lavender soap

lavender has antiseptic and sedative properties. its aroma promotes relaxation and lavender essential oil is mild enough for use on even toddlers and children.

organic lavender powder and lavender essential oil were used in this recipe. i don't want the soap to be too exfoliating, so i only blend in the slightly grounded lavender buds in the upper layer.

contrary to common thinking, natural lavender ingredients do not carry a purple color. so the beautiful purple color you see in commercial lavender soaps must come from synthetic coloring.

i do want a little bit of color for my lavender soaps. i soaked several branches of alkanet root in the olive oil for 3 days. this was how it looked in the jar:



it was a deep burgundy color. after reacting with the lye solution, the soap mixture turned into a greyish-blue (quite yucky i must say) color. i was quite disappointed then but poured into mould anyway. amazingly it slowly turned into this light, pale blue color which i think is quite pretty.

so you never know how the soaps would turn out until you take them out of the moulds, cut them and let them sit for at least a week. their true colors and textures would slowly come out. that is part of the reasons why soapmaking is so much fun.