Simple and Natural Skin Moisturizing Soap with Recipe

Learn how easy it is to make DIY moisturizing soap to give as a gift or use for yourself and your family! This step-by-step guide will take you through the process of making a natural, scented bar soap that you will enjoy making and using!

​diy moisturizing soap

Natural moisturizing soap that smells amazing isn’t hard to make. This soap is perfect for sensitive skin and other skin types like dry skin. 

My first batch of soap was made about three years ago with my good friend, Mary, who has made soap for a very long time.  She is also my daughter-in-law’s mama and is the one who introduced me to making homemade hand soap!

I was amazed at how easy it is to make! If I can make a bar of soap this amazing, then you can make your own soap too! This homemade soap recipe is far better than any store-bought soaps I have ever used and I can’t wait to tell you how easy it is to make! Let’s get started!

moisturizing soap ingredients

The printable recipe that I use will be included later in the post but I wanted to go over the basic ingredients and method to make handmade soap bars.

different oils and fats

You can use several types of oils to make DIY moisturizing soap: olive oil, castor oil, sweet almond oil, and avocado oil. You can also use ‘solid’ oils, including coconut oil, shea butter, jojoba oil and cocoa butter.

Believe it or not, you can also use lard or beef tallow as one of the oils! When choosing olive oil, there is no need to purchase expensive extra virgin olive oil. I use the Great Value regular olive oil with great results!

Fragrance oil can also be used when making homemade soap if you want it to be scented. I recommend using high-quality fragrance oils made for soap making.

Purchase fragrance oils on reputal sites like Bramble Berry, Flaming Candle and Candle Science. I realize they sound like candle making sites but they have soap making supplies too! I have used fragrance oils from each and they are amazing!

lye and liquid

Soap is made with sodium hydroxide also known as lye. This is a dangerous substance but is necessary to make soap.

I’ll explain more about lye later in this post but for now, rest assured that if you take the necessary precautions, you can use sodium hydroxide to make soap. You have to be smart about the process but it can be done!

Lye is mixed with a liquid which can include water and goat milk. I’m sure there are other liquids but I do not have experience with liquids other than these.

supplies for DIY soap-making

Here are the links for the supplies I use to make my DIY moisturizing soap:

step-by-step guide to small batch soap

There are several approaches to making diy moisturizing soap. This is my preferred method using the oils, lye, and liquid for this recipe. I like to repeat the steps the same way each time so that I don’t have any mishaps!

step one: mix the lye solution

1. This is an important step and the one you need to be the most careful with. Do not do this step with young children or pets close by. Lye can be dangerous if not properly used so be smart about measuring and mixing the lye and liquid! Put on your rubber gloves, safety glasses and even a mask! Wear long sleeves if you are concerned about your arms. Do this step and mixing the lye in a well-ventilated area.
2. Measure the lye into the plastic container. First, put the plastic container on your food scale and zero it out so that the digital numbers show as zero. That way you are only measuring the ingredients you add to the container.
3. Carefully spoon the dry lye into the plastic container until the scale reaches the correct amount in the recipe. Carefully put the lid on the container being cautious to not spill the lye. I used a small parmesan cheese store container that I had saved for this purpose. I only use this container to measure lye and nothing else! It stays in my soap-making box of supplies and tools.
4. Next measure the water in the glass container. Follow the same steps as measuring the lye. First zero out the scale after placing the glass container on the scale. Then measure the correct amount of water in the glass container.
5. Now it’s time to mix the lye and the water together. Step outside or in a well-ventilated area. I prefer to step outside on a flat surface like my front porch. 
6. Here is a warning: Do not add water to the lye! Instead, add the lye to the water. It might not seem like a big deal but if you add the ingredients in the wrong order, you might have some bubbling, popping and could possibly burn your skin. Rubber gloves and safety goggles are necessary!
7. Slowly pour the dry lye into the water and stir with a metal spoon until the cloudy appearance is gone and the lye is dissolved. Be careful while stirring. Once the lye is in the water it will heat up very quickly and can even put off steam! This is one of the reasons I do this step outdoors. The steam can put off an odor and you do not want to breathe it in. Wear a mask if you are concerned!
8. Allow the lye and water solution to cool to about 100*. I leave the glass container outside in an area that will not be disturbed by children, pets or wildlife. The solution needs to cool and can take a bit of time depending on the outdoor temps.

step two: melt and mix the oils

​The solid oils need to be melted in order to mix them with the liquid oils so I start off with that step first.

