Aloe Vera Soap
The soap in this photo has no added colour.
I have always wanted to create an ALOE VERA bar instead of one of my bars with a little Aloe Vera in it. So, the only liquid in this soap is Aloe Vera, half mixed with the lye and the other half at trace. I look forward to trying it and seeing if there is any difference from bars with just a little Aloe Vera added.
The Aloe Vera comes from my garden. I have been told by people from the area that know Aloe Vera well that for the plant to have any real value for the skin, it needs to be at least 3 years old, maybe 5. At some point, the plant begins to shoot tall stalks in the springtime with flowers on them. This is apparently when they are ready to be used for skincare. Only two of my plants sprout stalks with flowers. Those are the plants I use for my experiments. When I need larger quantities, one of the gardeners on the golf course where I work gives me lots.
To use, I cut off one of the oldest arms from the bottom, empty the gel (stinky, gloopy and sticky...) and blend the gel with my hand mixer so that it becomes uniform and not chunky. It froths up like a white mousse. I don't like to store it for long, but I will keep the excess "mousse" in the frige for a few days until I can use in another soap. I also like to use the excess in facial masks with green clay. The whole family has had a little bit of facial pampering this weekend!
Next Experiment – Half Goat Milk, Half Aloe Vera. Adding Spirulina Powder...
6 comments:
Oh, I am excited -I just LOVE following your experiments! I also love the look of this bar -looks "heavy", dense, rich...and I'm sure it is with 100% Aloe Vera as the liquid! I bet it will be FABULOUS on the face! ~Becky
The above soap is quite beautiful in its purity, Jen. You know I love green soap as well and I have always gotten my best results from stinging nettle. Hate to be discouraging, but spirulina really isn't the green bomb in soaps. I have read on other blogs as well, that the mild green from spirulina in soaps fades in a short time. Just saying...but by all means..EXPERIMENT!
Oh I LOVE green! Especially light, bright green. I've seen people achieve nice green colors by infusing green tea leaves in their oil (don't know for how long), or using a high percentage of unrefined avocado butter. I'm going to follow this experiment religiously!
Those bars look beautiful! I love aloe vera, but I haven't tried it in soap yet. Please let us know how it turns out!
Very nice. I have used a spirulina type powder. I use that in my rosemary shampoo bar and it seems to hold it's colour for a few weeks at least (and then they are gone:). I read that Parsley was supposed to be good, but I haven't tried it. I did put some in oil to see what happened and that was a colossal waste of parsley and oil! I am now drying some which I want to use in soap. I'm also interested in seeing if dried comfrey leaves a colour.
Yah! experiments again. Your aloe vera soap sounds really pampering Jen, how good will that one be for your skin, I use dried aloe vera, but didn't even think of using it fresh. I've tried spirulina dye, really nice colour but it didn't last. I so hate it when the colour fades, so now I just use green clay, not at pretty but at least it lasts.
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