Difficulty: Intermediate
Time: 1 hr
Yields: 1200 g soap or approximately 10-12 bars
I love my coffee! Even when it’s hot and muggy in summer, I like to drink coffee, preferably ice cold and with cream on top. In my opinion, one of the yummiest inventions is the creation of the frappucino! What would we do without them?
One of the problems with making coffee and chocolate scented soaps is that most of the coffee and chocolate fragrances discolour your soap brown. To avoid this, I added titanium dioxide to the cream of the soap. The soap also contains coffee grounds, which gives it a bit of an exfoliating effect, but not too much, just enough for using it daily in the shower.
The fragrances I’m using here are Chocolate Fudge and Fresh Coffee from Candlescience, which you can purchase from Pure Nature. The mica is Antique Bronze from Mica Your World. And the paper straws I purchased from AliExpress.
Before starting, please read the safety and precautions post, especially since this tutorial requires the handling of caustic soda!
If you have never made cold-process soap before, I strongly recommend you check out the basic cold process soap tutorial first.
ONE: Prepare your lye as usual and leave it to cool down to room temperature. I always place my lye in the sink, for safety reasons.
I’ve added 2 teaspoons of sodium lactate to my lye solution. Sodium lactate is a natural additive derived from the fermentation of natural sugars, and it helps to make the soap harder allowing to unmould it quicker.
TWO: Weigh out the coconut oil and cocoa butter in a microwaveable jug or bowl, and heat in the microwave until the oils have melted. Then add the liquid oils to the now melted coconut oil and cocoa butter.
THREE: Add the fragrance. I’m using coffee fragrance to which I’ve added a little chocolate fragrance.
FOUR: Once the lye has cooled down to room temperature, and making sure you are still wearing protective goggles and gloves, carefully add the lye to the oils.
FIVE: Use a whisk or stick blender to mix the oils and lye to thin trace.
SIX: Separate roughly 1 1/2 cups of soap into a separate container. This will be your ‘cream’ on top.
And separate another cup of soap for the uncoloured soap in the swirl.
SEVEN: Add the brown mica to the remaining soap in the pot.
EIGHT: Separate another 2/3 cup of soap and add the coffee grounds. Give it a good stir to get rid of all the clumps.
I’m using the content of one of the Nespresso pods, which is roughly a little more than a teaspoon.
You should now have two cups of soap, one uncoloured and one with the coffee grounds, and the brown coloured soap in the main pot. You should also have the ‘cream’ part separated in another container.
NINE: To do an ITPS (in-the-pot swirl), pour the colours into three spots in your soap, as shown in the image. Make sure you pour them from a height so that the colour reaches the bottom. I poured each colour twice in each spot.
Then take your spatula, and move the spatula in a circle through the soap once or twice, but no more. The more you move it, the more you will blend the colours together. If you want more distinction between your colours only go round once. I did two circles in my soap, one smaller and one bigger circle.
TEN: Pour the swirled soap into your mould.
ELEVEN: Add the titanium dioxide to the soap in the separate container. I added it straight in powder form, but it’s better if you mix it with a little water before adding, to avoid white specks in your soap. Use your stick blender to mix it to a thick trace.
TWELVE: Use a teaspoon to plop the soap on top. I did three lines and then two more lines on top of the other three, to create this whipped cream appearance.
Cut the straws into roughly 2-3 inches and then stick them diagonally into the soap.
THIRTEEN: Leave the soap to cure for a day or two before unmoulding. Then let it sit for another day before cutting the soap into bars. I used a thin filleting knife to cut this soap 12 bars. The bars will need another 6-8 weeks of curing.
The soap smells absolutely delicious. Very much coffee with a hint of chocolate. Just how I like my frappucino!
Frappucino Soap
Ingredients
- 400 g olive oil
- 300 g coconut oil
- 100 g cocoa butter
- 150 g rice bran oil
- 50 castor oil
- 141 g caustic soda
- 280 g water
- 2 teaspoons of sodium lactate
- 25 ml coffee fragrance
- 5 ml chocolate fragrance
- 1/4 tsp titanium dioxide
- 1/2 tsp brown mica
- 1 tsp coffee grounds
- 10 paper straws
Directions
- Measure out the caustic soda and the water. Then add the caustic soda to the water (not the other way round!) and stir until the caustic soda has completely dissolved.
- Add 2 teaspoons of sodium lactate to the lye solution and set aside to cool down.
- Weigh out the coconut oil and cocoa butter and melt in the microwave or on the stove top until completely melted.
- Add the olive, rice bran and castor oils to the now liquid coconut oil and cocoa butter.
- Then, add 25 ml of coffee fragrance and 5 ml of chocolate fragrance to the oils and give everything a good stir.
- Check if the lye has cooled down to room temperature, and making sure you are still wearing protective gear, carefully pour the lye to the oils and, using a whisk or stick blender, mix until emulsified (thin trace).
- Pour about 1 1/2 cups of soap into a separate jug. This will be the ‘cream’.
- Separate another cup of soap into a different cup or container.
- To the remaining soap, add 1/2 teaspoon of brown mica and give it a quick mix with the stick blender.
- Fill another cup with the brown soap, and add to it 1 teaspoon of coffee grounds. Mix well.
- You should now have one container with soap for the cream.
- You should also have one cup of uncoloured soap, one cup of brown coloured soap with coffee grounds, and the main pot should contain the brown soap.
- To do an ITPS (in-the-pot-swirl): In three spots, like a triangle, pour the uncoloured and coffee-grounds soap into the brown soap in the main container. Do this twice, and each time pour into the same three spots.
- Stick the spatula into the soap and move it around in a circle through the soap. Do this only once or twice.
- Then pour the soap into the mould.
- To create the cream: Mix the titanium dioxide with a little water and add it to the remaining soap in the other jug or container. Use your stick blender to mix it until a thick trace.
- Plop the soap onto the surface of the swirled soap with a teaspoon.
- Cut the straws into 2-3 inches length, and stick them into the soap diagonally.
- Leave the soap to cure a couple of days before unmoulding, and then let it stand for another few days before cutting into bars. The soap bars will need to cure for a further 6-8 weeks until ready for use.
Thank you for sharing that detail. It was fascinating and insightful. Continue to share useful resources over these blogs…
Hi Jackie, could you replace the brown mica with cocoa?
Yes, you can! What a great idea!