Extra virgin olive oil liquid soap

I bought some bottles of extra virgin olive oil recently, so used it to make soap to see if there is any different from pure olive oil. This liquid soap contains high proportion of olive oil. It came out in fresh light green colour which was very beautiful. I added some cocoa butter and honey water to make it moister. The smell was lovely too!

Handmade liquid soap is quite watery comparing to commercial liquid soap in market because there is no thickening added into it. From my point of view, extra virgin olive oil and pure olive oil using in soap don’t have much difference. Both are moist to our skin. I think the nutrient of extra virgin olive oil is only better than pure olive oil when we use in foods.

Ingredients: Coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, cocoa butter, honey water.

Essential oils: Geranium oil, tea tree oil

我最近買了一些初榨橄欖油，所以用來做皂看看和用純正橄欖油做的有沒有分別。這款液體皂含高比例的橄欖油，出來的效果呈現新鮮的淺綠色，十分漂亮，我加了一些可可脂和蜜糖水去使它更滋潤，香味也很甜美!

手做的液體皂因為沒有添加任何的增稠劑，所以會比市售的商業液體皂水汪汪的。從我的角度而言，初榨橄欖油和純正橄欖油用在手工皂上沒有太大的分別，兩者對肌膚都很滋潤，我覺得唯一只是用在食物上初榨橄欖油的營養比純正橄欖油的更好更高。

成份: 椰子油，初榨橄欖油，可可脂，蜜糖水.

精油: 天竺葵油，茶樹油.

Deep clean shampoo (liquid soap)

Before I used handmade soap, my scalp was having acnes occasionally. I just though it was probably like normal pimples / acnes on face. It was a bit itchy and hard but no white head or liquid in it usually and it was gone pretty quick compare with those pimples / acnes on face. I didn’t suspect it could be caused by something else until I stumbled upon book of handmade soap in bookstore. Actually many hair shampoos and hair conditioners, as well as cosmetics products, in market contain dimethicone or cyclomethicone which can smoothen our hair. Since it acts as a sealed particle, if we keep using the shampoos and conditioners, it will cover our hair, making hair cuticle becomes thicker and following hair treatment cannot go in. It turns out our hair quality getting bad.

Then I realized that it should be hair shampoos and hair conditioners blocking my head’s skin and leading to pimples / acnes. Having a second thought was that I felt my hair seemed not washed thoroughly whenever I washed for a very long time (I have thick hair).

The first time after I used this handmade shampoo, the experience was amazing. I could feel my head’s skin and hair are complete clean. I wash my hair every other day usually. I felt my hair was pretty dirty and oily already on the second day when I used hair shampoo and hair conditioner in market. But now my hair is still pretty clean and not so oily on the second day. Moreover, I don’t have pimples / acnes growing on my scalp. Note that there is transitional period to use handmade shampoo. Different people may feel different. For me, for the first 3-4 times after using the handmade shampoo, my hair was a bit sticky as it was washing off the chemicals over hair. About a week later, hair became very smooth and soft.

Ingredients: Coconut oil, canola oil, jojoba oil, castor oil, rosemary water.

在我接觸手工皂前，我頭髮內的頭皮偶爾會有頭瘡，我以為它只是像一般在臉上的暗瘡和粉刺一樣，它們有點痕癢和硬身，通常沒有白膿頭及膿水，比起臉上的暗瘡和粉刺，它們很快會消失。我沒有懷疑這可能由其他原因引起，直至我在書店偶然找到有關手工皂的書，才知道其實很多市售的洗髮精及護髮素(還有化妝品)包含矽靈，它可以使頭髮順滑，因為它作用似封閉劑，如果我們長期使用含矽靈的洗髮精及護髮素，它會覆蓋我們的頭髮頭皮，令頭髮角質層變厚變粗，讓之後的護髮品無法進入頭髮中，使髮質反而變差。

之後我意識到這可能應該是洗髮精及護髮素阻失我頭皮的毛孔而引致暗瘡和粉刺，再想多一會，每當我洗頭的時候，即使洗了很久總覺得洗得不夠徹底(我有很多頭髮) 。

在第一次用完這款天然手做的洗髮精後，感覺簡直無與倫比，我感到頭皮和頭髮是完全乾淨的。我通常隔天才洗頭，以前用市售的洗髮精及護髮素的時候，在第二天已感到頭髮很污穢和油膩的。但現在在第二天的時候仍感到頗乾淨和不會油膩膩的，再者我的頭皮已沒有暗瘡和粉刺了。對於手做的洗髮精，有一點要備註的就是會有過渡期，不同的人會有不同的感受，對我而言，在初期的第三及第四次使用的時候，因為要洗走頭髮上的化學成份，頭髮摸上去的時候會感到黏黏的，大約一星期後頭髮變得十分柔軟和順滑。

成份: 椰子油，芥花籽油，荷荷芭油，蓖麻油，迷迭香水.

