Babassu Oil

Babassu oil is cold pressed from the kernels of the babassu palm trees seeds, which growns in the Amazon.

- an effective emollient that is beneficial for both dry and oily skin.

- is a white solid oil.

- because coconut, palm kernel and babassu oil are similar in nature, be sure to keep their combined percentage under 30% of the base oils or the soap may be drying rather than moisturising.

- helpful for relief from eczema, itchy, dry and inflamed skin.

- a gentle moisturizer.

- has a high content of lauric and myristic acids.

- is easily absorbed into the skin.

- saponifies easily and will produce a hard bar with a full lather.

Like coconut oil it can be used as a large percentage of the fats at the start of the soap making process or to superfat the soap at trace.

*update - I've noticed many people using more than the recommended 30% and superfatting the soap up to 20% for some soap recipes. As with most soap making ingredients, you will have to experiment to see what works best for your skin type.

The chart below shows the approximate percentages of fatty acids present in Babassu Oil. As you can see, the first four acids will lend your soap an incredible amount of hardness as well as a full and stable lather that is very cleansing. The remaining acid present will lend the soap very little in the way of conditioning due to the extremely low percentage of oleic.

Lauric	Myristic	Palmitic	Stearic	Ricinoleic	Oleic	Linoleic	Linolenic
50	20	11	4		10
Hardness
Cleansing
Full Lather				F/L
		Stable Lather
				Conditioning

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This information is provided for reference use only and is not meant to substitute the advice of a licensed health care professional.

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