His & Hers Homemade Soap

Both my husband and I are really intrigued by the idea of making our own homemade soaps.  At this point though, I'm still terrified of recipes that include working with lye.  I'm sure it can be perfectly safe, but I don't feel ready to make that leap just yet.  So, our first little baby steps in this process involve melt-and-pour soaps.  We were able to find both a goats milk and Shea butter melt-and-pour at Michael's craft store.

The melt-and-pour soap comes in a large block, about 2 pounds.  We cut off about a 1 inch wide slice for each of our "recipes" and roughly broke it into 1 inch blocks (this will yield about 2 bars of soap).  Then we melted it in a thrifted glass beaker in 20 second intervals, stirring in between.  Once the soap is liquid, we added the other "ingredients", stir and poured it into a thrifted silicone muffin tray and let it cool completely. The knife, beaker and muffin tray we use for soap were all thrifted and we only use them for soap- not food. It probably wouldn't hurt us to use theses tools for food (since it is just soap and should wash off), but I just like to have the separation of tools.

Also, I haven't added measurements for the essential oils because I think every person/family has a different preference on how strong they like their soap to smell.  Some people are sensitive to smell and too much scent can give them a headache. We like ours strong- as in, acts as potpourri for the entire bathroom strong! So, I think it best to go with your own personal preference on the amount of each essential oil to add.

The hub's favorite blend:  
Minty Tea Tree & Rosemary Soap

• goats milk melt-and-pour soap
• tea tree essential oil
• peppermint essential oil
• cedarwood essential oil
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons Epsom salt
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped dried rosemary

My flavor du jour: (exfoliating and firming!)
I Like It a Latte Soap

• Shea butter melt-and-pour soap
• 2 tablespoons coffee grounds (finely ground)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon raw sugar

This soap looks deceptively deleicious- if I didn't know better, I'd think it was a latte! Don't you just want to drink it up?  Here is my thought process behind coffee + soap: I have seen some recipes on Pinterest for exfoliating scrubs using coffee, claiming that the caffeine helps to reduce cellulite.  While I haven't fact checked any of that business, I do know that I like a good exfoliating soap, and I do like coffee.  And, I will say that after using my new soap, my skin was very smooth all day, and honest and truly it did seem to feel more firm!