Hibiscus and Shea Butter Soap

Last updated: October 2026

Hibiscus soap recipe: shea butter, coconut oil, olive oil and hibiscus

A hibiscus soap recipe that works: 8 oz (227 g) shea butter, 4 oz (113 g) coconut oil and 4 oz (113 g) olive oil, made by cold process with 1/4 cup (60 ml) each of hibiscus powder and petals. Baraka shea butter is handmade, unrefined, and strained and filtered only, at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, Ghana.

What is in this hibiscus soap recipe?

This is a 16 oz (454 g) oil batch of cold process soap. Shea butter makes up half the oils, with coconut oil and olive oil sharing the rest. Hibiscus powder and whole petals go in at trace, and the bars cure for 4 to 6 weeks before use. The lye and water are worked out from the oil weights at about 5% superfat, so a little oil is left unsaponified in the finished bar.

The petals give a light exfoliating texture, and the powder and petals together give the bar its pink hue. Essential oil is optional. The full ingredient list and numbered directions are below.

How do you make hibiscus and shea butter soap?

Dissolve the lye in distilled water, melt the three oils together, and combine them with a stick blender until the mixture reaches trace. Stir in the hibiscus and any essential oil, pour into molds, and let the soap cure for at least 4 to 6 weeks.

Lye is caustic, so read the safety section first. The lye and water amounts in the ingredient list come from the oil weights. If you change any oil or its weight, recalculate both with a lye calculator before you pour. The numbers above only suit this exact oil mix.

Why shea butter in hibiscus soap?

Shea butter is the largest share of the oils here at 8 oz (227 g). Baraka shea butter is unrefined, with no refining, bleaching or deodorising. It is solid at room temperature and melts on contact with skin. Its natural colour runs from ivory through cream to pale yellow and varies between batches, and a mild nutty smell is normal, not a fault. Shea is the seed of a fruit.

Virgin coconut oil adds hardness and abundant lather in soapmaking. Olive oil rounds out the blend. If you want the same shea butter we use, Baraka shea butter is made by hand at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, in Ghana's Upper West Region, where Wayne Dunn has worked directly for over 15 years.

For the full cold process method behind this bar, see How to Make Shea Butter Soap. For more ways to use shea butter at home, start with the Definitive Guide to DIY with Shea Butter.

Before You Begin: Soap-Making Safety

• Wear gloves and eye protection from the moment you open the lye until the soap is in the mold.
• Work in a well-ventilated room. The lye solution gives off fumes as it dissolves.
• Always add lye to the liquid, never the reverse.
• Use a heat-resistant container, and keep it away from aluminium.
• This is an adult-only activity. Keep children and pets out of the room.

Ingredients

• 8 oz (227 g) Baraka shea butter
• 4 oz (113 g) virgin coconut oil
• 4 oz (113 g) olive oil
• Sodium hydroxide (lye): 2.2 oz (62 g)
• Distilled water: 4.4 oz (124 g)
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) hibiscus powder
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) hibiscus petals
• Essential oils (optional): up to 0.4 oz (11 g) in total, which is under 3% of the oil weight

How the lye and water were worked out

2.18 oz (62 g) lye, 4.36 oz (124 g) water. Each oil is multiplied by its saponification value (how much lye is needed to turn that oil into soap), the results are added up, and about 5% is taken off so a little oil stays free in the bar. No butter or oil contains lye; the lye is the sodium hydroxide you add.

• Shea butter: 8 oz (227 g) × 0.128 = 1.024 oz (29 g)
• Coconut oil: 4 oz (113 g) × 0.183 = 0.732 oz (21 g)
• Olive oil: 4 oz (113 g) × 0.135 = 0.540 oz (15 g)
• Total before superfat: 2.296 oz (65 g)
• Less 5% superfat: 2.296 oz × 0.95 = 2.18 oz (62 g) lye
• Water at twice the lye weight: 4.36 oz (124 g)

Check these figures in a lye calculator before you make the soap. The values used are listed in our saponification value chart and soap-making guide.

