Yes you heard it correctly, this is a recipe for Tomato Soap and not soup. I have been experimenting with fruit and vegetables in soap recently and wanted to see what happened to the colour of the soap over time. To make this soap I used tomato puree. Tomato is rich in lycopene,that which gives it its redness. To keep with the herb and vegetable theme, in a base of olive fruit oil, I have used hydrating and moisturising avocado oil. Castor oil gives it some extra bubbles and coconut and mango butter help make a hard and bubbly bar.

To scent, I used a combination of basil, rosemary and lemon. After curing, the smell of basil definitely comes through the most.

I used Soapmaker 3 to calculate the lye amounts. For peace of mind, make sure to run the amounts through your usual soap making calculator.

As always, please do not attempt to make soap unless you have a good working knowledge of making cold processed soap and working with lye safely.

The Formula

SUPERFAT: 5%

Method

1. Weigh the mango and coconut oils and melt them. Weigh and melt the rest of the oils and add to the mango and coconut. Stick blend so that all the oils are homogenous.

2. Weigh the sodium in one container and the water in another and add the lye to the water. Stir until dissolved. This is your lye.

3. Wait for the lye and the oils to be cool to touch (you can check by touching the side of the containers.)

4. Pour the lye into the oils and stick blend until you have a thin trace.

5. Add the tomato puree and stick blend until fully combined and the soap batter turns orange. Add the essential oils and stir again.

6. Pour into moulds and leave to set for 24-48 hours.

7. You now have Tomato and Herb Soap!