Greetings guys

[getcooked32]

Hey guys thanks to who started this wonderful forum. I am new to the soap making world and really on one specific mission. To mimic a face soap my wife is using for years. Sodium palmate is the first ingredient and after that it’s ganoderma (our favorite mushroom), glycerin, fragrance and a few more basic ingredients. I’ll include the photo below. Now I’ve read online that most people recommend not using high percentage of palm oil, but I’ve also found some people swearing by it. I was wondering if anyone out there makes soap with a higher palm oil % than 60%? I was thinking of doing 80% palm oil and 20% glycerin, vitamin e oil and another type of filler. I know it’s not the norm but my wife swears by this soap (for her acne prone skin) that she is currently using and the types of oils in the label aren’t to vast. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[TheGecko]

I am new to the soap making world and really on one specific mission. To mimic a face soap my wife is using for years. Sodium palmate is the first ingredient and after that it’s ganoderma (our favorite mushroom), glycerin, fragrance and a few more basic ingredients.

Gerianol, Citronellol and Hydroxycitronellal are all fragrance components (geranium, rose and other plants).

Now I’ve read online that most people recommend not using high percentage of palm oil, but I’ve also found some people swearing by it. I was wondering if anyone out there makes soap with a higher palm oil % than 60%? I was thinking of doing 80% palm oil and 20% glycerin, vitamin e oil and another type of filler. I know it’s not the norm but my wife swears by this soap (for her acne prone skin) that she is currently using and the types of oils in the label aren’t to vast. Any help would be much appreciated.

Here is the problem with having skin with 'special needs' and using 'special needs' products...you only make it worse. I had dry skin for years...I used special moisturizing soaps and creams and lotions and my skin was still dry. Why? Because I was adding so much 'moisture' to my skin, that my body quit producing its own natural oils to compensate, thus drying out my skin even more. It's the same with oily skin...you're drying your skin out too much and so your body produces more oil.

My recommendation would be to make a well-balanced bar of soap...an easy recipe is equal amounts of Olive, Palm and Coconut Oils. It will be tough at first, her body is so used to producing extra oils that she might need a small amount of an astringent (toner) or blotter paper, but as time progresses, her body will restore its natural pH balance. I haven't used a face moisturizer in six months and the only time I use hand lotion is after cleaning house or if I have to use a commercial soap for washing my hands.

 

[Anstarx]

I was thinking of doing 80% palm oil and 20% glycerin, vitamin e oil and another type of filler.View attachment 43447

Glycerin is a byproduct of soap-making. You can add glycerin to your soap but it won't be part of the oil phase like palm oil does.It won't saponify.
Vitamin e is also used as additives instead of oil phase.
No offense, but I think you are lacking even the most basic knowledge on soap-making.

If you don't have any soaping experience before, for your and your family's safety, I 'd seriously suggest you read some soaping tutorial for beginners first to have a better understanding of soap making basics. There are plenty of tutorials in the forum. I also like Bramble Berry's beginner tutorials even though I'm not a fan of their recipe. Modern Soap Making also has plenty of soap tutorials that I like.

After having a good idea of how to make soap, how to formulate a recipe, properties of oil in soap, how to use a soap calculator, and having the necessary equipment (especially the safety gears!), if you still want to make high palm bar, then go for it. Palm is not expensive (for my area, not sure about yours tho), so just make a small batch of 100% palm soap, cures it, see if your wife likes it and go from there.

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

So this is just palm oil, extra glycerin, and reishi mushroom extract. The Geraniol is a fragrance as is the Citronellol although I have to say I would never use geraniol in it as that's a skin irritant and allergen. I suppose it might be a very low concentration.

A test batch could be
16 oz of palm oil
2.16 oz of sodium hydroxide (Lye)
4.38 oz of distilled water
1 tablespoon Reishi Mushroom powder
1 teaspoon of glycerin
.25 oz of geraniol
.25 oz of citronelol

That fragrance is subjective though. You can mix up a different amount of the fragrance oils together to get the scent that you want and just use a total combined amount of .5 oz of fragrance oil.

You'd want to combine the mushroom powder and the glycerin with your palm oil before you add the lye.

If you've never made soap before you should go to youtube and watch some beginner soap making videos and gather all of the equipment. You can use milk cartons or cardboard boxes lined with parchment paper for a mold if you don't want to spend money on buying a mold to make some test batches.

Soap Calc is a good place to go and put in your recipe to get your lye and water amounts. You also want to measure by weight so get a food scale if you don't have one. I typically use a lye solution at 33%.