Today’s post comes to us today from Mya Duba, a new blogger in the green space.
Some Random Facts about Mya:
She’s been a vegetarian her whole life and is not a dessert fan. She loves fashion (even though she can’t afford it most of the time) & country music! She’s crazy about recycling & all of her colleagues have learned never to throw out water bottles in regular garbage. If they are feeling too lazy, then she will walk wherever she needs to at work to throw it away in the proper recycling bin!
My mom was always a big component of using natural products and as a teenager, my mom taught me natural skincare recipes she used to create in India growing up such as face masks, hair masks, and body scrubs. So, I’ve always been more inclined to use natural products or create my own. I saw the class deal on Amazon local deals and bought it immediately. The class, by Brooklyn Creative Studio, taught us how to make cold-process soaps and included supplies, snacks, and beverages to enjoy! Cold Process soap is made by mixing (a.k.a saponifying) lye and oil and the resulting chemical reaction is soap.
Rosemary, the instructor and a cosmetic chemist, has worked with several cosmetic/skincare lines such as Bobbi Brown, Chanel and Estee Lauder. The class was small and the materials were clearly presented which made it great for beginners like me. Through her encouraging style of teaching and generously sharing her expertise and years of experience, Rosemary did a great job of teaching while answering everyone’s questions. She even offered to help us with future soap recipes creations geared toward specific skin conditions such as acne or eczema! I enjoyed the class so much that I signed up for her other class for skincare products!
I loved that I knew exactly what ingredients were in the soap. The recipe we used included palm oil, coconut oil, lye (a.k.a sodium hydroxide; all soap has lye in it), distilled water and our choice of a third oil, essential oil and/or oatmeal for exfoliation. I decided to add:
- Sunflower oil
- Grapeseed oil
- Gardenia essential oil
- Oatmeal
The soaps are kept there for for 72 hours to allow it to harden while kept warm. Once I pick them up, I still can not use the soap for 3-4 weeks during the curing process. This is important for the soap to become harder, longer-lasting and milder as the saponification (fancy word for the reaction between the lye and the oils to take place to produce soap) continues.
I can’t wait to use it; I just don’t want to wait a month!
The Final Product!
My soap and I
I enjoyed the class so much & I’m really looking forward to learning more and understanding the whole process of soap-making and the benefits of it. I think it would also be nice to create handmade soaps for gifts such as bridal showers, Christmas, and birthdays. In a week, I plan on going out and purchasing all the necessary materials & ingredients needed & I will (hopefully) write a more in-depth post on how to make cold-processed soap.
What are your thoughts on using soap from scratch versus store-bought?
Make sure to check out Mya’s Blog.
