Clay Soap: Kaolin Clay

Kaolin clay is a newer clay to me. When planning my clay soaps, I chose Kaolin to round out my line, but once I took a look at all of the benefits that Kaolin clay provides, I was so glad that I chose this clay to be my fourth clay soap!

Kaolin clay is a white to off-white clay, also known as China clay. It is known in the soap making community for proving amazing "razor slip" in shaving soaps, but it has wonderful benefits for the skin underneath the hair! Kaolin clay is wonderful for all skin types, helps promote circulation to the skin, removes dead skin cells, and helps balance sebum activity. Too much sebum leads to blackheads (sebum collecting at the surface of the skin) or whiteheads (sebum collecting underneath the skin). This leads Kaolin clay to be the most recommended clay to use on skin!

I love the essential oil that I used with my Kaolin clay soap: Bay essential oil! Bay is one of my favorite essential oils to use. I love the spicy, herbaceous notes!

Watch me make this soap here:

Best part is... this soap, as well as my Cedar/Chamomile Bentonite Clay soap, doubles as a shaving soap!

And with that, my clay soap experiments come to a close! I hope you have enjoyed a month's worth of clay information and soapy goodness!

Clay Soap: Moroccan Red Clay

My sister's favorite clay for her "normal" skin type is Moroccan Red Clay, also known as Rhassoul clay. This wonderful, earthy clay works beautifully in soap and gives amazing, natural color to soap bars.

Moroccan red clay is a special clay, coming only from the Atlas Mountains of northern Africa. This reddish-brown clay is good for combination skin, normal skin, or dry skin and is well known for its mineral-rich qualities. It's smooth and creamy texture fluffs when water is added and the clay works to rebalance dry skin and help with flakiness. It's also been known to sooth skin irritations.

For this soap, I was inspired by the red-brown color of the Moroccan clay and I wanted to use a "hot", earthy essential oil combination to round out the soap. I love the blend I used: Patchouli and Cinnamon leaf. The patchouli essential oil lends a strong, earthy aroma and the cinnamon leaf essential oil brings the "heat" of warm, rich cinnamon. The two balance each other and round each other out wonderfully.

This soap is now available on my Etsy shop! Click here to check it out!

Clay Soap: Bentonite Clay

My second clay in my clay soap series is my bentonite clay soap, scented with cedar and roman chamomile essential oils! Bentonite clay is a staple in my home and I've used it in loads of soaps prior to this experiment. I love this clay!

Bentonite clay, a gray clay that is derived from aged volcanic ash, is a wonderful clay highly concentrated with wonderful minerals for your skin. This clay will add missing minerals to your skin while drawing our oils and toxins. Bentonite clay is great for combination skin and oily skin. Beyond skin care, bentonite clay is said to have many uses for the body... read about them here!

When formulating my bentonite clay soap, I wanted to scent it with a soothing essential oil blend. I knew I wanted to use Cedarwood, and after much deliberation, I decided to blend the rich, earthy cedarwood with light, floral Roman Chamomile. The two essential oils make an amazingly light and rich scent when blended!

This soap will be available in my Etsy shop in late July, so check back soon!

Clay Soap: French Green Clay

Of all of the facial clays available, French Green Clay seems to be the most well known and popular, making it the obvious choice to start with when planning my clay soap series. I love this clay for my own skin, so I scented it with my favorite essential oil blend, Lemongrass and Peppermint.

Let's start out with some of the great, well-known benefits of French Green Clay!
French Green Clay, also known as Sea Clay, is a popular clay among spas and healthy skin-minded people. The clay is mined not only in France, but in the United States and China as well. The clay gets its green name from its light green color, but has been known to be gray as well. The clay is well known for its detoxifying properties and helps to draw impurities from the skin while remineralizing the skin.

French Green Clay is amazing for people, like me, who have oily skin. The clay also helps remove dead skin cells and promotes circulation under the skin when used.

Since this clay is the best clay for my skin, I decided to make a soap that I would love to use as well. This soap is scented with a blend of Lemongrass and Peppermint essential oils, giving it a fresh, clean mix of tart, soft lemon and peppy mint. This is a great essential oil blend to help awaken your senses in the morning! I love the pale-green color of the soap, naturally derived from the clay itself! Gorgeous!

This soap is available in my Etsy shop! Click Here to check it out!

Clay Soap: July Project

For the month of July, I have decided to embark on a new, month-long project filled with soaping with clay! When I made my Oatmeal Stout soap a few weeks ago, I added some french green clay and bentonite clay to the soap batter, and the bars turned out amazing! I love the clay soaps I have made in the past, so for the month of July, I have decided to dedicate myself and my blog to all things clay!

Stay tuned for the following blog posts:

July 7th: French Green Clay Soap with Lemongrass/Peppermint Essential Oils

July 14th: Bentonite Clay Soap with Cedar/Chamomile Essential Oils

July 21st: Red Moroccan Clay Soap with Patchouli/Cinnamon Leaf Essential Oils

July 28th: Kaolin Clay Soap with Bay Essential Oil

Learn all about each clay, including the benefits of using clays on skin, the wonders of each essential oil blend, and see the resulting soaps! Check back on Monday for the first of four posts!

Clay... Not just for faces!