One of my favorite soaps on the market today is Rose Geranium with Rosehips and Shea Butter from The Soap Kitchen. It’s incredibly decadent and its feminine, rose-like scent is out of this world (Although rose and rose geranium are from a different plant family, they do share a very similar floral scent). I feel that this soap captures everything I love in handmade soaps – warm color, luxurious lather, with a subtle but a splendid presence of flower-y sweetness.

I pick one up every time I go into the lovely store in Old Town Pasadena and I must say that it’s a lot more frequent than I’d like to admit.

I tried recreating these sumptuous soaps at home and I’m in love with how they came out! It’s no secret that I totally tried to replicate my favorite The soap Kitchen soap as best as I could (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?). Although they’re not exactly the same, I think I was able to capture the essence of my favorite soap in this handmade version.

Most Luxurious Soap

1200 g batch

Olive oil (72%): 864 g
Palm oil (14%): 168 g
Coconut oil (14%): 168 g

Distilled water: 467 g
Lye (85% discount): 150 g

Scents:

Rosewood essential oil: 160 drops
Ylang Ylang essential oil: 100 drops
Organic Geranium Rose essential oil: 30 drops
Citronella Java essential oil: 50 drops
Lavender essential oil: 10 drops

Colorant:

Madder root powder: 1 teaspoon

Additive:

Crushed dried rose petals: 3 tablespoons

Note: The scent of citronella Java essential oil was pretty dominant during the curing stage but it slowly neutralized into a subtle lemon-y scent. The color also became a lot more subtle as the soap bars dried. At first, the soap loaves were deep burgundy and I panicked. I’m happy that it ended up becoming a lovely dark pink hue.

Happy soaping!