Hibiscus Infused Loofah Soap Bar

I’ll openly admit that I love anything and everything tropical. Whether it’s the beach, the sun, or the scents – the tropical vibe gets me every time. And with winter very nearly over, I’m getting myself prepared for summer smooth skin. And that means exfoliating!

In this post, I’ll share one of my favorite recipes for making a loofah soap bar. 

I’ll show you how to combine the loofah with the soap, resulting in a homemade bar that has a delicious hibiscus scent. 

A loofah soap bar is a wonderful natural exfoliator, great for brushing away dry skin and exfoliating the skin follicles – leaving it primed for smoothness and smelling amazing. 

What is a loofah used for?

Now you’re possibly wondering what a loofah is? And what’s it got to do with soap?! 

A loofah is, in fact, a vegetable which grows on trees. When it’s dried after being picked and de-seeded, it makes an excellent all-natural skin exfoliator or natural sponge which has better exfoliating properties than your regular store-bought sponges. 

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Loofah Soap Benefits

Loofahs come whole or readily sliced. If you’ve got a whole loofah, you can slice it and use it on its own in the shower, or better yet, use individual slices and combine them with a pourable homemade soap mixture. 

You’ll need a soap mold for this recipe which you can easily buy online

Simply place the loofah slices into the soap mold and pour the homemade soap on top. Once it sets, you’ve got an amazing exfoliating soap to use! 

The benefits of using a loofah soap bar include it being a fantastic all-around skin exfoliator, it’s 100% natural and it’s eco-friendly. 

With a loofah soap bar, you combine natural exfoliation with cleansing, and there’s nothing synthetic or unnatural in there, so it’s super kind to your skin. 

A loofah soap bar is the best of both worlds if you ask me – being an exfoliator and a cleanser in one, and if you try the recipe below, you’ll get that lovely hibiscus scent to leave you smelling divine. 

Loofah soap bars are handy if you’re short on time or away on vacation and need to combine your essentials. 

Loofah makes an excellent base for an exfoliating soap bar as the fibers are gentle on the skin yet contain enough elastic within them so they’re durable, meaning they stay firm even after several uses.

Benefits of Exfoliating

There are many benefits to exfoliating the skin! Skin cells naturally die off over time and leave a dull, lackluster appearance. By regularly exfoliating once or twice a week, you’ll brighten the skin by removing that dull layer, revealing fresh skin underneath. 

Exfoliating also increases blood flow, making it easier for oxygenated blood to reach the skin’s surface, improving the health and appearance of the exfoliated area.

Another great thing about exfoliating is it slows down the aging process by stimulating the synthesis of collagen – the skin’s ‘elasticity’ protein which naturally declines as we get older. 

Exfoliating also clears blocked pores and prevents spots and is a great base for using other beauty products, improving the effectiveness of moisturizers and cleansers. 

What to use instead of a loofah

There are alternatives to using a loofah, but you’d need to be creative in how to combine them to make a soap bar, which is why my choice is to use loofah slices, as shown below in the recipe. They fit really well into the soap mold and last ages, which is why I love them. 

But if you’re looking for something else for whatever reason, one of the best alternatives I know to loofah as an exfoliator is 100% cotton washcloths which can be reused time and again. 

Also, you can look at silicone brushes which are good to keep bacteria at bay. Although silicone isn’t eco-friendly, it can last a very long time which perhaps balances things out. But again, I’m not convinced they’d work well in a soap bar!

Hibiscus Infused Loofah Soap Bar Recipe

Here’s the recipe! 

Ingredients: 

• 2 lbs shea butter melt and pour soap base
• 1 loofah 
• 1 teaspoon brewed Hibiscus tea 
• 2 teaspoons hibiscus flowers 
• 3 drops Vitamin E oil 
• 5 drops Lavender essential oil
• 5 drops Siberian fir essential oil 

Loofah Soap Recipe:

Cut the loofah into 1/2 inch rounds and place 1 in each soap mold.

Next, cut the melt and pour soap into pieces and place them in a saucepan. Melt the soap over medium heat.

Once melted, remove the saucepan from the stove and add in the hibiscus tea, flowers, and oils. Stir really well to make sure everything is combined.

Lastly, pour the soap on top of the loofah rounds in the molds. Allow the soap to sit for 24 hours or until it’s fully hard before removing it from the molds. 

And that’s it! It’s really simple and a great addition to your bathing routine. As always, I’d love to hear from you, especially if you try this recipe to see how you get on. Let me know by posting a comment. 

And be sure to try out this coffee soap next! It is a deliciously smelling mild exfoliating soap for sensitive skin.

How to use your loofah soap bar

A loofah is an aggressive exfoliator, and even though it’s embedded into the soap bar, which does help give a milder scrub, it should be used on areas susceptible to dry skin: ie, the feet, hands, and elbows.

Loofah soap bars can be used the same as any soap bar, except that it has a piece of loofah in it. Use care when soaping the face, neck, or other sensitive areas.

After making this exfoliating soap bar, I’ve kept this one and a regular soap bar in the shower; the loofa bar for the calloused, dried skin areas, and a gentle bar for the rest of the body.