Being the naturalista that I am, for years I have used castile soap to wash my hair. On a whim I started using it as body wash, mainly because I was tired of shelling out loads of cash for Cetaphil soap & lotion for out littlest’s sensitive skin.
I asked our pediatrician if that was okay – who, by the way, my oldest son went to & by the time the littlest was born we’d gone to her for at least 12 years. She asked what we were using for moisturizer after & when I told her coconut oil, she just about jumped off her stool she was so excited.
Not only is it okay; it it’s better for his skin than all that other stuff. I have used it every since, diluted with water. But here’s the thing about castile soap…
It cleans REALLY well. Like squeaky. So you absolutely have to add some moisture back after using it. I will be honest, my family is notoriously bad about putting on lotion – myself included.
That’s why I was so happy to find this recipe for a moisturizing body wash from One Good Thing by Jillee. It’s simple with only 4 ingredients & 1 of those is optional.
Moisturizing Semi-Homemade Body Wash
- 3/4 cup liquid castile soap
- 3/4 cup moisturizing oil*** (grapeseed, EVOO, or whatever you prefer/have on hand)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 15 drops essential oil (optional)
Mix everything together in a jar or bottle, shake to combine & before each use. Jillee used a glass jar with a pump top. I like to reuse bottles so I made mine in the original castile soap bottle with the squirt top and that worked out well for me.
This is very moisturizing as is but I did have to tweak it a little. I tried it at on my hair and it was WONDERFUL, but I found it a little too oily for the shower. I used grapeseed oil and ended up with an oily floor – not slippery just oily. So I altered it a bit to have less oil & it’s just right.
My variation is:
- 1 cup liquid castile soap
- 1/2 cup moisturizing oil***
- 1/2 cup honey
I love the honey in this but I will have to try it with glycerin just to see which I like better. Both are humectants so technically serve the same purpose.
Also, I left out the essential oils the 1st time I made this because I was using lavender castile soap in my homemade body wash. If I use baby mild, I could add essential oils for some scent or to serve a specific purpose like:
- Lavender
- Tea tree
- Chamomile
- Rosemary
- Eucalyptus
I’m pretty happy with this first batch. It’s simple & it works. My hair & body love it; my DH even likes it, and he’s hard to please with soap & lotion.
*** I had to specify moisturizing oil because not all oils are equal. It’s really important to NOT use a “cleansing” oil like castor, but a truly moisturizing oil like grapeseed, olive, avocado, coconut, even hemp.
You could also add small doses of any number of oils with skin enhancing qualities like jojoba & vitamin E.
After using this semi-homemade body wash for a while, I diluted it with a little water to refill my foam soap dispensers. That’s working out really well too!
If you love castile soap, this is a great way to use it without drying out your skin.
