Colors and scents (each for 330g of soap!):
Black: 5 tsp activated charcoal powder, 25 drops of sandalwood essential oil
White: 40 drops of lavender essential oil, 20 drops of vanilla essential oil, 1 tbsp dried lavender
Green: 1 tsp barley grass powder, 1/2 tsp chlorella, 30 drops of citronella essential oil

Preparation
1. Prepare your molds: I used an ordinary cake or gratin mold and added some cling film so I can easily take it out. Perfect would be any kind of silicon mold.
2. Add the shea butter, cacao butter, avocado oil and water to a double-boiler and let it melt.
3. When everything is melted, add the soap flakes bit by bit and keep stiring.
4. The more patience you have in this process, the less or smaller white spot your soap will have.
5. Add the essential oils, dried herbs/flowers or superfood powders of your choice.
6. Put the mixture into your mold.
7. Let it cool for a few hours and then remove it so it can dry better.
8. The drying process takes a few days. I recommend cutting the bars after 24 to 48 hours so it dries easier.

Tip: Put the soap bars on a baking grill to dry so the air can circulate around them.
Info: You won't get a liquid to pour into the mold. You'll kind of have to press the mixture into the mold as you'll get kind of a sticky dough.

You love DIYs? Find more HERE.