Natural Soap at Home

1 (20-oz) batch of basic soap

2 colorants, ideas on page 83 (I used chlorella for a dark green for one color and chlorella blended with titanium dioxide for a nice mint for my second color)

1 chopstick

Make your soap, bringing just to a very thin trace. Pour about 4 ounces into each mixing bowl, add one color to each bowl, and blend thoroughly. Pour the rest of the soap into your lined soap mold.

Now visualize a line halfway down your soap and pour one of the soap colors down the center of half of the block of soapas shown on page 79.

Now take your chopstick and, using it like a pencil, poke it about ¼ inches deep into the top of the soap. Starting on one side, swipe it across the top of the soap in a straight horizontal line. Bring your chopstick down ⅛ inch and swipe across the other direction, back and forth and back and forth until you reach the bottom.

Keeping your chopstick in the soap, slide it about one-third of the way in and swipe upward in the vertical direction, move over a little, and swipe the other direction. Now move your chopstick over just a bit more and swipe up again.

Admire your lovely soap for a moment and then set it aside to harden for 12 to 24 hours, cut, then set aside to cure 4 to 6 weeks.

The following are two forest-based concepts invoked from the deep green effects of chlorella on soap.

Forest Green

This forest green scent blend is a bit floral with a bright shiny top note.

• 10 drops myrrh

• 20 drops scotch pine

• 20 drops cypress

• 20 drops black spruce absolute

• 5 drops rose de mai

• 20 drops white champa leaf

• 80 drops bergamot bergepatene free

Winter on Trees

This scent blend is a deeper green, woodsy scent without much floral and no bright top note.

• 20 drops spruce

• 20 drops fir

• 20 cedarwood Virginia

• 5 galbanum

• 20 drops juniper

• 10 oakwood