Marseilles egg yolk soap

Marseilles soap, it is named from Marseille, France where they made traditional soap from vegetable oils about 600 yeas ago. The rule of traditional Marseilles soap must contain 72% olive oil. This soap is strong in cleaning yet can give moisture to skin. By 1688, Louis XIV introduced regulations limiting the use of the name Marseilles soap to soaps made in and around the Marseille area, and only from olive oil. Today this law still stands (although the regulations now allow other vegetable oils to be used).

I also made this classic soap to “feel” it. This time I additionally added egg yolks to give it moister as winter was coming. I didn’t weigh the egg yolks before adding into the soap so I didn’t deduct water from the soap. It leaded to have too much water in it because the soap was pretty soft and wet when the soap was taken out from the mold in summer time. It was like soft clay. I was worried that it might be failed. After letting the soap dry with time, it became harder and normal. I added little tee tree oil which maybe not “smell-friendly” with egg yolk. But my comment of the soap was wonderful!!! Skin is very smooth and shiny after using it. What a great experience!

Ingredients: Coconut oil, palm oil, pure olive oil.

Super fatting: Macadamia Oil.

Essential oils: Tea tree oil.

Additives: Egg yolks.

馬賽皂，名字源於法國馬賽這個地方。在大約600多年以前已開始用植物油製造傳統的肥皂，傳統的馬賽皂的指標必須含有72%的橄欖油，馬賽皂清潔能力很強然而又能為身體肌膚保濕。在1688年，法國的路易十六對馬賽皂名字的使用規定了製作標準，只有在馬賽或周邊區域製造以及唯一用橄欖油做出來的肥皂才可以使用這名字。至目前為止這法例仍然生效 (雖然現在條例容許使用其他植物油)。

我也做這款經典的肥皂去“感受”一下，隨着冬天的來臨我額外添加蛋黃使它更滋潤，因為我事前並沒有稱蛋黃的重量，所以沒有從肥皂裏扣除了水量，這引致肥皂內有很多水份，因為在脫模的時候正值時夏，皂體很軟和濕，這很像軟的黏土，我那時很擔心成品失敗。待肥皂隨着時間的風乾，皂體變得硬身和正常。我加了少量的茶樹精油，不過氣味好像和蛋黃有點兒不匹配。但我對這馬賽蛋黃皂的評價是極好的!!! 用完後皮膚十分滑和有光澤。無論是做皂經驗及用後感都是一個很好的體驗!

成份:       椰子油，棕櫚油，純橄欖油.

超脂:     澳洲胡桃油.

精油:       茶樹油.

添加物:   蛋黃.

Sweet almond and green bean powder soap

Sweet almond oil is very good for sensitive and delicate skin, so it is commonly used in soap for babies. It does not just give moisture to skin, also soften our skin. It can help relieving itchiness especially dry weather in winter. Even oily skin can use it directly as well, it wouldn’t block pores. I love this oil. I think it is really hard to find a word to describe how moist of each oil is. We have to feel it ourselves because there are many degrees of moisture.

Most Chinese people don’t feel odd about green bean sweet soup. Green bean can detox and release “heat” (Chinese medical term) out of our body. When we have too much deep fried or barbecue foods which make our body very “hot”, we may have a bowl of green bean sweet soup. I know green bean is also good for washing pimply face, so putting it in soap is the best choice.

My skin is sensitive and has pimples easily, so I made this soap. This is the best one for washing my face among those previous soaps I had made. Face feels very fresh and clean, not sticky afterwards. Green bean powder was added into the soap after “trace”. This is the first time to put additive into soap, so didn’t have skill of how to put it nicely. I just poured it on top which turned out this funny look. But it was fun! :)

Ingredients: Coconut oil, palm oil, pure olive oil, sweet almond oil.

Essential oils: Lavender oil, ylang ylang oil.

