Tutorial: French Pink Clay & Silk Soap with Hearts

It's the best time of year to pamper yourself. With Valentines Day fast approaching, do what you do best and whip up a batch of soap that will make your skin feel absolutely sinful. ;)

With the addition of silk and french pink clay, this divine soap has a phenomenal silky lather, a little cushiony glide (great for shaving), and a sensual essential oil blend.

Soap Formula Used

• 7 ounces Olive Oil
• 10 ounces Coconut Oil
• 2 ounces Castor Oil
• 6 ounces Shea Butter
• 9 ounces Apricot Kernel Oil
• 2 ounces Jojoba Oil
• 4.76 ounces Sodium Hydroxide
• 9.67 ounces Distilled Water

Essential Oil Blend Used

• 26 grams Rosemary Essential Oil
• 12 grams Geranium Essential Oil
• 6 grams Palmarosa Essential Oil

Colorants & Additives Used

• 1 tablespoon French Pink Clay (Or how about Purple Brazilian Clay? That would be gorgeous!)
• 1 small cotton ball sized pinch of Tussah Silk

Extra Supplies Needed

• A squeeze condiment bottle
• A skewer or chopstick

PREP WORK: Make your lye solution with the distilled water and sodium hydroxide. Spread out your little ball of silk into a stretched out web, and mix it into your lye solution while it's still hot. It will dissolve while you finish your prep work.

Prep your soaping oils. I like to add my essential oils to my soaping oils so that I do not have to remember to add them later.

Measure one tablespoon of french pink clay into the squeeze bottle, and add a small bit of your soaping oils to the squeeze bottle (about 2 to 3 tablespoons.) Close the cap and shake the bottle rigorously to mix your clay into the oils and form a slurry. You can also do this in a shallow dish and use a frother instead.

Add Silk to the Hot Lye Solution

GET STARTED: Add your lye solution to your soaping oils and stick blend until emulsified. Once you have reached an emulsified state, pour half of your batch into your squeeze bottle with the french pink clay slurry. (If you have not added the essential oil blend, you need to do that first!)

Put the cap on your squeeze bottle and shake rigorously until the soap is thoroughly mixed. Be sure to place your gloved finger over the end of the squeeze bottle while shaking it, and lift your finger with the bottle pointed AWAY from you. The pressure from within the bottle will sometimes cause a small amount of the raw soap to force out of the top.

Add the Lye Solution to the Soaping Pot

Add Half of the Silk Soap Batch to the Squeeze Bottle

SWIRL  IT: Pour about one third of the uncolored soap into the mold.

Next, aim the squeeze bottle at a 45 degree angle and squeeze one third of the french pink clay soap into the uncolored soap in the mold.

Repeat the previous two steps. (One third of the white soap, poured randomly in the mold. One third of the french pink clay soap squeezed at a 45 degree angle.)

Flood fill the top of the batch with the remainder of the uncolored soap.

Pour Part of the Uncolored Soap into the Mold

Use the Squeeze Bottle at an Angle to Swirl the Silk Soap

 Flood Fill the Top of the Batch with the Remaining Uncolored Soap

GIVE IT SOME HEARTS: Using the squeeze bottle, put little dots of french pink clay soap on the surface of the batch.

Use a skewer or a chopstick barely inserted into the soap's surface to drag through the dots. Think of it like playing connect the dots, but with a swirling/sweeping motion.

Use the Squeeze Bottle to Place Dots of French Pink Clay colored Soap

Use a Skewer to Turn the Dots into Hearts

Hearts Decorating the Top of the French Pink Clay & Silk Soap

THE FINISH LINE: Put the french clay & silk soap to sleep (insulate lightly - this essential oil blend can overheat). When the soap surface loses it's sheen, spray the top with rubbing alcohol to help prevent ash. Unmold in 12 to 24 hours.

If the french clay & silk soap is too soft, leave it for another 12 to 24 hours before attempting to unmold again.

Slice it up, cure it out, & enjoy!

The french clay & silk soap formula featured in this tutorial is a Modern Soapmaking original. It is palm-free (but NOT vegan friendly, as silk is an animal by-product. Cruelty-free Tussah Silk is available, however, it is still not a vegan ingredient because of its origin)

It uses a 7% superfat and a 33% lye solution strength. You may want to increase the water if you are not used to stronger lye solutions as the essential oil blend does accelerate trace. 

Have you ever made french clay or silk soap? How about decorating the tops of your loaf batches with hearts instead of a slab? Tell me about it right here in the comments!