Goat Milk and Roses Handmade Soap Melt and Pour Recipe
Do you need a great, fast, and inexpensive handmade gift for the holidays? This soap is made with a melt and pour base, making it safe and fun—-even for kids! If you’re looking for a great gift, you’ll love this recipe. Also, you’ll find my printable Melt & Pour Recipe book just below!
Making a good, handmade facial soap that is gentle, yet cleansing; smells nice, and is actually easy to create is something everyone can do. In fact, this melt and pour soap process and recipe is something you can even have your children experience and share with you!
But….maybe you’ve heard making handmade soap can be dangerous? (Here is a great article about soap making mistakes that can turn out….well, not so good!)
While there are certainly still some precautions, if you want the safest route to making handmade soap, that would be melt and pour. It’s the only way to make soap at home without using caustic lye, or sodium hydroxide.
And it’s as easy as it sounds! Just melt. And pour. You’ve got soap!
One of the other nice things about making melt and pour soap recipes is you can add ingredients for natural scent and texture, add natural colors with herbs and clays, and customize it to meet your desires.
Here is an easy, super moisturizing facial soap recipe you can make in about 15 minutes using the melt and pour method. This recipe came from Jan Berry’s beautiful new book, Melt and Pour Soap Making.
This beautiful naturally colored pink soap uses a goat milk soap base. There are many melt and pour soap bases out there, and some of them do have questionable ingredients. The one I am using here is definitely on the "safer" side in terms of toxins.
FTC Disclosure: There are affiliate links scattered throughout this article, mostly to Amazon. If you click through and make any kind of purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
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Easy and natural homemade rose soap
Also, a quick note about “natural” colorants and scents. Natural clays and plants can create lovely colors and even textures in soaps, along with other additives like pumice, loofah, softening oatmeal, seeds, coffee grinds, and much more.
What is not considered “natural” are most micas because they are often processed in a lab and the mining of these colorants is quite shady these days due to the high demand in cosmetics. Also, those fluorescent colors and any kind of “fragrance oil” is generally not natural in terms of being found “naturally” in nature.
You can find out more in my Natural Hot Process Soap Making Course, if you are interested in safe and natural soap making and everything you need to know to make soap safely and with confidence!
What is a Melt and Pour Soap Base?
A soap base is just that: It’s the basic block of soap that has been specially formulated to melt easily and quickly into a creamy liquid that can then be poured into a soap mold. These soap bases come in all kinds of different varieties, too!
This means you can pick and choose the kind of soap you want to make! Pretty exciting for the new soap maker at home, isn’t it? Here are some examples of different soap bases:
Aloe Vera Gel soap base
Goat Milk soap base (used in this recipe)
Hemp Seed soap base
Cocoa Butter soap base
And can you believe? There are even more choices!
As a homemade soap maker, I must create new formulas and recipes for all of these different kinds of soaps, but with melt and pour, you just find a good company and choose the base you want. Then you can add the additions you want to add to make your soap.
I like the ones from Our Earth’s Secrets, because overall, they seem to be cleaner than some other brands. That is not to say others are not clean…it’s just that this is the brand I am most familiar with. I also recommend anything by Starwest Botanicals, and you can get your culinary + medicinal herbs and essential oils there too!
In her book, Jan does give a very brief rundown of ingredients found in many melt and pour soaps. I suggest doing more research on these yourself, as many soap bases do not use safe or clean ingredients. I do not recommend getting your soap base from a local general craft store or from any generic company.
You have to know what you’re looking for in your ingredients if making natural soaps is important to you. You can find out more about killer toxins lurking in your store-bought soap, as many of these can unfortunately still be found in melt and pour bases.
Jan’s book, Melt & Pour Soaps, is a must have for the most lovely melt & pour soaps imaginable…a true art.
Tools You’ll Need for Melt & Pour Soap
2) Sharp knife
3) Soap mold (I used this pretty rose soap mold)
4) A fine mesh strainer (I didn’t use one, and you can see how my soap turned out—-this is to strain any madder root flecks from the liquid soap.)
Ingredients for Rose & Goat Milk Facial Soap
These are the ingredients called for in the recipe in Jan’s book. I made a couple of adjustments, and you can see these in my YouTube video! By the way, please do subscribe!
1) Madder root powder, 1 tsp (gives the soap its lovely pink color)
2) 10.5 ounces by weight white goat milk melt and pour base
3) 1/2 tsp rose hip seed oil
4) 1/2 tsp sunflower seed oil
5) 1 tbsp powdered rose petals
6) 1/16 tsp geranium essential oil
7) 1/16 tsp lavender essential oil
8) rubbing alcohol in a small spray bottle to spritz the top of your soap (see directions)
NOTE: Here are some other options you might want to consider. You could use white shea butter base instead of the goat’s milk! You could also leave out the powdered rose petals if you like. And, the essential oil choices are completely up to you. I subbed frankincense essential oil because it is SO good for your skin health.
