I made a batch of homemade soap this weekend -- one of my favorite luxurious-yet-thrifty undertakings. I found a recipe somewhere on the Internet that I can't seem to find again, but there are only two necessary ingredients.
The basic recipe is: Put about two cups of shaved castille soap in a bowl, and pour four cups of boiling water over it (2:1 boiling water to grated castille soap is the basic ratio), then add essential oils, stir it up, let it cool, and pour it into a bottle. It takes about ten minutes to create and about 30 minutes to cool enough to pour it into a nice glass bottle.
I get a big batch of castille soap on the Internet - it comes in a big slab -- and use a cheese grater to shave it into the bowl. I don't know what the materials cost is per batch (each batch lasts about six weeks), but I would guess it's about a dollar.
I like knowing exactly what I'm putting on my skin (I use it for bathing and shampooing), knowing it didn't involve animal testing and that it's an all-vegetarian product (castille soap is just olive oil), and not creating additional plastic waste. I love the smell of the essential oils (currently using cardamom, bergamot, and rose geranium blend), and it's really really moisturizing -- water just beads up on my skin.
It's also nice to be able to avoid the "beauty" aisle for soap and shampoo!
