Nancy's Tuscan Sunrise Soap

I developed this recipe while dreaming of an upcoming vacation to Italy. The colors evoke images of sipping cappucino in the early morning hours on the terrace of an old Tuscan villa, while the dawn bathes the olive fields in a soft golden light. Or perhaps it may remind you of the old Italian women, dressed in black, sitting on the stone benches amidst a sea of terracotta stone. The scent is that of orange cappucino with a warm touch of cinnamon and an exotic breeze of sandalwood.

Layer 1:

6 oz olive oil
6 oz coconut oil
8 oz palm oil
2 oz cocoa butter
3 oz castor oil
9 oz triple strength coffee
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3.4 oz lye

At trace:

2 tablespoons fresh ground espresso
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cassia EO

Directions: Dissolve 1 T brown sugar into hot coffee. Let cool in fridge. Melt cocoa butter. Add to measured oils. Melt oils together. Add lye carefully to coffee solution. When both temps are 95 degrees F, add lye solution to oils. Stir til light trace. Add ground coffee, cinnamon and EO. Pour into mold, cover and insulate. Wait at least 3 hours until next layer:

Layer 2:

6 oz olive oil
6 oz coconut oil
8 oz palm oil
2 oz cocoa butter
3 oz castor oil
4 oz purified water
5 oz carrot juice
3.4 oz lye

At trace:

2 tablespoons sweet orange EO
2 tablespoons lemon EO
2 tablespoons bergamot EO
2 tablespoons sandalwood EO
1 teaspoon cassia EO

Dissolve lye into water. When temps equal 95 degrees, add lye/water solution to oils (including melted cocoa butter). Then add carrot juice. At light trace, add EO’s. Pour over first layer and recover and reinsulate. Unmold after 18 hours. Cure 3-4 weeks.

submitted by Nancy G.