Steps to Make Melt and Pour Soap
Step 1) Prepare the Work Space
Be sure you have a nice clear area for your tools and supplies. Set out all your ingredients you plan to use. Get your double boiler set up. Have your soap mold(s) ready to go, and be sure to have that alcohol spray on hand!
Step 2) Weigh & Cut Soap Base
You’ll want to weigh the soap base out to get the amount needed for this recipe. However, since it is melt and pour, you don’t need to be worried about extreme exactness. Cut your base into approximate one inch cubes.
Step 3) Melt
Place the cubes into the double boiler and let them melt completely. Stir in your rose petals and the madder root. Stir well to fully incorporate them into the soap mix. Melt and pour soaps melt at fairly low temperatures, so this won’t take long.
Step 4) Strain (optional)
In her book, Jan mentions straining out any little flecks left from the madder root powder. Personally, I love little natural flecks from plants, so I didn’t do this step.
NOTE: Check your soap temperature quickly. It should be under 135 degrees as this will help it not create a “skin,” also mentioned in the next step.
Step 5) Other Additives
Now stir in your oils and essential oils really well. NOTE: You’ll want to stir constantly after removing the melt & pour soap from the heat, as much as you can, because it will start to set up quickly and form a “skin,” especially in a cold house like mine.
Watch a video below of how to make this rose soap:
Step 6) Carefully Pour
Pour your liquid soap mixture into your soap molds. Don’t touch them!
Trust me, you’ll be tempted to perhaps move them around (like I was, as I didn’t have my soap mold in the perfectly right spot), but trust me. You don’t want to do this. You’ll end up messing up that perfectly smooth surface!
NOTE: Some of the herbal powders may have sunk to the bottom of your pan. Don’t worry about these! Just leave them behind. Straining your liquid soap helps alleviate this.
Step 7) Spritz
Now just give the tops of your soaps a little spritz with the rubbing alcohol. You’ll see any tiny or even somewhat large bubbles that may have formed burst. You want to get rid of these to preserve that beautiful smooth top!
8) Cool
Now, let your soaps cool down completely. This usually takes between 2 and 5 hours, depending on the heat of your home. I tend to go longer on the cooling, just to be sure they are firmed up!
9) Remove from the Mold
Now just pop them out of the soap mold. Easy Peasy!
They’re all done!
These sweet soaps have thrilled some gift recipients!
Yes! I’m ready to learn to make REAL, natural, homemade soap! Click here to learn more!
Cleaning Up After a Melt and Pour Session
Clean up for melt and pour is SO easy. Just rinse out your tools and double boiler and dry off! That’s it!
Final Thoughts on Goats Milk & Rose Facial Soap and Melt & Pour Soap Making in General
You know what?
Melt and pour soap making is sometimes looked down upon by “real” soap makers (this is said a bit tongue in cheek), but honestly, it’s an art form in and of itself. In Jan Berry’s book, Melt and Pour Soaps, you will find so many different techniques and 49 incredible recipes to try, along with this recipe, which is on page 39.
Her photos, as always, are a delight. As I perused her book, I found myself dog-earing page after page to try! This is truly a wonderful book to give to the very beginning soap maker who is nervous about using lye, OR the artisan who wants to create ravishing soap creations.
I’m super glad I chose this particular recipe to try! These ended up being exceptionally beautiful gifts for the holidays this year!
On the gift giving note: How about a melt & pour soap basket for an artsy friend? You could include Jan’s book, some soap base, a pretty soap mold, all in a lovely basket!
AND, if you’d like a free downloadable and printable eBook with Melt and Pour soap making directions and five recipes to start with to see if you like this method, you can get it by completing the form at the end of this post!
You might also enjoy these related articles:
The Secret to Making Soap Without Lye
Soap Making Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make
Cold Process vs. Hot Process Soap: Which is Best?
20 Best Essential Oils to Use in Your Natural Soap Making
And don’t forget! If you want to take a complete video course to learn how to make handmade natural soaps, complete with an eBook and 25 recipes and variations, click here for more information on Natural Soap Making featuring the hot process method.
If you have questions or any comments, I’d love to hear! Just leave them in the comments section!
Hugs, Health, and Self-Reliance,
Heidi
P.S. Sign up for the newsletter and never miss a thing! You’ll get immediate access to my FREE Resource Library, where you will find your Melt & Pour Guide + Recipes and a LOT more! Just complete the form below:
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Here is an EASY and fast recipe for handmade, natural rose and goat milk soap. You can make this soap in about 15 minutes, and it’s ready to use in a couple of hours. These make excellent gifts. If you want to make soap without lye using the melt and pour soap making method, this recipe is a must try! #handmadesoap #naturalsoap #meltandpoursoap #melt&pour #soap #easy #recipe #pinksoap #goatmilksoap #healingharvesthomestead
