See how to make fragrant honey lemon lavender soap! This quick homemade lavender soap recipe is great for beginners and made with natural ingredients that cleanse and nourish the skin. Lemon and lavender essential oil provide a wonderful scent and additional skincare benefits. The easy soap making tutorial includes free printable labels to create a handmade soap gift.
DIY Honey Lemon Lavender soap recipe – Easy Melt and pour soap with essential oils
Are you in love with all things lavender? I have a few melt and pour soap recipes in my collection already, but realised that a lavender melt and pour soap was a big missing piece. Time to fix that!
My DIY lavender soap recipe takes just 10 minutes to prep. It’s packed with skin-loving ingredients like honey, goats milk, and vitamin E. Lemon and lavender essential oils give the natural soap a beautiful scent that smells refreshing and rich.
You learn how to make lavender soap at home and get tips for customizing this simple melt and pour soap recipe. We discuss colouring options and using lavender buds in melt and pour soap. But first, let’s talk about the benefits of lavender on the skin.
Lavender soap benefits
What is lavender soap good for?Lavender essential oil is a multipurpose oil with many uses in skincare. The use of lavender essential oil in soap has many possible benefits:
- anti-inflammatory properties: lavender EO is purported to have anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and antiseptic abilities, and its pain-relieving effects can help soothe inflamed skin.
- reduces acne: due to the anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties, lavender oil can also be effective to improve and lessen the appearance of acne and to regulate the production of sebum.
- soothes eczema and nourishes dry skin: the anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties of lavender oil may help to reduce eczema, dry, itchy skin, and psoriasis. (source)
- anti-fungal activity: a study found that lavender essential oil has anti-fungal properties that could be useful to fight fungal infections. (source)
- antioxidant: lavender oil contains antioxidants that help protect the skin from free radicals and may be beneficial for anti-ageing.
Ingredients for honey lemon lavender soap
Now that we know the benefits of lavender on the skin, let’s look at the other ingredients in this natural lavender soap recipe:
- goat milk soap base – I prepared the recipe with goats milk because I love the nourishment this soap base provides. Goatmilk contains many minerals and vitamins, and is very nourishing for the skin. It’s a great option for all skin types, including dry and sensitive skin.
- raw honey – Honey is an incredible ingredient for skin care. It moisturizes and hydrates the skin deeply, acts as a pore cleanser and gentle exfoliator. Honey also helps to fight the signs of ageing and reveals brighter skin.
- lemon essential oil – Lemon essential oil reduces excess oils on the skin, removes dead skin cells, and its astringent properties help to clear the skin. Although soap is a wash-off product, I strongly recommend using steam-distilled lemon essential oil.
- vitamin E oil(optional) – Vitamin E oil is a versatile and useful ingredient for homemade skincare products and aids anti-ageing treatments. It acts as a natural antioxidant neutralising free radicals while helping to moisturise and soften the skin.
- jojoba beads (optional) – The jojoba beads not only add visual interest, but they also gently exfoliate your skin.
- soap mould– This simple, rectangular soap mould makes decently sized hand soap bars and can be used for many soap making recipes.
How to make lavender soap with honey and lemon
How do you make lavender soap? This homemade lavender soap recipe isn’t hard to make. Look at the video tutorial, and check my tips below this section for more tips to make the best lavender soap!
Follow these easy steps for how to make lavender soap at home:
- Cut the soap base. Cut the goats milk soap base into small cubes and place them into a microwave-safe jug.
- Melt the soap. Melt the soap cubes in the microwave set on low in 30-second bursts and stir gently in-between until the soap is liquid. Melted soap can be quite hot, so be careful to avoid burns. In case you’re wondering how to melt soap base without microwave, simple place the soap cubes in a double boiler.
- Add other ingredients. Add the vitamin E oil, honey, and essential oils. Whisk until well combined.
- Pour the lavender soap. Place the silicone mould on a tray or cutting board. Spritz with alcohol and sprinkle the bottom with jojoba beads. Slowly pour the soap into the mould. Spray the top of each soap bar with alcohol to dissolve the bubbles. Sprinkle with additional jojoba beads.
- Chill the soap. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes or until the soap feels hard to the touch.
- Unmould and decorate. Once the soap is fully hardened, gently flex the mould to release the soap bars. Optionally, use a vegetable peeler or pairing knife to shave the soap and create beveled edges.
Homemade lavender soap FAQ
Can you make lavender soap with real lavender?
Yes, you can, but I don’t recommend it. One thing to know about using lavender buds in soap is that the buds will brown pretty quickly and the soap may not look very attractive.
It would be a pity if you create beautiful honey lavender soap with lavender buds only for the buds to turn brown and ruin your soap bars.
How do you colour lavender soap?
There are several ways to colour lavender soap. I used purple jojoba beads. Some of the beads melted in the hot base and gave the soap a lovely purple colour.
Violet mica, a type of cosmetic pigment, is another idea to tint the soap. Mica adds a lovely sheen to the soap and creates a gorgeous pastel shade. I recommend adding 1/2 tbsp to the recipe.
Violet ultramarine pigment is a completely natural colour option for lavender soap. The pigment creates a vibrant purple shade and is perfectly skin safe. 1/4 to 1/2 tsp is enough to tint the soap recipe.
I also want to mention liquid soap dye and food colours, which I’m not a fan of. Liquid soap dye and food colours tend to bleed, and purple colourants fade rather quickly, resulting in a blotchy looking soap.
