Oatmeal and honey soap, a soap for stunning skin

Honey and oatmeal soap is a great soap to use if your skin needs a combination of hydration, moisturisation and soothing all at once. It is simple to make yet still quite nourishing. These two ingredients have been used in skincare for ages for their skin healing properties. If you desire to make your own at home oatmeal and honey soap then read on

Making your own soap is not only a fun activity but it also ensures that you know exactly what you’re getting in the soap. There are no toxins or allergens you have to worry about when making your own soap and you can tweak the formula to meet your needs. You can create the soap to your liking and enjoy the soap knowing that it was made by hand by you.

Is oatmeal soap good for your skin?

Yes oatmeal soap is good for your skin. Oatmeal soap benefits your skin in many ways, here are a few ways oatmeal soap is good for your skin:

Moisturising: This soap will moisturise your skin as it cleanses. It won’t leave your skin dry like other soaps can but will rather leave your skin more moisturised than it was before you used the soap. Oatmeal is rich in starch as well as beta-glucan. This is what gives oatmeal soap the amazing moisturising properties that nourish and moisturise your skin.

Soothing: Another benefit that oatmeal offers is the ability to soothe the skin, it is anti-inflammatory. If you suffer from rashes, skin irritation or allergic reactions this ingredient will be helpful in soothing and calming your skin. Using oatmeal in your soaps will help with chickenpox, poison ivy, eczema, insect bites psoriasis, rosacea and many other skin irritations.

Gentle cleansing: Oatmeal soap is a great way to cleanse your skin, it cleanses gently. The soap contains saponins, this is a natural detergent. Saponins clean the skin, this eliminates the need for harsh cleaning ingredients such as surfactants which are used in generic soaps to clean the skin. Oatmeal soap is also antiseptic and also gently exfoliates your skin ridding it of any external impurities or dead skin cells.

Acne clearing: If you struggle with blackheads, whiteheads, acne or any other types of skin blemish you can use oatmeal soap to help improve the appearance and severity of your acne. Oats are exfoliating, they get rid of the dead skin cells on your face preventing new acne from forming as well as helping to break up the material clogged in your pores.

What are the benefits of honey soap?

Moisturising: Honey is a natural humectant. Humectants are compounds that attract moisture and deposit this moisture into the skin. Honey does this very well. When used on the skin, the honey will attract moisture and deposit it deep into your skin making honey soap a lovely moisturizing treatment for dry skin.

Antimicrobial: Honey is antimicrobial. It kills off microorganisms and stops microorganisms from breeding on your body. Because of this, honey is great at keeping the skin clean without the addition of harsh detergents.

Great for acne: If you have acne then using a soap that contains honey will be helpful because honey kills off bacteria on your skin, including acne-causing bacteria. Acne is formed when dead skin cells, excess sebum and acne-causing bacteria combine on your skin and clog the pores. By killing off the acne-causing bacteria you eliminate the chances of developing acne

Oatmeal and honey soap recipe:

Ingredients needed:

Lye Water

  • 2 ounce cocoa butter
  • 12.5 ounce cold water
  • 4.6 ounce lye crystals
  • Fats
  • 6 ounce coconut oil
  • 7 ounce olive oil
  • 1 ounce beeswax
  • 18 ounce lard

At trace add:

  • 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 Ounce cinnamon leaf essential oil
  • A Tablespoon of raw honey
  • 1 cup blended oats (blend to a powder beforehand)

What to do:

  1. Blend your oats of choice before you start the soap making process, blend the oats to a fine powder
  2. Combine your cocoa butter, olive oil, lard and coconut oil. Mix all these ingredients in a large stainless steel pot and melt.
  3. When all the above have melted cool the mixture to a temperature of 100 degrees F
  4. Combine your lye to your water, make sure you do this outside. Make sure to never combine your water to lye.
  5. Add your fats to your lye water. Making sure that both of these are at 100 degrees F
  6. Use either a stick or hand blender to mix. Mix until trace
  7. Add the oats you blended before as well as some honey and cinnamon
  8. Use your hand mixer or stick blender to mix all your ingredients. Combine well until completely incorporated.
  9. Insulate this mixture for 24 hours.
  10. When the mixture is done insulating you can go ahead and remove it from the mould and then cut it to your desired shape. Let the bars cure for 4-6 weeks.

Does oatmeal whiten skin?

No oatmeal does not whiten the skin but it can brighten your skin. Oatmeal is a gentle natural exfoliant. It removes the dead skin cells from the top of your skin exposing the newer fresher skin cells. This gives you brighter and more glowing skin.

Oatmeal contains vitamin E, This won’t whiten the skin but it helps with discolouration on the skin. It’s also great at improving the appearance of dark patches on your skin

Can honey lighten skin?

Honey hasn’t been proven to lighten your skin but it goes a long way in brightening the skin. Honey is a gentle and mild exfoliator, this allows it to remove dead skin cells from your face. The after-effects of using honey on your face is a brighter more glowing looking face. You can say goodbye to your dull skin complexion if you start to use honey on it.

