Handmade Rose Petal Soap!

A Beautiful Rose!

Roses. What woman doesn't love roses...the fragrance, the beauty, the softness of the petals. I think that roses are one of the most beautiful flowers on earth!  I love getting roses from the love of my life.  I love getting any flowers at all, from anyone at all, but, there's just something very special about a vase full of roses.

The sad part comes for me when they're spent and it's time to throw them away. I tend to keep them way beyond the last vestures of beauty because I resist parting with them.  Well, my friends, I have discovered a way that we can keep our roses and enjoy their lingering fragrance and delicate softness for months and months while using them to pamper ourselves and benefit our skin.

Handmade Rose Petal Soap!

To clarify, this is not a soap recipe or a tutorial on how to make soap.  This is a couple of ideas for you to incorporate into your very own soap recipes if you so desire.  

After your roses are no longer beautiful, save the petals to infuse all their nutrients and fragrance into your soap.  You can let them dry, or you can use them right from the vase after they have drooped and withered.  Or, if you don't happen to have old roses on hand, you can purchase them, maybe like these.

Dried Rose Buds and Petals

What you will need to do next is to make a tea from your rose petals.  Use the measured amount of water needed for your soap recipe (to further bring out the rosiness of your soap, you can use rosewater to infuse), heat just to boiling and pour over about a cup, or a handful, of rose petals.  Let it steep for an hour or so, then strain the water using cheesecloth.  Now you can use this infused water, or rosewater tea, for making your soap.  Don't forget to re-measure your water to be certain it is the correct amount, you may have lost some to evaporation, just add a little more if necessary.  In addition, you can also infuse your oils with the rose petals to increase the rosiness of your soap.  Place more rose petals into your measured oil in a double boiler and let steep for several hours.  Let cool a bit, then strain through cheesecloth. Now you're ready to make your rose infused soap recipe.  

Tussah Silk

Another idea for making your rose soap even more decadent is to snip about a cotton ball size (or larger) of tussah silk to the lye water right after mixing in the lye.  It will dissolve in the lye mixture as it activates and cools down.   Some say it makes a difference in the feel of the soap, some say it is undetectable.  I think it does make a difference, I notice the silkier feel of my skin while rinsing.  

In order to enhance the beautiful delicate color of the soap, rose kaolin clay is a good choice.  It is good on normal, dry and sensitive skin; it is a very mild clay; and it doesn't draw oils from the skin.  If using in a shampoo soap recipe, it is said to add a bit of body to the hair.  I haven't tried this yet, in shampoo soap that is, but I plan to.  It makes for a good shaving soap too.  Just a teaspoon or two should do the trick, depending on the depth of color you like.  

The only thing left to do is to fortify the fragrance of your soap.  Rose absolute is a good choice, or a rose fragrance like this one is delightful, it's the one I used.

Now you're ready to make your own Rose Petal Soap.  Just find your favorite soap recipe and some of your own rose petals and you're good to go.  Here's my version of Handmade Rose Petal Soap all tied up in a bow.

Handmade Rose Petal Soap!

Carpe Diem! Lil and Bill