If you love the smell of Earl Grey tea as much as the taste, you’ll want to give this bergamot soap recipe a go! Infused with real tea and lavender, this creamy soap feels as luxurious as sipping a hot cup of tea on a crisp morning. For those who boil multiple cups a day, this tea soap is a must-try!
Have you ever had a London fog before? Originally from Vancouver, it was invented in the 1980s by Mary Loria who would request the drink while pregnant.
In the past couple of years, I see the drink listed at every café as its popularity grows. And I can’t get enough of it! It’s essentially an Earl Grey latte with a splash of vanilla syrup. And as I do with all my favourite things, I make soap out of it!
For this soap, I combined my love for London fogs and Earl Grey tea with another herbal fave, lavender. Together, you get a delicious aroma and ultra-moisturizing soap that feels so silky on the skin.
It looks as beautiful as it smells. Coloured 100% naturally with the herbs and tea, additional flecks of purple mica make this bergamot and lavender soap shine. On top, I added butterfly pea flower and lavender buds for the final pop of colour.
So, if you’re the type of person to start your day off with a cuppa tea, you’re going to love this Earl grey inspired tea soap.
This post covers…
- How to Make London Fog Bergamot Soap
- Materials
- Ingredients:
- Infuse Oil
- Make Your Bergamot Soap
- Frequently Asked Questions About Bergamot Soap
- More Ways to Make Soap
How to Make London Fog Bergamot Soap
People (including me!) go crazy over the scent of Earl Grey, so I had to make a soap inspired after the tea! Combined with lavender and the sweet creamy aroma of benzoin resin, it smells just like a lavender London fog.
If this is your first time making soap, find detailed instructions on how to make soap here before getting started. Then, come back to this post for this specific bergamot soap recipe.
Materials
- Kitchen scale
- Infrared thermometer
- Double boiler made of stainless steel (not aluminum) soap making pitcher and a pot of water
- Pyrex or heatproof glass measuring cup(4-cup)
- Immersion blender
- Safety gear (rubber gloves, face mask, apron, eye protection, etc.)
- Loaf-style soap mold
Ingredients:
For exact measurements, see the recipe card below.
Jump to Recipe- Olive oil infused with early grey tea
- Coconut oil infused with lavender
- Sunflower oil
- Grapeseed oil
- Shea butter
- Lye
- Water
- Bergamot essential oil
- Lavender essential oil
- Benzoin resin
- Purple mica
- Butterfly pea flowers (to top)
- Lavender buds (to top)
Infuse Oil
Before you begin making your soap, you’ll want to infuse some of the oils. For this recipe, I infuse the Early Grey tea in some olive oil, and some dried lavender buds in the coconut oil. Do this in a double boiler over medium-low heat.
Once melted, add in your Earl Grey tea bags to your olive oil, and 1 cup of lavender buds to your coconut oil, and turn the stovetop down to low. Let the oil infuse with the tea bags and lavender for a few hours or until the smell is aromatic.
You can strain using a fine sieve first then a coffee filter or cheesecloth for a second time. Check out more on how to infuse oils with herbs.
After you’ve infused the oils, you’re ready to make some soap!
Note: You will infuse olive oil and coconut oil before weighing them for the recipe. If you weigh beforehand, you won’t have the right amount of oil for the recipe once you strain out the tea/lavender.
Make Your Bergamot Soap
- Weigh your ingredients. Heat your oils and shea butter over medium heat until you’ve reached 115°F.
- In a heatproof container, stir together your lye and water in a well-ventilated area. Stir until fully dissolved. Then, cool in an ice bath until it’s 115°F.
- When both the oils and lye water are at the right temperature, combine the lye into the oils in a large bowl. Mix with an immersion blender until you’ve reached a light trace.
- Add your bergamot essential oil, lavender essential oil, and benzoin resin. Blend again.
- Pour your soap into the soap mold. Sprinkle your purple mica powder on top. With a chopstick, mix your mica through to give the soap little purple flecks.
