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.
When your lye mixture is ready, it's time to blend the oils. Some oils, such as coconut oil, and butters are solid at room temperature so you will need to melt them first. You can do this by placing them in the sun for a while or by gently heating them on the stove. Then add the liquid oils.
Once you have mixed your oils, it's time to carefully add them to the lye mixture. Stir or whisk everything until the mixture is smooth and emulsifies. This means that the lye liquid and the oils won't separate anymore but will stay mixed. Soap makers call this point the trace.
To keep its shape, you need to mold the emulsified mixture. You can use any shape of mold that you want but smaller ones are best, since they will prevent the mixture from becoming too warm. Another way to keep the temperature down is to first refrigerate the molds, which you can buy at stores that sell craft supplies.
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.
When your lye mixture is ready, it's time to blend the oils. Some oils, such as coconut oil, and butters are solid at room temperature so you will need to melt them first. You can do this by placing them in the sun for a while or by gently heating them on the stove. Then add the liquid oils.
Once you have mixed your oils, it's time to carefully add them to the lye mixture. Stir or whisk everything until the mixture is smooth and emulsifies. This means that the lye liquid and the oils won't separate anymore but will stay mixed. Soap makers call this point the trace.
To keep its shape, you need to mold the emulsified mixture. You can use any shape of mold that you want but smaller ones are best, since they will prevent the mixture from becoming too warm. Another way to keep the temperature down is to first refrigerate the molds, which you can buy at stores that sell craft supplies.
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.
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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.