Have you ever tried a massage bar soap? They are great for getting into any sore muscles you may have and overall have a relaxing feel on your skin. Whenever I make a massage bar I like to add in an exfoliating layer to the top. This allows you to give your skin a gentle scrub to help remove dead skin cells and then you can follow it up with using the massage side for a more soothing feel.
The recipe I am sharing today is for a Hemp & Shea Exfoliating Massage Bar. Both hempseed and shea butter have amazing moisturizing and renewing properties for your skin and for the exfoliating portion we will be using a fine Pink Himalayan salt. Perfect for gently exfoliating your skin as well as salt helps pull moisture to your skin. This bar is scented with Peppermint and Tea Tree for a little extra cleansing power as well as their clean, uplifting aromas. I chose not to add any additional colorant to the soap as I wanted to let the natural color of the bases and the pink Himalayan salt shine on their own but you could definitely add color if you prefer.
Melt and Pour soap bases sometimes get a bad rap for not having the cleanest ingredients out there but you can definitely get bases that have pretty clean ingredients, if you know where to shop for them. Stephensons has some great natural soap bases. You can also find some great options at Bulk Apothecary for natural melt and pour soap bases for a good price.
For this recipe you will need:
50/50 Blend of Peppermint and Tea Tree Essential Oils(.16oz of each oil) at a 2%usage rate. If you would like a stronger scent, you can increase the usage rate up to 5% for these particular oils.
Isopropyl Alcohol
To make:
Cut 8oz of Hemp melt and pour base into small pieces and place in a microwave safe container. Heat up in 30 second intervals until completely melted.
Next add in 1/2 of your essential oil blend and stir to combine. Pour into your silicone mold filling each cavity about half way.
Allow to cool until you can touch the top of the layer without breaking through before moving on to the next layer.
Once your first layer has cooled, cut the shea butter melt and pour into small pieces and place in a microwave safe container. Heat up in 30 second intervals until completely melted.
Add in the remainder of the essential oil blend and 1/4 cup of Pink Himalayan salt and stir to combine. Once you add the salt the mixture will thicken up quickly so be ready to pour.
Spray the first layer of soap with isopropyl alcohol to allow for better bonding of the layers and then pour in your shea butter base. If the mixture gets too thick to pour heat up for an additional 15-20 seconds.
If the top of the soap is rough due to the thickness of the soap base this can be easily fixed with a heat gun or a soap planer(see video for a demonstration).
Allow the soap bars to cool completely before removing from the mold.
Store soap in shrink wrap until you are ready to use.
This recipe made three bars of soap. I hope you give making these massage bars a try. If you do, leave a comment below on how the recipe turned out for you:)
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