Lavender Infused Oils

I have one small French lavender plant in my garden and picked the flowers last week when the flowers were in bloom to make lavender infused oils for soaps.

I made two infusions: one with pomace olive oil and one with soybean oil (below is a picture of the soybean oil with the freshly picked lavender):

This is a 2lb loaf I made yesterday using the lavender infused olive oil and local lavender essential oil...

...the soap smells wonderful!   I can't wait to try a bar after it's cured in a few weeks. 

Right now I have one loaf of olive oil and one loaf of soybean oil without added lavender essential oils in the saponification process and can't wait to unmold tomorrow evening after I get home from work.  I'm eager to see how much of the infused lavender fragrance remains.

July 22, 2012

The infused soaps have a tiny hint of lavender fragrance.  I also noticed that the bits of lavender that didn't strain remain in the soap - makes the soap seem more handmade and rustic.