Something to Clean the Face

I wear a respirator a lot at work. If you've ever worn one you probably noticed how irritated your skin becomes underneath. I keep getting a line of blackheads and pimples right where the respirator touches my face. I wanted to try and design a soap that would help eliminate the blackheads, yet be gentle on my dry skin. The plan is this:

Fixed Oils=
almond oil- 3.22 oz (good for dry, irritated skin)
avocado oil- 3.22 oz (rich in vitamins, good for sensitive skin)
coconut oil- 8.52 oz (lather, lather, lather)
olive oil- 8.52 oz (moisturizing, good for sensitive skin)
soybean oil- 6.42 oz (fluff and moisturizing lather)
beeswax- 2.09 oz (similar properties as honey)

Lye=
4.16 oz NaOH dissolved in 8oz strong tea (2 bags celestial seasoning green tea with honey and chamomile)

Trace Additions=
.75 oz apricot kernel oil (easily absorbed into the skin)
1 oz jojoba oil (very similar to skin oils, may help remove blackheads)
1/2 cup oatmeal (emollient for dry skin)
2 tbsp honey (emollient, good smell)
1 oz aloe vera juice (soothing for the skin)
lavender essential oil (anti inflammatory properties)

I have not yet looked up the claims of each oil. In the future I hope to look into that.

Note: Tracing occurred quickly and I didn't get the lavender EO in the mix before I needed to pour the soap into the mold.

I'll let you know how it turned out in a couple weeks.

A Reason For All Of This

I have made soap in the past, but it's been a few years since my last batch was created. Recently I have had an unexplainable urge to start again. Since I never got into making my own recipes the first round, I thought I would keep an online notebook to document my progress as a soapmaker. Being the nerdy scientist that I am, I also want to research and record information on the soap making process. This site will be my lab notebook, documenting my thoughts and experiments. I hope to include reasons on why ingredients are used and any scientific properties of those ingredients that I can find. Eventually I want to develop a comprehensive site for those seeking to make their own soaps at home.