Olive and Almond "Like Castile" Soap

[runnerchicki]

I have been digging through moving boxes trying to find my recipes from when I first started making CP soap. I finally found some of them and I also found some saved bars of soap. One of them was such a surprise I had to share.

The recipe is a simple almost castile soap:

75% Olive Oil
25% Almond Oil

For my batch, I infused the olive oil with calendula petals and, not knowing what else to do with the spent petals, I mixed some into the soap batter.

I just tried this soap (it is 12 months old), and it is fantastic. There is ZERO slime, and while it does not have big bubbles, it does lather quite well for a castile type soap and feels super gentle. No goopy feel at all. The calendula petals aren't too scratchy, but do give some exfoliating feeling to the bar. I'm wondering if the added friction of the petals helps with keeping the slimy feeling at bay? Or maybe it's the almond oil... it bears another experiment (I only have the one bar left).

My notes are that I tried to unmold the soap too soon and basically tore it to bits. So I rebatched it. I don't know if the rebatch would have anything to do with the outcome (no slimy feel) either. I just made a 100% olive oil soap today (my first true castile) and I think I'm going to make another batch of the Olive and Almond so they can cure together and I can compare them side by side ... in a year LOL.

Has anyone ever made a "like castile" soap like this with similar results? I will admit - I did not do a search because I was too excited after finding the bar and the recipe.

 

[JuliaNegusuk]

Hi. This sounds an interesting recipe. I haven't used almond oil a lot in soap, but when I have I like the bubbliness it seems to bring, so possibly is a good combination with olive oil as an alternative to the more usual coconut oil. I have been looking for an excuse to use some almond oil I have in my fridge, so I might give this recipe a try. I much prefer simple recipes. I can't stand these ones that have 5% of this and 2% of that in a list a list of 10 ingredients. Seems like too much hard work to me. Thankyou for posting this recipe.

 

[I made this soap]

I love almond oil! It's makes beautiful bubbles, I usually go for 10%-15% tops

 

[runnerchicki]

Hi. This sounds an interesting recipe. I haven't used almond oil a lot in soap, but when I have I like the bubbliness it seems to bring, so possibly is a good combination with olive oil as an alternative to the more usual coconut oil. I have been looking for an excuse to use some almond oil I have in my fridge, so I might give this recipe a try. I much prefer simple recipes. I can't stand these ones that have 5% of this and 2% of that in a list a list of 10 ingredients. Seems like too much hard work to me. Thankyou for posting this recipe.

I am also a fan of simple recipes. I have been intrigued with castile type recipes, and I think this one was just a happy accident. I am planning to make this again tomorrow without the calendula petals and see how it compares to the 100% olive oil soap that I made last weekend.

I love almond oil! It's makes beautiful bubbles, I usually go for 10%-15% tops

I love almond oil as well! Since I make soap just for myself, friends, and family the added expense isn't too burdensome and I think I will try bumping it up in some of my recipes and see if it makes a noticeable difference in the feel of the lather. I'm surprised by how well it bubbles!

 

[penelopejane]

I make high OO soaps and in blind tests people prefer almond oil (I use 20-30%) to avocado oil in the same soap but just with those oils swapped but AvoO has great label appeal.

 

[Anstarx]

I remember reading a post about single oil soap tests from the Soap Queen where she observed that 100% sweet almond oil soap actually bubbles really well despite it being a soft and nourishing oil, so that probably countered the slime from olive.
Would be really interesting for a side by side comparison.

 

[runnerchicki]

I remember reading a post about single oil soap tests from the Soap Queen where she observed that 100% sweet almond oil soap actually bubbles really well despite it being a soft and nourishing oil, so that probably countered the slime from olive.
Would be really interesting for a side by side comparison.

I'll be able to compare them in a couple months. I've got both 100% olive oil and 75% olive oil 25% almond oil curing side by side now.

 

[Shellonian]

Just wanted to say that I made this as my first soap and it's lovely after only 4 weeks. Clearly I'm no judge but I like it and wanted to say thank you to Runnerchicki for putting it out there.

 

[The_Phoenix]

Soap made with 70-ish% OO is "Bastille" soap. I use 75% OO and 25% CO and use that to make a GMS. Makes a great bar of soap.

 

[AliOop]

Wow, I'm so glad that this thread resurrected. I have a batch of calendula-infused OO that I'd like to use up. Haven't used almond oil in a while so it will be a fun experiment.