Soap base with macadamia oil 1kg

01 · NO LYE AND NO WAITING

The difference from making soap from scratch

Making soap from scratch means handling sodium hydroxide and waiting four to six weeks of cure. With an already saponified base you skip both.

The cycle comes down to melt, add, pour, unmould: an afternoon instead of a month and a half, and a small batch for one order without planning it.

02 · HOW TO MELT IT

Gently, and below 65 °C

Melt it in a water bath or in a microwave in short bursts, stirring between them. Overheated, the base scorches, takes on a smell and loses clarity: it is best not to go above 60-65 °C.

Essential oils and pigments go in off the heat, or the fragrance evaporates before it reaches the mould. A spray of alcohol on the freshly poured surface breaks the bubbles.

03 · IF YOU ADD HONEY

A teaspoon, no more

It is the obvious temptation here, and it works — but honey is hygroscopic: it draws moisture in, and in excess the bar ends up sweating beads on the surface.

The sensible proportion is a teaspoon per 500 g of base, and wrapping the bars as soon as they are cold.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

The macadamia oil brings oleic acid and vitamin E to the formula. It is a rinse-off soap: it cleans and leaves the skin soft, it is not a treatment.