This soap is made with both Cocoa butter and Shea butter so is extra moisturising. It’s creamy and lathers well, yet is a surprisingly hard bar when cured, so it lasts well. And it smells divine! I bought the sandalwood and frankincense in the old souk in Muscat, so it’s pure Arabia. Here’s the recipe:

270gms Olive Oil

270gms Coconut Oil

90gms Palm Oil ( sustainably sourced)

90gms Castor Oil

90gms Shea Butter

90gms Cocoa Butter

326gms Distilled Water

124gms Lye

1 tsp Turmeric

1tsp Ground Frankincense Resin

Approx 2tsp powdered Sandalwood

15mls Sweet Orange Essential Oil

I mixed the turmeric and orange EO with a couple of teaspoons of the olive oil and set aside to infuse. I made the soap in the usual way, ( I’m assuming anyone reading this far knows the basics of soap-making. If not, there are plenty of tutorials on-line. I haven’t worked out how to post a link yet, but will add in later). At a thin trace I divided the mixture into 2 portions, 1/3 and 2/3. I mixed the orange/ turmeric mixture into the smaller portion and poured into my mould. I sprinkled a thin layer of sandalwood over this layer immediately and pressed it down ever so slightly. With the remaining portion I mixed in the frankincense that I’d ground down earlier, (I also added in a bit of white mica as I wanted a shimmer effect, however I obviously didn’t add enough as it was unnoticeable – but the soap is none the worse for it, so that’s why I’ve left it off the list of ingredients). I poured that over the sandalwood layer and made swirls/peaks on top. The soap had set up after 24 hours and I removed it from the mould and sliced it immediately.

It smells and feels lovely, one of my favourites so far!