Even with so many cleansing products available in the stores, it can be a challenge finding one that won't wreck your skin. This is because famous brand soaps often use strong chemicals that may cause sensitive skin to become dry, red and itchy. One way to solve the problem is to make your own natural goats milk soap.
You will find different recipes and many of these are available online. The best ones use nothing more than fresh or powdered goats milk, some oils and lye. For the oils, choose some that will nourish and moisturize your skin. These include olive oil, coconut oil, almond oil, castor oil, rice bran oil and cocoa or shea butter. If you want to make a scented soap, you can also add a blend of essential oils, such as tea tree, lavender, ylang ylang, rose or orange. Most essential oils also have properties that are therapeutic.
First put on some thick rubber gloves. This is to protect your hands when working with lye, which can cause serious burns if it comes into contact with your skin. Then carefully sprinkle a little lye over the milk before mixing it in. Repeat this until all the lye is mixed in. The alkali in the lye will react with the milk fat in a process known as saponification. Keep the mixing bowl over ice to keep it cool.
Next, you need to mix your oils. If you are using coconut oil, shea butter or cocoa butter, melt these first over a low heat or by leaving them in the sun. Then blend all the liquid oils together and keep the mixture cool.
Return to the lye mixture and stir or whisk it until it is smooth and free of lumps. Then slowly add the oil mixture and stir. When it emulsifies, the two mixtures will stay mixed and will not separate. This is what soap makers talk about when they say that the mixture has reached trace.
You shape your soap by pouring it into molds. Craft stores usually have a good selection of molds available. However, bear in mind that you need to keep the mixture cool, so smaller molds are more suitable. If you prefer, you can place the molds in the freezer beforehand.
Your mixture needs to stay in the molds for 24 hours to set. Then you can remove the solid bars and, if necessary, cut them into slices or smaller bars. Let the bars cure for a month or so and then package them the way you want. For example, you can wrap them in brightly colored paper or simply tie a pretty ribbon around them.
Homemade goats milk soap has several benefits. Because it doesn't have any harmful chemicals in it, it will be gentle and moisturizing rather than drying. In fact, it's great for treating redness, itchiness, eczema and acne. Because it lathers into a creamy foam, it makes a great shaving soap too. Best of all is that it makes unique, special gifts.
You will find different recipes and many of these are available online. The best ones use nothing more than fresh or powdered goats milk, some oils and lye. For the oils, choose some that will nourish and moisturize your skin. These include olive oil, coconut oil, almond oil, castor oil, rice bran oil and cocoa or shea butter. If you want to make a scented soap, you can also add a blend of essential oils, such as tea tree, lavender, ylang ylang, rose or orange. Most essential oils also have properties that are therapeutic.
First put on some thick rubber gloves. This is to protect your hands when working with lye, which can cause serious burns if it comes into contact with your skin. Then carefully sprinkle a little lye over the milk before mixing it in. Repeat this until all the lye is mixed in. The alkali in the lye will react with the milk fat in a process known as saponification. Keep the mixing bowl over ice to keep it cool.
Next, you need to mix your oils. If you are using coconut oil, shea butter or cocoa butter, melt these first over a low heat or by leaving them in the sun. Then blend all the liquid oils together and keep the mixture cool.
Return to the lye mixture and stir or whisk it until it is smooth and free of lumps. Then slowly add the oil mixture and stir. When it emulsifies, the two mixtures will stay mixed and will not separate. This is what soap makers talk about when they say that the mixture has reached trace.
You shape your soap by pouring it into molds. Craft stores usually have a good selection of molds available. However, bear in mind that you need to keep the mixture cool, so smaller molds are more suitable. If you prefer, you can place the molds in the freezer beforehand.
Your mixture needs to stay in the molds for 24 hours to set. Then you can remove the solid bars and, if necessary, cut them into slices or smaller bars. Let the bars cure for a month or so and then package them the way you want. For example, you can wrap them in brightly colored paper or simply tie a pretty ribbon around them.
Homemade goats milk soap has several benefits. Because it doesn't have any harmful chemicals in it, it will be gentle and moisturizing rather than drying. In fact, it's great for treating redness, itchiness, eczema and acne. Because it lathers into a creamy foam, it makes a great shaving soap too. Best of all is that it makes unique, special gifts.
About the Author:
Find an overview of the benefits of using natural goats milk soap and view our selection of natural skin care products at http://mountainworks.ca now.