Pressed-Flower Bar Soap

Learn how to make bar soap from our contributor Anusha Rajeswaran. To create these sweet-smelling soaps, you'll need a variety of dried flowers—we recommend trying wax flowers, spray roses, calendula, lavender buds, and other greenery. Small flowers fit best in the soap mold, and unscented or lightly scented flowers are good for sensitive skin. If you prefer a strong potpourri-like scent in your soap, simply add a few drops of essential oil (like rose or lavender) to the mixture. To determine how much glycerin soap base you need, follow a one-to-one ratio of clear soap base to white soap base with a light spritz of rubbing alcohol between the layers. (Here, we used a half pound or one cup of each.)