This soap smells so wonderful, I became immediately enamored with lavender and am planning to make more lavender-based soaps soon. For this recipe, I asked CindyP, who ran the soapmaking demonstration at the party, to include basil since I have all that basil. The recipe Cindy came up with for the party resulted in a gorgeous white bar with basil-green flecks and a deep lavender fragrance. It’s a moisturizing bar with a light conditioning quality.

Before we get to the recipe, I want to show this beautiful wooden soap mold CindyP made for me!

It’s a combination soap mold and cutter in one, and I’m just so impressed that she made it herself. To use as a mold, remove the slicer first, of course, and line with freezer paper. To remove the soap, the straps can be unhooked and the ends taken out.

Now you’re ready to cut the soap using the slicing end to guide you in even bars.

Ingenius!

Now on to the recipe!

If you’ve never made soap before, you can find my step-by-step soapmaking tutorial for hot and cold process soap here: How to Make Soap.

Read more about the different processes of making soap and what goes into soap here: Getting Ready to Make Soap: Part 1.

See all about the scary lye here: Getting Ready to Make Soap: Part 2.

And find out all about the necessary tools and utensils here: Getting Ready to Make Soap: Part 3.

One more finger-wagging note: Wear safety gloves and goggles and always follow safety guidelines when making soap!

Okay, two: ADD LYE TO WATER. NEVER ADD WATER TO LYE. (Now we can move on.)

You can make this recipe by either the cold or hot process method. (See how to make soap.) Make it as designed here, or use it as a basic moisturizing soap recipe to make other soaps by changing up the additives. (To change the fats, you must re-calculate the recipe.)

How to make Lavender-Basil Soap:

Crisco — 6.4 ounces or 181.437 grams
coconut oil (76-degree melt point) — 6.4 ounces or 181.437 grams
olive oil pomace — 6.4 ounces or 181.437 grams
lard — 12.8 ounces or 362.874 grams
water — 12.16 ounces or 344.73 grams
lye — 4.483 ounces or 127.077 grams

Additives
1 tablespoon finely crushed dried basil
3 tablespoons lavender essential oil

CindyP, demonstrating bringing soap to trace with a stick blender.

(If you missed it, you can see all the pictures and details from the 2010 Chickens in the Road Party on the Farm here.)

We divided the cooked soap mixture into two Pringles cans to make nice thick round bars. After removing the finished soap from the molds, here you see CindyP demonstrating the use of the wooden soap mold to cut soap in even slices. (We had made a batch of the lavender-basil soap the night before so that we had a finished batch at the party for the end of the demonstration.)

Even if you use a different mold to set the soap, you can still use the handy cutter.

This soap smells like heaven, I’m sure of it. (You will love how your house smells when you’re making this soap!)

Find my Crafts archives here.

See all my soapmaking posts here.

Thank you to CindyP for this recipe and for the soapmaking demonstration at this year’s CITR Party on the Farm! Check out her homemade soaps here: Chippewa Creek Soaps. She has some of the party lavender-basil soap to sell, though it may not appear on her soaps page yet. If you’re interested in that particular soap, just ask for it!