Friday, April 30, 2010

Yogurt Soap Half and Half experiment

We've wanted to make another batch of yogurt soap for a while, and when we read MMS' blog posts about making milk soaps using the Half and Half method, we were really excited! We had made yogurt soaps before, but with a lot of hassle- mixing and freezing the dairy and water, stinking up our kitchen with a horrible ammonia scent when we tried to add lye to it, watching it get darker and darker, not knowing if we did something wrong... We liked the feel of yogurt soaps but not the hassle!

Tonight we actually got the chance to try the half and half method for the first time, and we all loved it! Below is the recipe we used- this is what I call a "desperation" batch, in other words, we make it because of wanting to use up older remnants of oils. (I've found that sometimes desperation batches make the best soaps because you are more daring with your ingredients, thinking "well, if I ruin it, who cares? I was just using up some leftover oils anyway!")

OilsLye phase
25% Palm Kernel oil (approx. 12.6 oz)
27% Olive Oil (approx. 13.6 oz)
17.16% Shea Butter (approx. 8.65 oz)
10% Apricot Kernel oil (approx. 5.04 oz)
10% Wheat Germ oil (approx. 5.04 oz)
5.84% Cocoa Butter (approx. 2.95 oz)
5% Sweet Almond oil (approx. 2.52 oz)

9.576 oz water
9.576 oz yogurt

(optional) 1.575 oz Sodium Lactate
(optional) .8 oz Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate
(optional) .9 oz fragrance (We used Jasmine)