I make all of my own soap because it is fun to do, makes thoughtful gifts, and is really great for my skin. One of my very favorite blends is this pink grapefruit soap that I made using this process. The bright citrus scent is invigorating and smells good enough to eat.
Recipe Update: The original recipe for this soap was submitted by a natural soap book author and thanks to your feedback I made my own version that is palm oil free. This recipe for Pink Grapefruit Soap is now 70% olive oil and 30% coconut oil, making it moisturizing and luxurious. I’ve also outlined some easy steps to get the two-tones of my bars.
This soap is sure to put a spring in your step, just when you need it most in the morning. The refreshing scent combined with moisturizing coconut, grapeseed, and olive oils makes for a soap that smells amazing and leaves skin feeling soft and replenished.
Pink Grapefruit Soap Recipe
This bar has a great scent to wake you up! Pink clay and ratanjot give this soap it’s color, but it’s up to you whether you want to add that or not. Without them, the bar will be yellowish (like olive oil). Just omit the color powders if you decide to leave the bar uncolored—it will still smell awesome.
Ingredients
- 7 oz coconut oil
- 17 oz olive oil
- 2 oz grapeseed oil
- 1/2 teaspoon each pink clay and ratanjot for color
- 15 ml of grapefruit essential oil
- 3.6 oz sodium hydroxide
- 8.4 oz water
Make it!
Head over to this post on how to make cold process soap and follow those instructions, substituting in the ingredients listed above. Be sure to take safety precautions and wear protection when working with lye, and work in a well-ventilated space.
Note: to color the soap, I split the batch into two bowls at trace and quickly added pink clay to one and ratanjot to the other. I then poured them side by side into a milk carton.
More soap to make:
- Exquisite Botanical Soap that Cleanly Preserves the Garden
- A Sweet Homemade Honeycomb Soap Recipe
- Bring the Ocean into Your Bathtub with Handmade Sea Sponge Soap Bars
- Good Clean Fun: THE Idea Book for Creative Melt and Pour Soap Projects
- Fresh and Woodsy Winter Forest Soap Recipe
I’m a candlemaker interested in making soap. What are your thoughts on essential oils versus fragrance oils. Thanks! Peg
Hi Peg, see the reply to Jenn on the same question. Thanks!
Hi: I love your sit here. Great information and “all”. I would like to ask you though, where to find the juicy pink grapefruit F.O. you used in that soap. I had one that was incredibly wonderful but the tag is long gone now. Would you mind sharing where to find this apparently “good” one with me ? Your soap turned out beautiful by the way. I was really impressed and hope I can make one as nice as yours are.
Thank you,
Jenn in Oregon
Jenn, I never use fragrance oil. This recipe was submitted by a guest blogger, the author of the soap book and I didn’t want to change it. Even though it’s not 100% my soap-making style, it’s a really great recipe and it’s easy to swap out FO for natural scents. I, personally, always use pure essential oils for all of my soap recipes and grapefruit is a wonderful natural scent! The first photo is of my soap made with grapefruit and lavender essential oils and natural colours (tumeric and rottanjot). I love grapefruit and lavender together, but if you prefer a sweet citrus aroma only, then add a few drops of sweet orange essential oil to the grapefruit e.o. and you will be in heaven!!
Hi there. I think I can almost smell this soap. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind telling me how many drops each of the grapefruit and lavender Pure Essential Oils you used vs the fragrance oil. Thank you so much and you have a wonderful day!!!
Debora Cadene
I’m not sure how many drops, but it was 15ml.