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The sweet and bright mix of orange and vanilla - whether in a cold dessert treat - or a soap - is perfect for summer or any season.
Inspired by the classic ice-cream filled orange Popsicle, this melt and pour soap project places a white "ice cream" insert into the center of an orange and vanilla scented outside.
In addition to an understanding of the basics of melt and pour soap, for this project, which I made in a 2 pound mold, I used:
- 19 ounces of white melt and pour soap base
- 13 ounces of clear melt and pour soap base
- 1 Tbs of liquid glycerin
- 1 tsp of orange colorant
- .75 ounce of an essential oil blend of orange, litsea cubea and benzoin
Making the "Ice Cream"
Take about 10 ounces of white soap base and melt it in the microwave.
We want this section to be bright white, so we're not going to add any fragrance or essential oil to it.
Pour it into the soap mold and set it aside to cool completely. I wanted the insert to be about 3/4" thick...so I adjusted the amount of soap I melted/poured to make it that thick in my mold.
Trimming the Ice Cream Insert
After the insert has cooled completely, pop it out of the mold.
The mold I'm using is 3" wide, so I'm cutting 1" (1/2 inch off each side) off of the insert. It is 3/4" tall, so the final insert will be 2" wide and 3/4" tall.
Be sure to weigh the insert after you've trimmed it. You'll need that for the next step.
Making the "Orange" Section
For the "orange" section, I wanted a little bit more translucent look, so I used half clear and half white melt and pour soap base.
The mold I'm using holds 32 ounces of soap. My insert ended up weighing 6.5 ounces, so I cut up 25.5 ounces of soap base - 50% clear and 50% white.
Melt it in the microwave for a couple of minutes.
Adding the "Creamsicle" Essential Oil
Obviously, there is no such thing as essential oil of "creamsicle" - but I wanted to have a blend that was close to it. I started with orange essential oil and then added a bit of litsea cubea (aka may chang) to "brighten" it up a bit. Litsea also seems to help anchor citrus scents in soap - helping them to last longer.
(If you don't want to mimic and orange-vanilla blend, here are some other summertime essential oil blends to try.)
But what to do for the vanilla? I didn't want to use a vanilla or vanilla-containing fragrance, because I didn't want it to discolor. Instead I used a thick, resinous essential oil called benzoin. It has a sweet vanilla-like scent - but doesn't discolor.
Now, as you can see above, just the essential oil gave some color to the soap. That's the reason I didn't scent the center insert section. I wanted it to be bright white.
My blend for the soap ended up being:
50% orange
10% litsea cubea
40% benzoin
I generally scent melt and pour soap at about 3% - which for 32 ounces of soap would have been about 1 oz. of essential oil. Since I didn't scent the center "ice cream" section, I backed that off a bit to about .75 oz. of essential oil.
Adding the Orange Colorant
I used a colorant called "Tangerine Wow" to make my orange section. I dispersed about 1 1/2 tsp. of colorant in 1 Tbs. of liquid glycerine first - and then added it to the melted soap. If you don't pre-mix it in the glycerin, it can tend to clump, speckle and settle to the bottom of the soap pot.
If you're using a different colorant - be sure that it's a non-bleeding color or else it will bleed into the white center.
Pour the Bottom Layer
So, for this soap, the bottom layer will be 7/8" deep - then the 3/4" ice cream insert - then 7/8" on the top.
After you've added the essential oil and colorant, pour the "bottom" layer 7/8" deep.
Set it aside to cool.
Adding the Ice Cream to the Center
Once the bottom layer is firm, remelt your remaining orange soap.
Having a large/thick second layer like this in melt and pour soap can present some challenges. Even with the best of preparation, you will probably have a bar or two where the top layers will separate.
To help minimize this, you can:
- Make sure that you only let the first layer cool just enough to support the upper layer. The more you let it cool, the greater the risk of the second layer not adhering.
- If your mold can handle it (I'm using a silicone mold, so it would), carefully melt a bit of the top of the first layer with a heat gun.
- Heat the melted soap for the second layer to about 130° - just warm enough to adhere well, but not hot enough to melt the insert or first layer.
- Spritz the first layer with alcohol and then pour just enough melted soap on top of the first layer to act as "glue" for the white insert. (approx. 1/8") - then place the insert onto that soap.
- Make sure that you spritz the first layer, and the bottom of the "insert" with rubbing alcohol.
After you have done these steps, place the insert firmly into the mold into the melted soap and press down to press out any air bubbles that may have gotten trapped.
Spray the white insert and exposed top of the orange soap with more rubbing alcohol and then gently pour the rest of the orange soap into the mold.
Spray the top of the soap with alcohol to remove any bubbles.
Set the soap aside to cool.
Once the soap has cooled completely, you can slice it up and use it. I used a flat blade on some of the batch, and a wavy blade the other part. I like both effects.
You can make this in other "flavors" as well - grape, lime, lemon, cherry - just change the fragrance choice, and the colorant you use for the outer layer.
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