Bastille soap refers to soap made with at least 70% olive oil. Castile, on the other hand, refers to 100% olive oil soap. My soap is made with 80% olive oil and 20% coconut oil so it creates a small amount of bubbles but is gentle enough for babies’ skin. This bar of soap will be softer than most but is still a purely delightful bar of soap. I like to use a lavender, slippery elm, calendula, and chamomile herbal infusion blend for the olive oil used in this recipe (page 74). Using just olive oil is fine, as well.
Ingredients:
2.76 oz lye
7.60 oz distilled water
16 oz olive oil or blended oil
4 oz coconut oil
Method:
SAFETY CHECK!
Line your soap mold with freezer paper. Weigh your water in a heatproof, nonreactive bowl. Then, weigh lye in a separate container. Take these outside in a well-ventilated, safe area and add your lye to your water, mixing thoroughly with a nonreactive spoon. Set in a safe spot to cool.
Meanwhile, weigh your oils and place over medium heat until thoroughly melted. Remove from heat, add essential oils for scent, if you so choose. Check that your lye and oil temperatures are both around 100°F and 110°F and blend your lye/water into your oils. Mix these thoroughly with a stick blender until you have reached trace. Pour your soap into a pre-lined soap mold.
At this point, spritz the tops of your soap with alcohol to keep soda ash from forming. Set aside in a safe spot to harden for 12 to 24 hours. If your soap is not hard enough to cut after this time, just let it sit a few more days until it reaches a firm enough consistency for cutting. After this time, remove your soap from the mold, peel off the freezer paper, and cut your soap! Set aside to cure for 4 to 6 weeks. Enjoy!!