Eggnog Soap

Finished Eggnog Soap

Last Thursday, we made simple hard boiled eggs. Or rather, we made hard steamed eggs. Let’s just say I have had eggs and a variety of uses on the brain. Today I was inspired to make an eggnog soap. The weather has gotten chilly and the stores are already preparing for the holidays. Halloween candy is on display and eggnog already has a place next to the milk at my favorite grocery stores! To make an eggnog soap, I will be using eggs and our fabulous Gingerbread and Spice Fragrance Oil. I will even be adding a tiny amount of mace to the soap to give it a nice speckled look. Want to come join me?

Recipe:

Starting with my Lye Solution

Start by weigh all of your oils, saving 2 oz of Olive Oil to be held in reserve. Heat those oils gently until liquid. While the oils are heating in the microwave, weigh out your lye and mix with your water. This is also a good time to measure your fragrance oil, crack your eggs and mix your eggs with the Olive Oil that you reserved earlier. Remember to add your lye to your water, not the other way around. Your safety is our first concern! Allow the warmed oils and the lye solution to cool. It is imperative that you soap at a lower temperature when using eggs. They are a temperature sensitive ingredient. (We don’t want partially cooked egg strands in our soap! Talk about ICKY!) You will also want to make sure that you have your mace and fragrance measured and ready to go.

While allowing your oils and lye solution to cool, I like to put away my buckets of oils and set up my mold during this period. This helps keep my counters clean and my distractions to a minimum. When your oils and lye solution are both around 100°F-110°F, add your lye solution to your oils. Remember, using lower temperatures is important if you want smooth looking soap. Using your immersion blender, mix your soap until you reach a light trace. When a light trace has been achieved, add your egg mixture. Mix well. Hand stir the fragrance and mace into the soap.

Mixing Eggs with Olive Oil

Don’t forget, trace doesn’t denote a viscosity, it just means that we aren’t seeing the oils float to the top and separate out. Often we pour our soap into the mold when it is the viscosity of whole milk. That is extremely fluid!

Allow your soap to sit in the mold undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Then cut into bars and place out on a shelf where they can dry. You can use your soap immediately but it will last longer if you allow it to dry completely. It will also keep longer if you store it in an area where it doesn’t sit in water constantly. A great aid in determining if your soap has fully dried are our Cure Cards. The best part is you can have them included in qualifying orders for free! If you want a set, let our order desk know, they are awesome at taking care of special requests.

Once the soap has fully cured, package it and give it away or use it yourself.

Eggs and Oil ready to be mixed.

Notes: If you have never made an egg soap, don’t be alarmed if you cut the soap and it has a soft green color and smells lightly sulfur-like. The color and odor will fade as the soap is allowed to cure and dry. If you are making this soap for gifts, give yourself at least a week from the time you cut your soap and the time you give it away. At that point, no one will ever know unless you tell them!

My thoughts: I am in love with this finished soap. It has had some time to sit and cure and it smells sweet, spicy and rich. If you don’t have mace on hand, feel free to use nutmeg. I had originally planned on using nutmeg but the cupboard was empty of nutmeg! I will need to replace it if I want to do any baking for the holidays! I also think that the Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil would be excellent in the soap recipe! It is ultimately flexible, just like homemade eggnog! What holiday inspired soaps will you be making this season?

Mixing Eggs and Oil

Mixing Eggs and Oil

Mixing Eggs and Oil

Adding Lye Solution to Oils

Starting to mix soap

Mixing Soap

Slowly Adding Egg Mixture to Soap

Adding Fragrance Oil to Soap

Adding Mace to Soap

Adding Soap to Mold