甜杏仁油十分適合敏感和柔嫩的肌膚，所以廣泛用在給嬰兒的手工皂裏。它除了滋潤肌膚外，還能軟化肌膚，甜杏仁油能夠止痕，尤其是冬季乾燥痕癢，就算是油性肌膚也可以直接使用，它不會阻塞毛孔。我很喜歡用甜杏仁油。我覺得很難用文字去形容每種油有如何滋潤，我們要親身去感受，因為有不同程度的滋潤度。

大部份中國人對綠荳沙都不會感到陌生，綠荳能夠解毒及清除身體的熱(中醫名詞)，當我們吃太多煎炸和燒烤的食物令身體太積熱的時候，我們可以吃一碗綠荳沙。我知道用綠荳去洗暗瘡的皮膚是很好的，所以將綠荳來做皂就最好不過了。

我的皮膚是比較敏感和容易長暗瘡，所以便做這款皂。這是我目前為止做那麼多皂中最好的一個用來洗臉，洗完後臉覺得很清爽和乾淨，完全不黏膩。我在皂“trace”後下綠荳粉，這是我第一次加入添加物在皂裏，所以沒有什麼技巧怎樣倒入，我只是純粹將它從上面倒入而出現這樣有趣的效果。頗有樂趣呀! :)

成份: 椰子油，棕櫚油，純橄欖油，甜杏仁油

精油: 薰衣草油，伊蘭伊蘭油.

Wild chrysanthemum and honeysuckle soap

This time was a wild chrysanthemum and honeysuckle soap. In traditional Chinese herbal tea, we often use chrysanthemum and honeysuckle to release “heat” out of our body (Chinese medical term). Chrysanthemum and honeysuckle can detox and kill bacteria. Pimples / acnes can be caused from bacteria over skin. By the time I made the soap, it was almost summer time. I don’t like summer of Hong Kong, it is always humid and muggy. Feel like suffocated. Either very sunny or heavily rain. Because I have oily skin, face gets oily and dirty under this weather. Pimples / acnes happen easily, thus I made this soap. I used wild chrysanthemum and honeysuckle to soak in olive oil for a week (because I was hurried to make the soap, didn’t soak too long). The soap came out with very nice smell of the flowers. The funny part is that I think there might be tap water on the sieve and I didn’t notice it when I was sieving the oil out. I put some wild chrysanthemum on the top of the soap after whisking and kept it in heat preservation box overnight. By the time I took the soap out to air-dry, there was mold growing on the chrysanthemum flowers…… Oh my god…. Hahhaha Then I used a tooth stick to pick the flowers out and left many holes on the soap now.

Olive oil took the highest proportion in the formula of the soap. I added little lavender essential oil. The process of making the soap was better since I had few practices making another soap before. I felt very surprised that my oil on face was really so much lesser which I had never ever experienced before. No matter how I bought any facial cleanser in market, some were quite expensive one, there were none of them could be able to compare with.

Ingredients: Coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil.

Essential oil: Lavender oil.

今次做的是野菊花和金銀花(又名忍冬)皂。在中國傳統的涼茶裏，通常會用到野菊花和金銀花去將身體的熱清除(中醫名詞)，野菊花和金銀花能夠解毒和殺菌。暗瘡 / 粉刺可以是由於皮膚上的細菌產生。當我做這款皂的時候，已差不多是夏季，我不喜歡香港的夏天，時常總是潮濕和悶熱的，感覺像窒息似的，一是非常熱或非常大雨。因為我是油性皮膚，在這種天氣下臉總是很易出油及沾污，很易出暗瘡 / 粉刺，所以我便做這款皂。我將野菊花和金銀花浸在橄欖油裏一星期(因為我趕緊做這款皂，沒有浸太久)，做出來的皂有陣陣的花香味。最可笑的地方是應該在我篩油的時候，沒有留意篩子沾了水龍頭水，在完成攪拌皂液後我放了一些野菊花在上面然後整夜放在保温箱裏，當我把皂取出來去風乾的時候，發覺有霉菌在野菊花上生長……我的天呀…… 哈哈哈 之後我用牙籤將那些野菊花挑出來以致皂上有很多洞穴。

橄欖油佔這款皂配方的最高比例，我加入少量的薰衣草精油。因為之前做其他皂已有經驗，今次做皂過程尚算有改善。令我很驚訝的是用完這款皂洗臉後，臉油真的少很多，而這情況是我以前從未試過的，不論我以前買任何市售的洗臉劑，有些還是頗昂貴的，無一能夠與之比較。

成份: 棷子油, 棕櫚油, 橄欖油, 甜杏仁油, 可可巴油.

精油: 薰衣草油.