1. Use the 8-cup glass container, place it on the food scale, and zero out the scale. Then add the first solid oil until the correct amount is in the glass container. Zero out the scale and add the next solid oil to the desired amount.
2. Once all of the solid oils are measured, melt them in the microwave for one minute and a time. Stir between the minutes and continue to set the microwave to one minute at a time until all of the solid oils are melted.
3. Place the melted oil-filled glass container on the scale and zero it out again. Add the liquid oils, one at a time using the same method of zeroing out the scale between oils. Do not add the fragrance oils yet!
4. Stir the oils to mix completely. Allow the oils to cool to approx 100*.

The oils and the lye solution need to be at approximately the same temperature before mixing. I aim for temps of each between 90*-100*

step three: mix the lye solution and oils

This next step begins the saponification process. This part is fascinating to me! A chemical reaction happens when lye, water, and the oils are mixed creating a whole new property called soap! The lye is no longer lye, the oils are no longer oils. Now they are soap!

The full process takes 4-6 weeks to complete but it begins when the two are combined. Continue to use gloves and safety glasses to avoid splashes since the process isn’t yet complete.

Slowly pour the lye solution into the 8-cup glass container with the oils and stir with a silicone spatula. Add the fragrance oil of your choice. 

Next, put the immersion blender into the mixture and tap on the side of the glass to remove any air bubbles in the blender.

Using the pulse on the immersion blender, mix the soap solution. It’s best to pulse a couple of times, stop the pulsing, and just stir with the stick blender, then pulse again. Repeat those steps until the soap solution has changed color, is thickened, and will trace.

Depending on the room temperature, and the temp of the oils, trace can happen in 2-5 minutes and sometimes longer. Check for trace several times so you don’t take the soap solution too far!

Trace is when the ingredients are fully emulsified and will leave a trail from the dripping blender on top of the mixture. It is still pourable. Imagine drawing a squiggly line with the dripping mixture once you lift the blender from the solution. You are looking to have that line leave a trail on the surface!

thanks for being here!

I hope you are enjoying this project! Let me know if you have any questions. Or leave me a comment to tell me about your project and ideas!

thanks, Cindy 😀

Tap here to comment!

​step four: pour the soap

Now it’s time to pour the soap into the silicone mold. The spout on the glass container will come in handy for this step as well as the silicone spatula. Carefully pour the soap into the molds to the top.

The soap will thicken in minutes so do this step quickly and efficiently. Don’t stop to take a phone call or text! This recipe will make approximately 7-9 bars of soap depending on the size of the soap mold.

Smooth out the top of the soap. You can use a metal knife to create a flat surface or a small metal spoon to create a design like I did.

Allow the soap to set up in the silicone molds for at least 24 hours and up to 48 hours. I place my molds on cooling racks before pouring so they are easy to move to another room. Place them in a room where they will not be disturbed.

Once the bars have set up, pop them out of the silicone molds and place them on the cooling racks in a dark cool room to finish the saponification process for up to 6 weeks. the longer you allow them to firm up, The longer the bars will last once they are in use. I like to leave them alone for the full 6 weeks.

step five: clean up

This is the last step of soap making and an important one! Keep your gloves on and thoroughly wash all of the tools you used with soap and water.

After cleaning, I store my molds, immersion blender, and other tools in a box high on a bathroom closet shelf. These tools are used only for soap making! I also store my printed recipes in the same box!

Handmade soap makes wonderful gifts! I have given away so many bars of this homemade moisturizing soap and everyone has loved it!

It can be wrapped simple with a pretty bow, jute twine or velvet ribbon. Add some dried flowers to the bow for an added touch!

Each bar of soap lasts me about one month. When the soap gets very small and is hard to use, I save it in a bag. Once I have several leftover pieces, I melt them in the microwave using the 2-cup glass container and repour the melted soap into a soap mold.

Obviously, I do not give that bar of soap away! I keep it for myself! That way I am using up all of the oils and fragrances that I spent my hard-earned money on!

all about soapmaking

I hope you enjoyed this post and this soap recipe! I’m looking forward to making other recipes so be sure to sign up for my email updates! Next on the soap-making agenda is homemade bar kitchen soap! And I am also researching how to make soap using items from my garden like flowers and herbs.

​Below is the printable recipe. Print it out and keep it in your soap-making supplies box like I do!