- Top the bars with butterfly pea flowers and lavender buds.
- Let your soap rest for 48 hours wrapped in a towel and set on top of the fridge.
- After 2 days, cut your soap into even bars. Let cure for 6 weeks in a cool, dark space.
Frequently Asked Questions About Bergamot Soap
Named after a British prime minister, Earl Grey, the tea is a mixture of black tea leaves either sprayed with bergamot extract or essential oil or mixed with bergamot rinds. So what you’re smelling is primarily bergamot oil! It’s slightly citrusy and floral, two very popular scents for the nose.
You can’t go wrong when it comes to bergamot and your skin. Full of antioxidants, bergamot fights against premature aging. The antibacterial properties also make it work as a natural cleanser to unclog pores and balance sebum (your skin’s natural oils). But perhaps its most well-known benefit for the skin is its ability to help with scarring such as acne scars, stretch marks, and hyperpigmentation.
Also known as bergamot tea, Earl Grey is made from black tea leaves combined with fruit from the Citrus bergamia tree. Bergamot itself has plenty of health benefits, but most studies focus on essential oils rather than tea.
Luckily, this soap recipe has bergamot essential oil as well as tea! You can get a double dose of bergamot benefits such as antioxidants, cleansing properties, and scar healing.
If you love Earl Grey tea as much as I do, then you’ll want to make sure to make a batch of this bergamot soap. It smells just like the real thing! Let me know how it goes for you in the comments below.
More Ways to Make Soap
- How to Make Unscented Soap
- Homemade Cheery Sunflower and Tumeric Soap
- Matcha Green Tea Soap Recipe
- Slightly Masculine Lime and Cedarwood Soap Recipe
Creamy Earl Grey Infused Bergamot Soap Recipe
Equipment
- Heatproof glass measuring cup (such as Pyrex)
- Safety gear (rubber gloves, face mask, apron, eye protection, etc.)
- Loaf-style soap mold (3 lb mold)
Supplies
- 340 g olive oil infused with Earl Grey tea (6 bags of Earl Grey tea should work)
- 284 g coconut oil infused with lavender
- 124 g sunflower oil
- 114 g grapeseed oil
- 142 g shea butter
- 142 g lye
- 300 g water
- 10 g bergamot essential oil
- 10 g lavender essential oil
- 5 g benzoin resin
- 1 tsp purple mica
- Butterfly pea flowers (to top)
- Lavender buds (to top)
Instructions
- Make your infused oils, making more oil than you need for the recipe (you'll lose some when it strains). Heat your olive oil over medium-low heat. Add in your tea bags and set to a simmer. After a few hours, strain your oil using a fine sieve and then again with a coffee filter or cheesecloth.
- Repeat the same steps, this time infusing the coconut oil with lavender buds.
- Weigh your ingredients for soap making.
- Combine all the oils and shea butter over low heat until 115°F. While heating, add your lye to the water in a heatproof container. Stir until completely dissolved. Place in an ice bath until it also reaches 115°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your lye water to your oils. Use an immersion blender to blend until it reaches a light trace.
- Add in your essential oils and benzoin resin. Blend again.
- Pour into a soap mold. Sprinkle the purple mica powder on top and use a chopstick to mix through the soap.
- Sprinkle butterfly pea flowers and lavender buds on top.
- Let soap rest for 48 hours wrapped in a towel.
- After 48 hours, cut the soap and let it cure for 6 weeks in a cool, dark location.
Do we adjust the lye water amount after reweighing the oils once they’re strained? We went from 1004g of oil to 888g oil
I am wondering the very same thing right now after straining my oil. Did you find out the answer?
I usually add additional oil to get back to the required amount after straining the herbs.
Are you using benzoin resin or benzoin resin oil. Unsure of what you actually used as there are several purchase options. Thank you
This: https://mountainroseherbs.com/benzoin-resin-oil