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How to make spiced soap for men
  • Natural Home

Spiced Essential Oil Soap for Men

Katie WellsDec 4, 2020
Reading Time: 5 min

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Wellness Mama » Blog » Natural Home » Spiced Essential Oil Soap for Men

I love using homemade soap. I love it even more because I can make it myself. Soap-making can be quite addicting! There are countless recipes and options allowing you to completely customize your soap to fit your needs and desires.

My husband, however, was not exactly thrilled about using my girly scented soap, so I set out to make some manly smelling soap just for him. He loved the result and has been using my homemade soap ever since.

This is a cold process recipe, however, if you prefer to make your soap using a hot-process method, this recipe should work well for that too.

Working With Lye

Lye is a necessary part of the soap-making equation. Soap is the result of a chemical reaction between lye (that has been activated by water) and an oil or animal fat. This reaction is called saponification. You cannot make soap from scratch without lye but with a properly calculated recipe, no lye will remain in your final product.

It can be intimidating to work with lye for the first time and it is definitely necessary to follow safety precautions, but don’t let that stop you from making your own soap!

Safety: When I work with lye there are a few things I do to ensure I am using it safely. These are the precautions I always take:

  • Wait until children are in bed. Children or animals underfoot can cause distractions or spills and working with lye is a task that should be done when they are not around.
  • Wear protective eyewear and rubber gloves as well as long sleeves.
  • Have a clean workspace so that nothing is ruined in case of a spill.
  • Mix lye in a very well ventilated area. I personally do it in my backyard so that I don’t have to worry about the fumes in the house and then if I were to spill it would be outside.
  • Always add lye to the water. DO NOT add water to lye. This will cause a caustic eruption. Many veteran soapers use the expression “snow floats on the lake” as a reminder for the order they should be mixed.

Soap Making Ingredients

As I mentioned before, there are countless possibilities when you create your recipe. For this soap I wanted a hard yet moisturizing soap with a lot of lather for my husband so I used the following ingredients.

  • Tallow
  • Olive Oil
  • Coconut oil
  • Castor oil
  • Beeswax

Tallow – makes a hard bar with high cleansing abilities. It is a great basic ingredient for soap. Most commercial soaps are made primarily with tallow. It is easy to render your own. If you want a pure vegetable soap you can substitute palm oil (sourced sustainably) but make sure you recalculate how much lye you will need before you begin.

Olive oil – this is another classic soap ingredient. It initially makes a softer bar but with age can become quite hard. It is very moisturizing but does not have the best lather.

Coconut oil – gives a wonderful, fluffy lather but can be drying so it is best kept to no more than 30% of your soaping oils.

Castor oil – I almost always include castor oil in recipes that contain coconut oil because it helps stabilize the lather made by the coconut oil. Use no more than 10% to avoid creating a lather that feels a bit slippery.

Beeswax – adds to the hardness of the bar.

Essential Oils – your choice for desired scent.

I used orange, patchouli, cinnamon, and clove essential oils to create a manly spiced scent. Patchouli helps to anchor other scents so that they last longer. I only used a very small amount of the cinnamon and clove because these oils are potent and can speed up trace, which can make it difficult to get the soap batter into the mold.

Soap-Making Supplies

I have a set of supplies I keep on hand for making soap. You can use your kitchen tools if you are diligent about cleaning them thoroughly but I prefer to keep them separate.

  • Glass jar or high quality plastic pitcher for mixing lye and water
  • Second glass jar or disposable plastic cup for measuring lye
  • Non-reactive pot or slow-cooker for warming oils
  • Small glass bowl for measuring essential oils
  • Digital infrared thermometer or 2 candy thermometers (one for lye and one for oils)
  • Soap mold
  • Immersion blender
  • Digital scale
  • Spoon for mixing lye
  • Spatula
  • Protective gloves and eyewear
  • Vinegar for final clean-up

Spiced Soap for Men Recipe

Katie Wells
A simple homemade soap for men with a special blend of essential oils, coconut oil, tallow, olive oil, and castor oil for a man's skin.
3.36 from 14 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Cook Time 45 mins
Cooling Time 1 d
Servings 10 bars

Equipment

  • Digital infrared thermometer
  • Silicone soap mold
  • Immersion blender
  • Digital scale

Ingredients
  

  • 10.9 oz distilled water
  • 4.39 oz lye
  • 13 oz tallow
  • 12 oz olive oil
  • 4.5 oz coconut oil
  • 2 oz castor oil
  • 1.5 oz beeswax pellets
  • 1.5 oz orange essential oil
  • .4 oz patchouli essential oil
  • 22 drops cinnamon essential oil
  • 15 drops clove essential oil