Is oatmeal soap good for eczema?

Yes, oatmeal soap is good for eczema. If you have eczema you already know that the products you use to bathe or shower with can calm your skin or cause it to become irritated. For this reason, you need a moisturising and hydrating soap that also calms the skin.

Oatmeal soap will do just that. It’s a soothing soap that gently cleanses your skin. It also protects your skin’s barrier which will soothe your eczema. Oatmeal soap does not contain any irritating ingredients

You can also take an oatmeal bath to help with your eczema. To do this grind your oatmeal to a fine powder, this powdery oatmeal is called colloidal oatmeal. Colloidal oatmeal doesn’t sink to the bottom of your bath, it rather stays suspended in the bathwater. It soothes the skin of the irritation and itching you may develop as a result of eczema.

What soap is best for itchy skin?

When looking for a soap for your itchy skin you need to keep a few things in mind. The best soap for itchy skin will not contain surfactants and will not contain any harsh cleansers. It will be ph balanced and for good measure, it will have an NEA seal of acceptance.

Surfactants: These ingredients are great at cleaning, they clean the skin very well removing dirt, bacteria, sebum and external irritants. Unfortunately, they do their job too well. Surfactants should not be used on itchy skin because they degrade the skin barrier thus drying your skin out and making the itching worse

Harsh cleansers: Many ingredients that clean the skin in a harsh way will leave the skin dry. The skin produces sebum, a skin oil that keeps the skin moisturised. If you use a harsh cleanser the cleanser will strip your skin of sebum and make your itchy skin even itchier.

NEA seal of approval: This seal is an indication of which products are suitable to be used by people who have eczema. You may not have eczema but using a product that has this seal will be beneficial to your skin because you know that the product will be moisturising and non-irritating thus relieving you of your itchy skin.

What kind of oatmeal do you use for soap?

The best oatmeal to use when making soap is natural whole oats. You don’t want to use quick oats in your soap recipe because it turns the soap into mush. 

You also need to grind up the oatmeal. When the oats are finely ground the powder is called colloidal oatmeal. This powder does not scratch the skin when used on the body and when used in the bath it does not sink to the bottom, it rather stays suspended in the water and makes the water milky and silky. This oatmeal can also be used in face masks.

What is the fastest way to cure soap?

The fastest way to cure soap is to use the hot process soap method. When making soap with this method you don’t have to wait for a month to a month and a half for the soap to cure. This method cures the soap in 3 days to a week.

How do you know when soap is cured?

You will know a soap is cured when it is fully dry, a dry soap will last very long. The drier the soap the longer it will last.  The curing process is pretty much the process of dehydrating the soap.

You can measure your soap on a scale to know when your soap is cured. Weight your soap every few days and take note of how much it weighs, the soap will lose weight as it cures. You will know when the soap is cured when your soap does not lose weight anymore.

Can germs live on bar soap?

Yes, germs can live on a bar of soap. Germs collect and live on the slimy part of soap bars that form where water settles and absorbs into the soap. Germs flock to the moist areas of your soap.

Before you use the soap you can go ahead and rinse it off. This will wash off all the slime and germs from your soap. If you can, store the soap in a dry and ventilated room, you won’t have to worry about slime developing and germs collecting.

The germs that inhabit the slimy parts of the soap will only harm you if you’re immunocompromised. In this case, you would need to use liquid soap for your own safety. But if you are not immunocompromised then you can use this soap and not develop a skin infection or become sick. 

How long after making soap can you use it?

It depends on which method of soap making you use. Cold process soap takes longer to cure. This curing process takes 4-6 weeks. This is how long it takes for water to evaporate and thus how long it takes for the soap to become hard. This hardening allows the soap to last longer. Hot process soap takes anywhere from 3 days to a week to cure.

Does homemade soap go bad?

Yes, homemade soap does go bad. One of the ways you’ll be able to tell if the soap has gone bad is by its smell. The soap will smell off, like the oils in it have turned. You can also tell if the soap has gone bad by its appearance. If the soap is spotting or oozing liquid then you can assume that that the soap is off.

The time it takes soap to go off differs so this may differ from soap to soap. Smell and take a close look at your soap before you use it, especially if it’s old. Lookout for shrivelling, black mould growth, coloured growths, sunlight darkening and changes in the soaps texture.

Can I use fragrance oil in soap?

Yes, you can use fragrance oil in soap. Fragrance, in general, is a wonderful addition to your soap and will make the soap using experience even better.

Fragrance oils are different from essential oils. Some fragrances oils accelerate cold process soap, in some cases, fragrance oil cause the soap to discolour. The oil is synthetic but if you want that aroma and are ok with how it may change your soap then adding it to your soap is a great idea.

I hope you enjoyed this article looking at oatmeal and honey soap. If you did please share it.

You may also like