Strawberry/Peach Goatsmilk Recovery Soap and Shampoo

After the terrorist attacks on September 11th, when smoke from the Pentagon filled the sky near my home, I found I could neither make soap nor write. All I could do was take care of my family, watch the news on TV, and read the newspaper.

Finally, on September 21st, ten days after the attack, I decided to make the most fun, luxurious soap I could imagine. This is what I made. This is my recovery soap. And now, nearly a month after the attack, I have started to write again.

Ingredients

Oils and Butters

• 1 oz castor oil
• 1 oz cocoa butter
• 4 oz coconut oil
• 1 oz jojoba oil
• 6 oz olive oil
• 5 oz palm oil
• 1 oz shea butter
• 1 oz beeswax

Lye Mixture

• 4 fl oz distilled water
• one square inch silk fabric (any color) or 1 T hydrolyzed silk amino acids
• 4 fl oz liquid goats milk
• 2.6 oz lye

Colors and Fragrances

• 1 tsp strawberry fragrance oil
• about 1/16 tsp red raspberry colorant
• 1 tsp peach nectar fragrance oil
• about 1/16 tsp golden apricot colorant

Most of my ingredients come from www.soapcrafters.com. If Soapcrafters doesn't sell it, I bought it from www.from-nature-with-love.com.

First, I put all the oils and butters into a big pot on the stove and heated them until they melted. Then I removed the pot from the heat.

Then I went outside, donned my gloves, apron, and goggles, and mixed the water and silk. I carefully added the lye and mixed it thoroughly. Then I stirred in the goats milk.

I added the lye mixture to the oils and stirred it with a stick blender until it thickened and reached trace.

Then I poured about half of the soap into a stainless steel bowl. I mixed the strawberry fragrance oil and the red raspberry colorant into the soap in the pot and poured it into the molds so each mold was about half full. I mixed the peach fragrance oil and the golden apricot colorant into the soap in the bowl and poured that into the molds to fill them. I gently swirled the soap in each mold to mix the red strawberry soap with the golden peach soap.

I covered them with saran wrap and let them sit for two days. Then I removed them from the molds and left them to cure for six weeks.

They are still curing. They look and smell wonderful! They can be used as soap or shampoo.

I didn't feel like doing the happy soap dance this time.