I love melt & pour soap because the hard part is already done and there are a million ways you can customize it! Today, I had a more manly DIY in mind. This DIY Activated Charcoal Bar Soap can be used on the face as well as the body and is great for detoxing skin. It’s super easy to make and safe for all skin types!
Melt & Pour Goat’s Milk Soap Base is organic and contains skin moisturizing ingredients. It’s super easy to work with and a 2lb. tray will give you A LOT of bars of soap. I added 1 tbsp. of activated charcoal powder because activated charcoal has the amazing ability to attach to impurities in the pores and detox the skin. (BTW-this is about 14 capsules) Because we are using a very nourishing soap with an extremely detoxing substance, this soap will not dry out the skin. I also added Atlas Cedarwood, Tea Tree and Lavender essential oils for added cleansing action as well as an amazing woodsy scent!
Atlas Cedarwood Essential Oil Benefits:
- Helps relieve eczema
- Relieves acne
- Reduces inflammation
- Helps with brain focus
- Regrows hair
- Anti fungal
- Arthritis relief
- Relieves dry skin/scalp
DIY Activated Charcoal Bar Soap
1 lb of Goat’s Milk Soap Base (find it HERE)
1 tbsp. of activated charcoal (find it HERE)
15 drops Lavender Essential Oil (find it HERE)
15 drops Tea Tree Essential Oil (find it HERE)
10 drops Atlas Cedarwood Essential Oil (find it HERE)
Directions:
- Cut the soap base in pieces and place in a large glass bowl.
- Add activated charcoal to soap base.
- Create a double boiler by filling a medium sized pot 1/2 way full with water. Place on the stove top turning the heat to medium. Place the glass bowl with the soap base and activated charcoal on the stove.
- Allow the soap to thoroughly melt.
- You will need to stir periodically to get the activated charcoal powder to dissolve.
- Spray soap molds with non-stick cooking spray.
- Once the soap has melted and the activated charcoal has melted, remove from heat and add the essential oils.
- Pour into soap molds and allow to sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Place in the fridge for 1 more hour.
- Pop out of the molds and use!!
**I used a full pound which is half of the tray. This gave me about 6 bars of soap using THIS mold. Feel free to cut this recipe in half.**
I found that some of the activated charcoal settled at the bottom of each bar which actually made a really cool exfoliation on one side and a cleanser on the other side! It was a happy accident! You can see the thin layer of activated charcoal in the pictures! I’m wondering if you added another tablespoon of AC, if you’d have a larger amount of AC on the bottom for a double duty bar?!
These bars of soaps make a great gift and can be tailored to whoever you’re making it for. I love adding cedarwood for a woodsy scent. Tea tree is great for blemishes but you could add a citrus essential oil and lavender for something a bit brighter and more feminine.
These bars have been a hit with my daughters and husband. They suds well and make cleansing a breeze!
xx, Jenni
Absolutely love that mold for soaps! It fits perfectly in your hands.
I loved this recipe. I’ve been looking for a good charcoal soap recipe but never really liked all of the ingredients. Your ingredients were dead on. But I changed it up a bit. Using 1 lb of goat’s milk I cut that in half. Melted half and put bentonite clay in it with half the amount of Poured into the molds. Then I use the other half of the goat’s milk and added the charcoal with the other half of the oils. Sprayed some alcohol and pour it on top of the clay soap. So now I have my charcoal with my bentonite and the right oils. Thank you for this
Wanda-That’s so neat! I’m going to try that. Thank you for telling me how you did it-I hadn’t gotten that creative with the goat’s milk!
Is this recipe ok for sensitive skin?
Tasha-I don’t believe so. The base for the soap should be very gentle however, it is still soap which can cause irritation and strip the skin. I used my bars on my body only.