Simple Living With Nature

Grow Forage Cook Ferment logo
  • Grow
  • Forage
  • Cook
  • Ferment
  • Herbalism
  • Homestead
  • Start Here
  • Resources
  • Books
    • Healing Herbal Infusions
    • Wildcrafting Weeds
    • Simple Mead Making
    • Healing Kitchen Herbs
    • The Backyard Forest Garden
  • About
    • About Me
    • Contact
  • Foraging Course
  • Subscribe!
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Home » Herbalism » Herbal Bath and Skincare Recipes » Soap » Kombucha Soap: Natural Face Bar Recipe

Kombucha Soap: Natural Face Bar Recipe

May contain affiliate links or sponsored content. Please see my privacy policy and affiliate disclosure.

Originally published on August 21, 2017. Last updated on April 10, 2020

15.2K shares
  • 9.5K
  • 5
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
Several bars of homemade kombucha face soap.

Most of us in the fermenting world know all about kombucha, whether we’ve made it ourselves or just purchase it at our local health food store. What I’ve only recently learned is that kombucha is also great for the skin and makes a wonderful soap! This kombucha soap face bar recipe comes from a brand new book by Kelly Cable of Simple Life Mom called The Natural Soapmaking Book for Beginners. This is an awesome book that is perfect for those of you who want to learn how to make your own natural soap!

Kombucha in a jar glass jar, and two bars of kombucha face soap.

Kombucha Soap Recipe

Kelly says, “If you know what kombucha is, then you already know it is wonderful for the body, inside and out. Kombucha is a fermented tea that is full of probiotics and vitamins. It has more vitamin C than orange juice. Crazy thing is, those nutrients can be passed to you through soap. It’s a clean feeling soap that rinses well. It has a light natural herbal scent that I like, so I’ve left this recipe unscented. Though, feel free to add up to 1 ounce of an essential oil of your choice.”

Making this kombucha face bar is also the perfect way to use up any extra kombucha that you might have sitting around after making, say, Dandelion & Fennel Kombucha or Hibiscius Kombucha.

The Natural Soapmaking Book for Beginners

I love this book! It is full of great natural recipes like this kombucha soap, plus basic information on soapmaking that is geared towards beginners. All of the recipes sound wonderful, top on my list to make are Chamomile Tea Soap with Chamomile Flowers, Cederwood and Fir Soap, and Aloe and Nettle Herbal Soap. Kelly tells us how to use natural colorants and even has a super cool natural fragrance wheel!

I highly recommend The Natural Soapmaking Book for Beginners! And, for a limited time, if you order the book you’ll get a bunch of super cool bonuses as a thank you from Kelly!

This kombucha soap, though… it’s amazing! I think you will love it.

If you want to learn more about how to make your own soap, check out my post on How to Make Soap for Beginners.


Natural Soap Recipes

Once you start making homemade soap, you’ll never be able to go back to store bought bar soap again. Have some fun and try these other soap recipes too!

  • Wild Rose & Yarrow Soap
  • Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bars
  • Beginners Calendula Soap
  • Dandelion Soap

Print Recipe Pin Recipe
4.86 from 7 votes

Kombucha Soap: Natural Face Bar

Kombucha is terrific for the skin, so it makes a great addition to homemade soap. Learn how to make this all natural, healthy kombucha face soap recipe.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Active Time 1 hour
Curing Time 30 days
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield 12 bars
Cost 33.00
Author Colleen @ Grow Forage Cook Ferment

Equipment

  • Safety Glasses
  • Rubber Gloves
  • Large Pot
  • Silicone Spatula
  • Kitchen Scale
  • Bowls for Measuring Ingredients
  • Thermometer
  • Immersion Blender
  • Small Zip Top Bag
  • Small Glass Measuring Cup
  • Soap Mold
  • Parchment Paper

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric
  • 12 ounces tallow
  • 8 ounces coconut oil
  • 5 ounces olive oil
  • 4 ounces argan oil
  • 4 ounces mango butter
  • 4.2 ounces lye
  • 6 ounces water
  • 6.5 ounces kombucha

Instructions

  • Safety First! Remember to wear your safety equipment and mix the lye water outside.Tell everyone you live with that where you're working is off limits. `Give yourself enough time to complete the recipe.
  • Prep Ahead: Combine water and kombucha and chill in the refrigerator.
  • Heat the Fats/Oils: In a large pot over medium-low heat, combine tallow, coconut oil, olive oil, argan oil, and mango butter. Heat until they are melted and incorporated. Remove from heat and allow to cool to 100-110°F.
  • Mix the Lye-Water: Put on protective gear including a mask, gloves, and long sleeves. Outside, carefully add the lye crystals to the kombucha water and stir until dissolved. Allow to cool to 100-110°F. If oil or lye water cool at different, you can use a cold or hot water bath in the sink.
  • Prepare the Mold: While the oils and lye water cool, line the mold with parchment paper.
  • Combine and Bring to Trace: When both oils and lye water are around 100 to 110°F, pour the lye water into the pot of oils. Use a stick blender or hand mixer to mix for 1 to 2 minutes and then let the mixture rest for 4 to 5 minutes. Repeat mixing and resting until light trace.
  • Mold the Soap: Pour the soap mixture into the mold, cover with a lid or parchment paper and insulate with a blanket for 24 hours.
  • Cut and Cure: Remove soap from the mold. If it seems too soft to remove, wait another 12 to 24 hours before removing. Cut the soap into twelve 4-ounce bars. Allow the bars to cure for 4 to 6 weeks.

