Neem oil is amazing. It has been used for thousands of years for a wide variety of ailments, including skin problems such as eczema, psoriasis, acne, and healing wounds. It gives the Indian people their incredible teeth, and is highly effective as a fungicide, an antibacterial agent, an analgesic, and has even been said to be 100% effective as a contraceptive. (I can see why....)
What else is so amazing about Neem? It STINKS. I mean, worse than a dog fart, open- up- the -windows- and -mouth- breathe kind of stink. (Trust me, I have some gassy dogs, and this is much, much worse.) My gag reflex kicks in as soon as I open the bottle. Not sure what else I could compare it to...last night I told my husband that I think it smells like rotten peanut butter mixed with garlic. Truly nasty.
Oddly enough, when the smell wafted to the living room, my kids thought it smelled like chicken.
Here is the recipe I tried last night; my stepson, who is 13, has acne and wanted me to make something that might help him out:
12 oz. Coconut oil (76 degrees)
12 oz. Olive oil
5 oz. Sunflower oil
4 oz. Castor oil (for shampoo quality lather)
1 oz. organic Neem oil
4.836 oz. lye (sodium hydroxide)
11.22 oz. distilled water
(Always remember to run your recipe through a lye calculator!)
I used the hot process method, because I am lazy and I don't like to wait 6 weeks for a cure. That said, you should still give your bars a couple of weeks to cure after the cook; using a dehumidifier or a fan can help the process somewhat.
In my quest to cover up the incredible funkiness of the Neem, I used a blend of Eucalyptus, Lavender, Lemongrass, and Tea Tree oils. It kind of worked. I can still smell the Neem, but my son can't. We'll see how it goes when we can actually use the bar. Will time mellow the stench? I hope so. Let me know if you try it.
P.S. I figured out how to add a Pin It! Button, so would love you to share on Pinterest. Follow me on Pinterest as well!
Happy soaping!
Angie
What else is so amazing about Neem? It STINKS. I mean, worse than a dog fart, open- up- the -windows- and -mouth- breathe kind of stink. (Trust me, I have some gassy dogs, and this is much, much worse.) My gag reflex kicks in as soon as I open the bottle. Not sure what else I could compare it to...last night I told my husband that I think it smells like rotten peanut butter mixed with garlic. Truly nasty.
Oddly enough, when the smell wafted to the living room, my kids thought it smelled like chicken.
Here is the recipe I tried last night; my stepson, who is 13, has acne and wanted me to make something that might help him out:
12 oz. Coconut oil (76 degrees)
12 oz. Olive oil
5 oz. Sunflower oil
4 oz. Castor oil (for shampoo quality lather)
1 oz. organic Neem oil
4.836 oz. lye (sodium hydroxide)
11.22 oz. distilled water
(Always remember to run your recipe through a lye calculator!)
I used the hot process method, because I am lazy and I don't like to wait 6 weeks for a cure. That said, you should still give your bars a couple of weeks to cure after the cook; using a dehumidifier or a fan can help the process somewhat.
In my quest to cover up the incredible funkiness of the Neem, I used a blend of Eucalyptus, Lavender, Lemongrass, and Tea Tree oils. It kind of worked. I can still smell the Neem, but my son can't. We'll see how it goes when we can actually use the bar. Will time mellow the stench? I hope so. Let me know if you try it.
P.S. I figured out how to add a Pin It! Button, so would love you to share on Pinterest. Follow me on Pinterest as well!
Happy soaping!
Angie
what about going with that peanut butter smell and adding peanut butter, gross, or even dark sesame oil which I find masks anything else I use in soap making
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