Instructions
 

  • Prepare your mold: If you are using a wood mold it will need to be lined with wax paper. Silicone molds are ready without any special preparation. You can also use any box if you line it with wax paper or a thick garbage bag.
  • Wearing protective gear, place the glass jar on the scale, and tare the scale.
  • Pour distilled water into the jar until it reads 10.9 oz.
  • Set aside.
  • Put the second jar on the scale and tare the scale. Wearing protective gear, carefully pour the lye into the jar until the scale reads 4.39 oz.
  • Take both jars and a spoon outside.
  • Still wearing protective gear, slowly pour the lye into the water.
  • Stir the mixture. It will become quite hot so keep this in mind if you need to move it.
  • Let the water/lye mixture sit and cool until it reaches about 100°F.
  • While the lye is cooling, measure all other ingredients EXCEPT the essential oils and warm them together in a pot or slow-cooker. The beeswax will take the longest to melt.
  • Once everything is melted, remove the pan from the heat and let it cool to 100°F. I use the infrared thermometer about every 5-10 minutes to test the temperature, which works really well. A candy thermometer placed in each container also works. If one is cooling faster than the other you can put your oils back on the heat source or the water/lye mixture in a warm water bath to slow the cooling process a bit. Ideally, you want the lye-water and the oils to both be within 10°F of each other and around 100°F.
  • When the temperatures match, slowly pour the lye-water into the oils.
  • Use the immersion blender to bring the batter to a light trace. It should be slightly thick and resemble cake batter.
  • If you are adding essential oils now is the time to do so.
  • Blend essential oils in by pulsing the immersion blender a few times. This should bring the mixture to a medium trace. You can tell when you have reached a medium trace by lifting your blender up out of the mixture (in the OFF position) and observing how the drips behave. They should sit on the surface without sinking back in.
  • Pour the soap batter into your prepared mold. Remember that the soap is not fully “cooked” yet at this point and could still irritate your skin so you should still be wearing your gear.
  • Place an upside-down cardboard box over the soap and cover it with a towel. If you live in a warm climate the towel may not be necessary.
  • Let sit for 24 hours.
  • Un-mold your soap and cut it.
  • Stand bars up in a dry area with an inch or so of space in between to allow for air circulation and let them sit for 4-6 weeks. This will allow the soap to complete the saponification process and also dry them out a bit so they last longer in the shower.

Notes

All quantities are measured in ounces by weight. This recipe makes 3 pounds of soap -- about 10 (4.5oz) bars.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

What essential oils do the men in your life prefer? Have you ever tried them to make a soap for men?
A simple homemade soap for men with a special blend of essential oils, coconut oil, tallow, olive oil, and castor oil for a man's skin.

Category: Natural Home

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About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a wife and mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

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Reader Interactions

Discussion (32 Comments)

  1. Sherri Jackson

    February 7, 2016 at 11:52 AM

    I have a bar of soap my hubby loves! It’s made with cedarwood and sage. I bought it from a farmer’s market. I definitely want to learn to make some of those. Even just sitting in the shower, it smells so good in the bathroom!

    Reply
  2. Lori Endres

    January 29, 2016 at 5:27 PM

    Awesome scent blend for men! Worth mentioning to anyone new that it might not be good for sensitive skin, though, because of the cinnamon & clove. I especially like blending citrus & woody scents for my menfolk 🙂

    Reply
    • Erica

      February 6, 2016 at 9:23 AM

      Hello Lori! Do you have a recommendation for a woody-smelling essential oil that could be added?

      Reply
      • Lori Endres

        March 18, 2016 at 4:44 PM

        Try cedarwood – smells amazing!

        Reply
  3. Andrea D.

    January 28, 2016 at 12:28 AM

    Katie,

    As a busy full time working mom of 3, I don’t have time to do the awesome DIY projects you suggest but would LOVE to buy your recipes! Have you ever considered selling your own homemade projects? I love organic products but not only can I not afford to buy most of the ingredients/kitchen gadgets required for a lot of the projects, first time DIY projects usually turn my kitchen into a biology experiment gone wrong (hehe..), my 2 yr old doesn’t leave me alone and then the ingredients ($$$) go to waste when the consistency or whatever isn’t correct in the end. I’d much rather prefer to save time and $ (on ingredients) and buy already made products from you (who has everything and knows what they’re doing!)

    Any thoughts on that?

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      January 28, 2016 at 11:47 AM

      I’ve considered it and actually did sell a few years ago on a very small scale, but the time it takes to make, sell, then ship is not worth it to me. Family time is much more important 🙂

      Reply
    • Ellen

      January 17, 2020 at 3:18 PM

      My scale doesn’t register 4.39 oz of lye….could you convert that for me please

      Reply
  4. Elsie

    January 26, 2016 at 8:42 PM

    Making your own soaps is so much better than buying soap. The detergents in store-bought soaps are not good. I started making my own over two years ago and will not go back. It is fun and worth the handling of the lye. You should try it!

    Reply
  5. Holly

    January 26, 2016 at 1:33 PM

    Thanks for the recipe. I think ill try tonight. (My man is partial to bamboo)

    Reply
  6. Jan Ramsey Brick

    January 26, 2016 at 9:16 AM

    My husband and I were just discussing giving soap making a try the other day. I have to be honest with you, after reading about the lye and all that is involved, I’m thinking I’m just going to buy mine from the soap maker at the farmer’s market. 🙂

    My hat is off to you for making your own! You are amazing!

    Reply
  7. Claudia Nelson

    January 25, 2016 at 8:06 PM

    Hi, I am interested in making soap but I am scared of the dangers since I have three young children. If I purchase a detergent free sls free melt and pour soap base would this be a better option than store bought soap? If so I could include my children with the making of the soap!

    Reply
  8. Tanya S

    January 25, 2016 at 9:16 AM

    I’m wanting to just make a manlier scent in lotion for my hubby without using oils that are hot to the skin…any suggestions?

    Reply
  9. Doug

    January 24, 2016 at 5:14 PM

    I will add this recipe for our next batch of soapmaking. It sounds like a great soap for an old school shaving brush.

    Reply
  10. Glenda

    January 24, 2016 at 1:46 PM

    Hello , first wanted to say thanks for sharing this recipe! And I was just wondering where do you purchase your essential oils from?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      January 24, 2016 at 2:21 PM

      I buy them here: https://wellnessmama.com/go/essential-oils/

      Reply
      • Glenda

        January 26, 2016 at 1:32 PM

        Thank you 🙂 Did you have a recipe for just soap (not men’s or women’s) kid safe lol .

        Reply
        • Stacy

          January 27, 2016 at 6:46 AM

          Hi Katie,

          Instead of using essential oils can you infuse the olive oil with the herbs? I know you can do this in dandelion soap. I am just wondering in the scent with carry through the process.

          Reply
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