Notes

This recipe is from The Natural Soapmaking Book for Beginners by Kelly Cable.
  • Join My Free Foraging & Herbalism Email Course!

  • This will also subscribe you to the Grow Forage Cook Ferment newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please see my Privacy Policy.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Previous Post: « Zucchini Spice Bread (Made With Butter)
Next Post: Fermented Elderberry Soda with Ginger and Honey (Made with Wild Yeast) »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alexandra says

    June 17, 2019 at 3:25 pm

    The kombucha gets heated and I’m wondering what benefits are then left over?

    Reply
  2. Rebecca says

    January 19, 2019 at 10:10 am

    Wouldn’t the heating process of the water and lye kill all the good bacteria in the kombucha?

    Reply
    • Liz Murtaugh says

      March 6, 2019 at 8:30 pm

      If you’re doing cold process, and don’t get the temp over 100° or so, the microbiom could possibly remain viable. My concern is the pH of lye would be inhospitable

      Reply
  3. Jodi says

    August 21, 2018 at 7:41 am

    I will have to try this in my hot process soap recipe! :)

    Reply
  4. Kathryn A. Colvig says

    April 29, 2018 at 6:21 am

    Do you have a vegan friendly alternative to Tallow?

    Reply
  5. Quinn says

    December 17, 2017 at 9:15 pm

    4 stars
    It says the kombucha and lye need to cool, but doesn’t talk about heating it, could you elaborate on this step? Thanks, I can’t wait to try it!

    Reply
    • Grow Forage Cook Ferment says

      January 29, 2018 at 3:20 pm

      The addition of liquid (kombucha in this case) to lye causes a reaction that creates heat.

      Reply
  6. Maria says

    December 15, 2017 at 10:32 pm

    If I understand you correctly, what you are saying is that you can simply replace some or all of the water in any soap recipe with kombucha?

    Reply
  7. Maria says

    December 15, 2017 at 10:14 pm

    So…. If the kombucha water needs to cool, I’d assume that we’re supposed to heat it before adding the lye? What is the benefit of premixing and chilling the two ingredients?

    Reply
    • Grow Forage Cook Ferment says

      January 29, 2018 at 3:22 pm

      No… The addition of liquid (kombucha in this case) to lye causes a reaction that creates heat.

      Reply
  8. Marion Fuchs says

    September 8, 2017 at 6:09 pm

    Has anyone used Kombucha in a melt and pour? Too scared to make cold process without lessons.

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      September 11, 2017 at 12:34 pm

      My friend has with no problems – same idea of replacing some or all of the water with kombucha.

      Reply
  9. Sharon says

    September 2, 2017 at 1:35 pm

    HI there, could you tell me if there is a replacement I could use for the Tallow?

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      September 11, 2017 at 12:32 pm

      You can replace it with lard or babassu, but you’ll need to check your lye amounts on a lye calculator by plugging the recipe in (soapcalc.net has one I love). Lard usually doesn’t change it much, but different oils will almost always change the lye requirements.

      Reply
  10. Camille Drinan says

    August 28, 2017 at 1:33 pm

    You say keep mixing and resting until a light trace. A light trace of what? I have to assume that the mix of tallow and oils is the Kambucha. Your beginning statements made it sound like the Kambucha was something else and that the recipe needed to add everything mentioned with the Kambucha.

    Reply
    • Grow Forage Cook Ferment says

      September 11, 2017 at 12:20 pm

      Trace is a soapmaking term, please see my post on How to Make Soap for Beginners for more info on that. Kombucha is a fermented tea.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Hello there! I’m Colleen.

I want to inspire you to live seasonally, become more self sufficient, and protect your health. I share information on foraging and wildcrafting, fermenting and preserving, cooking whole foods from scratch, permaculture gardening, and making herbal products. And that’s just the beginning! Learn more.

CBD

Browse my homemade CBD recipes & how-tos

My Books

Spring Favorites

purple dead nettle uses benefits look alike

Foraging for Purple Dead Nettle: an edible backyard weed

50+ Dandelion Recipes: Drinks, Sweets, Soap, Remedies + More!

Lilac Flower Infused Honey

Dandelion Mead Recipe (Dandelion Wine Made With Honey)

Popular Posts

How to Make Soap For Beginners + Calendula Soap Recipe

5 Easy to Identify Edible Mushrooms

10 Reasons to Grow Mint (Without Fear)

How to Make and Use Dandelion Salve

What to Forage in Spring: 20 Edible and Medicinal Plants and Fungi

how to make mead

How to Make a Gallon of Mead: A Simple Mead Recipe

How to Make Hard Cider: Homebrew it!

Fermented Honey Garlic

Mountain Rose Herbs
×

Join list.

More info

Footer

Explore

  • Grow
  • Forage
  • Cook
  • Ferment
  • Herbalism
  • Homestead

Learn To Forage

The gather + root online foraging course will help you to safely identify, harvest, and use common edible and medicinal plants with confidence.

Enroll Now

As Featured On

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate Disclosure
  • Amazon Affiliate

Copyright © 2023 Grow Forage Cook Ferment & Cocos Creations LLC.

15.2K shares
  • 9.5K
  • 5