Tutorial: Rosewater Soap with Rosehip & Jojoba Oils

Last spring, I collected tons of rose petals from our garden and made my own rosewater for skincare, including a toner and this lovely little rosewater soap. As I went through so much trouble to make my own rosewater, I wasn't scared to use some luxury oils and ingredients in this rosewater soap formula.

The essential oil blend features labdanum absolute, which is a very full-bodied, amber-like floral fragrance, as well as a large portion of lavender with a touch of palmarosa and geranium essential oils. The large portion of lavender essential oil helped to combat acceleration, as the other notes move very quickly!

This particular rosewater soap recipe also features rosehip and jojoba oils, as well as pink kaolin clay and natural colorants. While being palm-free and vegan-friendly like most of Modern Soapmaking's recipes, it's also free of coconut oil.

 Tutorial: Rosewater Soap with Rosehip & Jojoba Oils

This rosewater soap recipe is sized for a 10″ Bramble Berry silicone mold, like most of my other tutorials, even though I used my SoapHutch Uber Kate mold as shown. You can resize it using a lye calculator for whichever mold works for you. As requested, I have started to add percentages to the formula & essential oil blends for your convenience.

(If you aren't sure how much soap your mold holds, you can find out with this guide to resizing your soap recipes to fit your mold.)

Rosewater Soap Recipe Used

• 10 ounces Avocado Oil (26.3% of the oils)
• 10 ounces Babassu Oil (26.3% of the oils)
• 6 ounces Mango Butter (15.8% of the oils)
• 4 ounces Hi-Oleic Sunflower Oil (10.5% of the oils)
• 4 ounces Castor Oil (10.5% of the oils)
• 2 ounces Jojoba Oil (5.3% of the oils)
• 2 ounces Rosehip Oil (5.3% of the oils)
• 4.86 ounces Sodium Hydroxide (8% superfat)
• 9.88 ounces Rosewater (33% lye solution)

I buy most of my soaping oils from Soaper’s Choice (Columbus Foods). 

Essential Oil Blend Used

• 30 grams of Lavender 40/42 Essential Oil (67% of the blend)
• 5 grams of Palmarosa Essential Oil (11% of the blend)
• 5 grams of Egyptian Geranium Essential Oil (11% of the blend)
• 5 grams of Labdanum (Rock Rose) Absolute (11% of the blend)

These essential oils are from Liberty Natural, but you can use any fragrances or essential oils your heart desires.

Colorants Used

• 1 tsp Titanium Dioxide (Bramble Berry)
• 1 tsp Rose Kaolin Clay (Bramble Berry)
• 1 tsp Ratanjot Powder (Cranberry Lane)
• ½ tsp Madder Root Powder (Bramble Berry)

PREP WORK: Weigh out your soaping oils. I like to add my essential oils to my main soap pot so I can’t possibly forget them later. Make up your lye solution, too! I chilled the rosewater before adding the lye to it, it will change to a bright orange-y pink color!

I keep my Titanium Dioxide premixed and diluted, so I can easily add it to my soap. If you don't, you'll want to prep your TD. In one measuring cup, I measured out the rose kaolin clay and madder root power. In another measuring cup, I measured the ratanjot powder. I mixed them both with a small amount of oils from the main batch of oils.

GET STARTED: This particular formula will move slightly quick, due to the catalysts in the essential oil blend. To ensure you get an even mixture, add half your lye solution to your soaping oils, stick blend really well, and then add the remaining half with very light stick blending or switch to a whisk.

 Add your lye solution to the oils.

Stick blend or mix until barely emulsified. (Not sure what that means? Find out in this guide to controlling trace.) Add your titanium dioxide to the full batch before splitting it up.

 Be extremely careful with your stick blending, as this rosewater soap accelerates!

Pour a third of the rosewater soap batch split evenly into the measuring cups, so you have two-thirds of your batch in your soap pot, one-sixth in your madder/clay mix, and one-sixth in your ratanjot.

 Mix in the natural colorants with a spatula or whisk!

POUR IT: Pour about two thirds of the uncolored rosewater soap from your soap pot into your mold.

 Pour two-thirds of the rosewater soap into the mold.

Start creating a drop swirl by drizzling a small amount of your madder/clay soap in the mold randomly and from up high, switch to drizzling the ratanjot soap into the mold, and then back to the uncolored rosewater soap.

 Pour alternating colors of rosewater soap into the mold from up high to create a drop swirl.

Continue alternating pouring both the uncolored and colored rosewater soap into the mold, until you have just enough of the uncolored rosewater soap left to flood fill a layer in your mold.

 Pouring from way up high will help the soap break through the layers!

TOP IT OFF: Flood fill (pour the soap over a spatula into the mold) or simply pour gently (it will likely be thick enough at this point) the remainder of the uncolored rosewater soap.

 Pour the remaining uncolored rosewater soap onto the top of the soap.

 Using a spatula to flood fill or smooth out the layer can help!

Pouring the remaining madder/clay and ratanjot soap onto the top of the rosewater soap in the mold, creating a mountain of soap down the middle of the mold.

 Layer the remaining rosewater soap on the top, creating a central mountain of pretty colors!

FINISH IT UP: Texture the top of the soap with a spoon, if you wish. I used a spatula to drag both sides of the uncolored rosewater soap up the mound of colored soap down the middle, and then created divots with a spoon diagonally down the mold.

 Using a spoon to texture the top of the rosewater soap.

To add more visual interest, I sprinkled the top of the soap with rose kaolin clay and ratanjot powder.

 Sprinkling the top of the soap with rose kaolin clay and ratanjot powder.

Spritz the top with rubbing alcohol when it loses the sheen of wet soap, and cover with plastic wrap to help keep the ash monsters away.

 The finished rosewater soap in the mold!

p.s. The two other soaps in the mold are the Lavender & Cedar Split Tiger Stripe Soap on the left and the Neem Soap with Rosehip & Evening Primrose oils on the right! I used my acrylic dividers to lay on top of the other mold chambers while I was making this soap, so I didn't drip soap on the other batches. ;)

Remove the soap from the mold, slice it up, and give it a good cure. Enjoy!

 Cut & Cure: Rosewater Soap with Rosehip & Jojoba Oils

This rosewater soap recipe featured in this tutorial is a palm-free, coconut-free, and vegan friendly formula. It uses a 8% superfat and a 33% lye solution. Feel free to adjust as necessary!