Avocado Soap

I’ve long wanted to try using avocado in soap but I wasn’t quite sure how to approach it, so I was very happy to see a recipe and instructions for Avocado Moisturizing Bars in the new Soap Crafting book. 

According to the book, avocados are beneficial for dry, itchy and maturing skin. They are high in vitamins A, D, and E and also contain high levels of lecithin, potassium, protein and amino acids. This recipe utilizes both avocado puree and avocado oil, so it should result in a rich, moisturizing bar! 

Amy Warden from Great Cakes Soapworks had posted about this recipe a couple of weeks ago on her blog, so I found it very helpful to read her blog post and tips again before I dove in. 

I also wanted to incorporate aloe vera juice and coconut water, but wasn't quite sure how to do that. By a total coincidence, Denise from Neecy's Necessities just happened to blog yesterday about using different milks and liquids in soap, including aloe vera juice and coconut water, so that was super informative and helpful too!

Following the instructions in the book, I started out by making a slurry out of avocado and coconut water:

I used aloe vera juice instead of water to dissolve the lye, and I found these leaf wax tart molds, which I thought would make cute soap embeds:

I didn’t put my soap in the freezer, because I was using my divider molds and I’ve never had a soap gel on me yet in those molds. I should have heeded the tip in the book though - get that soap in the freezer right away, that sucker heats up!!! I ended up hastily throwing it into the freezer as soon as I saw it was gelling in parts, and I left it in the freezer overnight:

I chose not to color it this time, because I wasn’t sure how quickly it would move on me. I think I would have to work fast, but next time I would try to add some colored swirls or layers. These bars contain avocado puree, avocado oil, palm oil, olive oil, coconut oil, coconut water, and aloe vera juice: 

Wishing you all a wonderful week! =)