Layered Rose Soap Tutorial
This post is a combination of a recipe and tutorial for Rose scented soap and color layering technique. Not only will you learn how to make rose soap but also how to layer melt and pour. This rose scented soap uses natural rose clay for coloring, and flower petals for interest and exfoliation (optional). There is no such essential oil, so we used a fragrance oil to get the rose scent. Enjoy this layered melt and pour soap tutorial. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
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What You Will Need
- Basic Soapmaking Equipment
- Plus small dishes, a fork, a spoon, and a toothpick handy may be helpful
- 1 lb White M&P Soap Base (I used SFIC brand Goats milk soap base)
- 1 tsp Rose Kaolin Clay
- 2 tsp Rubbing Alcohol
- Dried Flower Petals (optional)
- 1/2 tsp (2mL) Rose Fragrance Oil
- 1/2 tsp (2mL) Pink Grapefruit Essential Oil
- 1/4 tsp (1mL) Vanilla Oil
Directions for Making Layered Rose Soap
Begin by cutting your soap base into cubes and dividing into 2 Pyrex (or similar) bowls. One will be colored the other will remain white. You can decide if you would like about a 50/50 split or different ratios and which layer you want to put down first. I split my batch in halves and used a flower shaped mold. The end result was about 2/3 pink and 1/3 white because of the shape of the mold. Now you have your 2 bowls of soap cubes and we will work with them 1 at a time.
Next you want to prepare your rose clay color and your fragrance/essential oil blend. You can leave your soap unscented if you prefer or use your own combination! Prep your fragrance by mixing adding all 3 oils in a small stainless or glass dish. I do not recommend plastic with essential oils!! Set your fragrance/essential oil blend aside.
Prep your rose clay by pouring about 2 teaspoons of rubbing alcohol in a small dish. Then add your rose clay and mix it very well with a fork or mini whisk. Be sure to get all the clumps out for a nice even pink. Now you can melt down the soap cubes that you want to color. Microwave it in short bursts (about 15 to 30 seconds) and mix in between to prevent over heating the soap base. When it’s all melted, you can start adding your clay and mixing to incorporate fully and get a nice even tone. If you want to add flower petals you can do this now. (Keep in mind most botanicals eventually turn brown or black.)
Keep stirring as the soap cools. Next add HALF your fragrance/essential oil blend as late as possible BUT before the soap begins clumping or forming a skin on top. Keep moving and stirring. The reason you want to add the EOs later is because if the soap is too hot, they will evaporate off.
When it’s all mixed up, pour your colored & fragranced soap into your favorite soap molds. Fill each cavity about half way leaving space for your next layer. I used a silicone mold with flower shaped cavities that I purchased from Amazon. (click the link or mold image to go to Amazon in a new window/tab) After you pour, mist with some rubbing alcohol to pop the bubbles. Let this layer cool while you prepare your next layer.
Now you can melt down the second bowl of soap cubes; this will be easier because we aren’t coloring them. Microwave it in short bursts (about 15 to 30 seconds) and mix in between to prevent over heating the soap base. When it’s all melted, you can stir while the soap cools a bit. Now add the remaining half of your fragrance/essential oil blend before the soap begins clumping or forming a skin on top. You want your white melted soap to be cooled a bit before pouring so that you don’t melt the pink layer. By now your pink soap layer in the mold should have a thin skin on it.
Spray your soaps with rubbing alcohol again and pour your white layer on top. Do this ever so gently!!! Tip: You can hold a spoon over your pink layer and slowly pour your white on the spoon and let it drizzle so that it doesn’t pierce the pink.
If your soap does pierce the first layer you can pour it all and do a quick swirl with a toothpick, you may like that marbled look!! Then wait a bit before pouring the next to see if you can get that layered effect!
After your white layers are all poured, mist again with rubbing alcohol to break bubbles and smooth out the soap bottoms. As you see this 1 lb batch didn’t fill up all 6 flowers so you may want to do 5 flowers that will each end up a bit larger. Up to you! 🙂 I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Post a comment below if you have a question or let me know how yours turned out!
Some extra tips:
To keep your melted soap from getting gloopy or forming a skin: First tip is to buy high quality soap base. I recommend SFIC brand because it’s easy to work with and has great ingredients (no detergents/SLS, no extra unnecessary chemicals). The next tip is to keep stirring and mixing to prevent skin or blobs. And if you do get a little gloopy, I have added a little smidge of vegetable oil or coconut oil to smooth it out (last resort) or a little bit of water.