Without a colourant, the soap looks white, which is also pretty.
Can I use another melt and pour soap base?
Yes, of course. If you want to try it with a melt and pour soap base, other options would be shea soap base, cocoa soap base, glycerin soap base, honey soap base, or aloe vera soap base.
You can tint the shea butter and cocoa soap bases, but not the glycerin, honey and aloe vera bases as they have a colour that won’t mix well with a violet or purple dye.
More essential oil blends for lavender soap
Lemon lavender soap isn’t the only essential oil combination you can create. For some variation, try one of the following essential oil blends for soap:
- clean lavender: 12 drops lavender + 9 drops eucalyptus + 7 drops tangerine
- woodsy lavender: 12 drops lavender + 16 drops cedarwood
- lavender bouquet: 12 drops lavender + 8 drops bergamot + 8 drops geranium
Is lavender soap antibacterial?
Although this homemade lavender soap recipe doesn’t contain added antibacterial ingredients, it’s still effective in getting rid of bacteria and germs.
Studies show that lavender essential oil has antibacterial activity (source), but the EO concentration in this soap making recipe is probably too low to be significant.
If you’re interested, I also have an antibacterial soap recipe on the blog.
Do I have to spritz the soap with alcohol?
No, not necessarily. High-proof alcohol can be hard to find in some locations, and it’s okay to make lavender soap without it. I only use alcohol to dissolve bubbles and help the soap better adhere to the mould.
However, if you don’t mind a few air bubbles in your finished product, feel free to skip the alcohol. Spritzing (very lightly) with witch hazel and water works, too.
Storage instructions and shelf life
How do you store DIY honey lavender soap?
Store the DIY lavender soap recipe in an airtight container in a dry, cool location, away from direct sunlight and any heat sources. A cupboard, shelf, or dresser drawers are good places.
Once the lavender melt and pour soap has been made, wrap it immediately in plastic wrap/clingfilm to keep the scent in and to stop moisture from settling on the soap.
Melt and pour soap has extra glycerin added. Glycerin draws moisture from the air, which is great for skin care. But uncovered soap can “sweat”, meaning small beads of moisture collect on the surface and can soften the soap.
How long does lavender melt and pour soap last?
While melt and pour soap doesn’t spoil, grow mould or become rancid, I recommend using your handmade lavender soap within 1 year. After a year, the fragrance begins to fade, and the soap base starts to dry out.
Lavender soap gift with printable soap wrapper
I love making soap for gifts! Handmade soap recipes are quick, easy, and inexpensive. Melt and pour soap is very customisable and perfect to create personalized gift ideas. Soap also ships well, and you can combine your lavender lemon soap recipe with other homemade beauty products to create a beautiful spa kit, wellness hamper, or selfcare package.
Wonder how to package soap for gift giving? First, wrap the lavender soap bar tightly in plastic wrap/clingfilm. It’s important to protect the melt and pour soap recipe from moisture. Then package the soap with gift wrap or kraft paper (like I did.) Lastly, adorn your soap gift with our printable soap wrapper or tie a ribbon around the lavender hand soap.
You can download the printable lavender soap label after the DIY box at the end of the post.
More melt and pour soap recipes
If you like free soap tutorials like this one, here are a few more easy homemade soap recipes to try:
- sea salt soap recipe
- eucalyptus soap
- turmeric soap
- sugar soap scrub bars
- homemade citrus soap
- moisturizing soap for dry skin
- antibacterial hand soap
- pumpkin spice soap
- peppermint soap
- liquid hand soap
- DIY exfoliating soap
- homemade cold process soap recipe
Honey Lemon Lavender Soap Recipe
Yield: 4 soap bars
Active Time: 10 minutes
Cooling Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: easy
See how to make fragrant honey lemon lavender soap! This quick homemade lavender soap recipe is great for beginners and made with natural ingredients that cleanse and nourish the skin. Lemon and lavender essential oil provide a wonderful scent and additional skincare benefits.
Materials
- 1 lb / 450 g goats milk soap
- 1 tbsp raw honey
- 25 drops vitamin E oil
- 12 drops lavender essential oil
- 10 drops lemon essential oil
- 2 tbsp purple jojoba beads (optional)
- high-proof alcohol
Tools
- digital scale
- microwave-safe glass jug
- whisk
- soap mould
- small spritz bottle (for spritzing the alcohol)
Instructions
- Cut the goat's milk soap base into small cubes and place them into a microwave-safe jug.
- Melt the soap cubes in the microwave set on low in 30-second bursts and stir gently in-between until the soap is liquid. Melted soap can be quite hot, so be careful to avoid burns.
- Add the vitamin E oil, honey, and essential oils. Whisk until well combined.
- Place the silicone mould on a tray or cutting board.
- Spritz with alcohol and sprinkle the bottom with jojoba beads.
- Slowly pour the soap into the mould.
- Spray the top of each soap with alcohol to dissolve the bubbles. Sprinkle with additional jojoba beads.
- Place in the fridge for 30 minutes or until the soap feels hard to the touch.
- Once the soap is fully hardened, gently flex the mould to release the soap bars.
- Optionally, use a vegetable peeler or pairing knife to shave the soap and create beveled edges.
Lavender Soap Label
Tab or click the button below to download the free printable lavender soap label!
Download printable
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