Making Pine and Mint soap with pine resin and natural green colors for christmas / Fenyő és menta szappan katácsonyra - fenyőgyantával és természetes színezőkkel

Pine and Mint cold process soap with pine resin, made with DIY soap mat | by Szilvia Németh 

Months ago made a set of classic, tile design soap mats and been postponeing using them, until the idea came to use these mats to make chrismas soaps. Also came the idea to include resins that reflect the christmas tree and also the useful gifts that three wise man took to a baby and his mother according to the legends from ancient times. Since both pine resin and frankincense & myrrh were and still are used in balms, salves for their beneficial healing properties, the latter two actually were rather helpful and precious gifts for a new mother and a baby boy.

Tried benzoin resin before: infused it in sweet almond oil, and it gives a fine caramel-vanilla sweet scent to my homemade perfumes, body butters and also used it in soaps to add a sweet accent to my citrusy-floral essential oil blends. 

This time for infusing the pine (and also myrrh and frankincense resins for other soaps) I used extra virgin olive oil since their scent is a bit more robust and did not mind the darker color of the oil.

Soap color comes from nettle powder, green clay and a touvh of indigo. Added extra scent with a blend of pine needle and peppermint essential oils.