Hippie Kitty: Natural Rose & Geranium Soap Recipe

Hello Kittens and Gents! 

This is the follow up to the recipe that I mentioned in my last Hippie Kitty publication. In this article, I’ll show you how to make a totally natural castile soap-based body wash that also doubles as a shampoo and hand soap. Really, this stuff can be used to wash pretty much any part of your skin or hair. 

Note: Please use it externally only, and know that some people may have a sensitivity to certain essential oils, so please test them carefully before using. 

This topic was taken from the book I read by Madeleine Somerville, All You Need is Less. You can see an image of it below. I was inspired to make this series of publications after reading this amazing book. I swear, this is the last time I’ll bring it up! 

Here’s how to make the soap. 

First, you’ll want to gather your ingredients. You’re going to need:

• Water 
• Castile soap
• Rose essential oil
• Geranium essential oil (or any oil of your choosing) 
• A recycled and cleaned plastic container or bottle, preferably with a pump top (or a new one made of glass) 

Note: If you change the type of essential oil, the amount added is going to vary. Rose essential oil is very tame and requires many more drops than other oils. For example, I made a jasmine version of this soap with the same number of drops I would normally use for my rose version and the scent was way too strong. My recommendation for the number of drops can be used as a general guideline; however, you may add or subtract from this amount based on the strength you’re looking for. Start off small and add slowly to your mix until you reach the scent you want. You can even simply blend together castile soap and water in equal amounts to have a scent-free soap. 

Second, remove the lid from your chosen container and add water to it until your canister is about halfway full. If you prefer to measure this precisely, you can look on the container’s packaging to see how many ounces or milliliters are in it and divide by two. Then add that amount of water to your container. You want to add the water first because if you add the castile soap first, it will foam up and overflow your jar when you add the water. Don’t do that. It makes your life harder and I’m here to make it easier and simpler. And more green! 

Note: My container was about 34 ounces or one liter. 

Third, add an equal amount of castile soap (or about half of the bottle) to your container, filling it almost all the way to the top. Leave a bit of room for the essential oils. 

Note: We buy our castile soap in bulk (a gallon at a time) because we use it extensively for our body products. I also use it to make my homemade and green cleaning products for my business. You can purchase it here. This is the cheapest price we’ve found in the U.S. After all, being green is not only about helping the Earth and doing your part, but it’s about saving money, too. Because we buy it by the gallon, we are using fewer single use containers. And…because I reuse my plastic soap container,  I’m keeping a lot of plastic out of the landfill. For extra green points, you can keep your empty castile soap jug and use it to make other green products as well. E.g., my husband made us some powdered dishwasher soap out of entirely environmentally friendly ingredients just the other day.  We’re currently working out the kinks of that recipe so I can share that with you as well. 

Please let me know if that’s something that would interest you. You can mix the castile soap in bulk as well, to save yourself time by doing a lot at once, instead of every time your bottle empties.. I might suggest that you use your gallon container of castile soap to mix your soap in bulk. Just sayin’! Re-use, recycle, and be green! 

Fourth, add your essential oils. You’ll want to add these carefully. I will let you know how many I have added to make my Rose-Geranium blend with the size bottle I’m using, but this can vary a lot, as I mentioned above. Essential oils are naturally powerful because they are the distilled and concentrated version of the plant they are derived from, so it’s best to use them sparingly. 

For this recipe I’ve used about 70 drops of the rose essential oil and 30 of the geranium to get my desired scent. 

Finally, you’ll put the lid on your carton and shake it vigorously to mix it. You’ll want to do this every time you use it to make sure that the elements are combined and usable. If you prefer, you can buy a glass container that foams the soap for you, so you can skip the shaking step. 

Image and product credit can be found here.

That’s it! I hope that you can take this recipe into your daily life and live more comfortably, and more green. I look forward to hearing about the many varieties of this recipe that you create. Please feel free to share the successful essential oil blends you’ve used by commenting below. 

Happy showering! And especially during the pandemic, but at all times, wash your damn hands! Use my soap recipe and enjoy. 

Note: Who would like a natural recipe for an effective and healthy hand sanitizer? Leave your ideas for more green topics and recipes below and you may see them soon.