Lemon & Honey Tea Hot Process Soap

My first try at hot process soap was a mixed bag. Although it lathers up quite nicely and leaves my skin soft and moisturized, I am just meh about how it looks and smells.

Lemon & Honey Tea Hot Process Soap/Shampoo Bar

The inspiration for the soap was from The Nerdy Farm Wife's Chamomile Tea & Honey Shampoo Bar Recipe. I did not have quite enough castor oil as called for in the recipe, so at the last minute had to run the recipe through a lye calculator to adjust for the 1.5 oz shortage. Here are the ratios from SoapCalc.net:

So here is where I deviated from the original recipe. Instead of chamomile tea, I used an English Breakfast because I wanted to see if I could get a deep, brown color. I also added 1 teaspoon of lemon essential oil.

As already alluded to, I probably would not make these modifications again. The color wasn't quite what I was looking for, especially when combined with the lumpy texture of hot process soap. The smell of the English Breakfast tea was also quite strong, even after the cooking process. After I added the lemon EO, it came out smelling like a lemon Snapple. Again, not quite the effect I was going for. Finally, the mold was not the best choice for a hot process soap. It was a wide, flat box, where the texture of hot process would do better (IMHO) in a loaf or column mold.

Nevertheless, it is still a lovely soap, chock full of wonderful oils. One last comment, the original recipe was for a shampoo bar. I haven't used it yet as a shampoo bar, but will report back if and when I do!