How to DIY This Awesome-Looking Amethyst Soap We Found on Instagram

If we’re being honest, DIY beauty projects usually look at least a little, if not immensely less appealing than their store-bought counterparts. Which is why this super-cool crystal recipe from blogger Mary Helen Leonard, author of The Natural Beauty Solution, stopped us mid-Instagram scroll. A cluster of purple crystals in a milky lavender bedrock for a body cleanser? Much more eye-catching than a sad white cake of soap.

But again, we have to be honest: soap-making in general is a multi-step, multi-hour affair. Still, Leonard says they’re much easier to slice than traditional bars of soap, which call for precise cutting skills. “These soaps have been a big hit with everyone I have gifted them to,” she adds. “Making them in six-bar batches makes them super easy to stock up on.” How to give it a go:

Ingredients:

2 pounds Clear Melt & Pour Soap Base

4 teaspoons lavender essential oil

1/2 teaspoon purple powder soap making colorant

1 1/8 teaspoon silver powder soap making colorant

Rubbing alcohol in mini spray bottle

6 Circular soap mold molds

Heatproof measuring cups

Double boiler

Cello bags

Directions:

1 Dice 1 1/2 pounds soap base and melt in double boiler on stove top or in microwave using short, 30-second bursts.

2 Remove soap from heat, let stand 30 seconds, then add essential oil. Stir slowly until oil has combined.

3 Fill six soap molds about 1/3 of the way up with soap. Spritz soap with alcohol then let stand for 2-4 minutes, or until the top has formed a thick skin.

4 Pour about 1/2 the remaining melted soap base in a heatproof measuring cup. Add small pinch of purple mica and small pinch silver mica. Stir well to blend. Pour the mixture between the six soap molds—leaving about 1/3 of space from the top. Spritz soap with alcohol then let stand for 2-4 minutes, or until the top has formed a thick skin.

5 Add about 1/8 teaspoon purple mica and 1/8 teaspoon silver mica to remaining melted soap base. Stir well, then pour between the six molds—topping them off. Spritz soap with alcohol then let stand for 2-4 minutes, or until the top has formed a thick skin. Transfer to refrigerator and chill soap for 30 minutes or until completely hardened.

6 Turn hardened soaps out onto a clean cutting board and use a sharp knife to slice the bars into 1/2 to 1 inch rectangles. Make sure to cut so that each rectangle shows 3 layers of color.

7 Slice the tops of each rectangle at random angles to give them a faceted and pointed shape. This forms the crystals. Reserve the shreds of soap left behind and mince them into gem dust.

8 Clean out the double boiler, chop remaining soap base and add it to the pot to melt. Once melted, add the remaining essential oil and silver mica and stir well.

9 Pour melted soap base into six soap molds. Spritz with alcohol, then immediately begin stuffing the molds with soap crystals and gem dust. Fill each mold as much as you can. The more crystals each soap contains the more sturdy the finished soap will be.

10 Allow the soaps to cool and harden completely before removing them from their molds. After they are removed, wrap them in airtight cello bags or saran wrap to keep them from sweating.

A few more DIY beauty projects for you to try out:

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Watch how to make Jessica Alba's DIY vanilla sugar body scrub:

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