Directions

1. Put on your gloves and eye protection. Pour the lye into the distilled water, never the other way round, and stir until the lye is completely dissolved. Set it aside somewhere safe.
2. Melt the shea butter, coconut oil and olive oil together in a double boiler.
3. Carefully pour the lye solution into the melted oils and blend until the mixture reaches trace.
4. Stir in the hibiscus powder and petals until they are evenly distributed.
5. If you like, add essential oils now, keeping to 0.4 oz (11 g) or less in total.
6. Pour the soap batter into your chosen molds.
7. Let the soap cure for at least 4 to 6 weeks before use.

Troubleshooting

Storage and Shelf Life

Keep the cured bars in a cool, dry place out of direct sun, where air can reach them. Keep any unused shea butter away from heat and direct sun as well. Shea butter keeps 2+ years when stored properly.

Cure first, use later. New bars need the full 4 to 6 weeks of curing before use; stand them on edge with space between them and turn them now and then so every side dries.

This recipe was originally published in "25 DIY Soap With Hibiscus Powders".

Quick answers

Hibiscus soap recipe

This hibiscus soap uses 8 oz (227 g) shea butter, 4 oz (113 g) coconut oil, 4 oz (113 g) olive oil, 2.18 oz (62 g) lye, 4.36 oz (124 g) distilled water, 1/4 cup (60 ml) hibiscus powder and 1/4 cup (60 ml) hibiscus petals. It is built on Baraka's raw, unrefined shea butter, made by hand at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Ghana. Essential oils are optional. The hibiscus gives the bar a vibrant pink hue, and the soap cures for at least 4-6 weeks before use. More in Ingredients:

How to make hibiscus and shea butter soap?

Dissolve the lye in the distilled water, then melt the shea butter, coconut oil and olive oil together in a double boiler. Carefully pour the lye solution into the melted oils and blend to trace, then stir in the hibiscus powder and petals. Add essential oils if you like, pour into molds, and let the soap cure for at least 4-6 weeks before use. More in Instructions:

Hibiscus and shea butter soap recipe

The recipe uses 8 oz (227 g) shea butter, 4 oz (113 g) coconut oil, 4 oz (113 g) olive oil, 2.18 oz (62 g) lye, 4.36 oz (124 g) distilled water, and 1/4 cup (60 ml) each of hibiscus powder and hibiscus petals. Mix the lye and water, melt the oils, combine them to trace, stir in the hibiscus, and pour into molds. Cure for at least 4-6 weeks before use. More in Instructions:

What We Know and How We Know It

The oil amounts, method and 4 to 6 week cure follow common cold process soapmaking practice, and the lye is calculated from standard published saponification values rather than copied from another recipe. What this page says about Baraka's shea butter and where it is made comes from Baraka's own documents. The hibiscus is here for colour and texture in the bar, and the troubleshooting notes reflect common experience in the home soapmaking community.

The Impact of Your Purchase

When you make skincare with Baraka ingredients, you are buying from women's cooperatives that earn fair wages and keep traditional processing methods alive. Baraka's 2025 Social and Environmental Impact Report records income opportunities for more than 3,000 women in northern Ghana, over $100,000 invested in women's enterprise infrastructure, and equipment and fuel recovery that have cut the carbon impact of shea processing by up to 90%. At the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Ghana's Upper West Region, Baraka's shea butter is made by hand, and the waste left over from making it is dried into fuel blocks that fire the next batch. Baraka also offsets 100% of the carbon cost of shipping to customers. You get full transparency about what touches your skin and your family's skin, and about where it came from.

To see each stage of that work, read How Handmade Shea Butter is Made.

Shop the Baraka Ingredients in This Recipe

• Shea butter: Shop shea butter. Half of the oils in this bar, and the reason the soap is named for it.
• Virgin coconut oil: Shop virgin coconut oil. A quarter of the oils, giving the bar its hardness and lather.

Browse all our Butters and Oils for your next batch.

Try These Next

• Shea Butter and Turmeric Soap: another shea butter soap, coloured with turmeric instead of hibiscus.
• Shea Butter and Goats Milk Soap: a shea butter bar made with goat's milk.
• Honey and Shea Butter Soap: a shea butter soap that adds honey to the batter.
• Creamy Cow Milk and Shea Butter Soap: a creamy shea butter bar made with cow's milk.
• Shea Butter and Aloe Vera Soap: a shea butter soap made with aloe vera.

Disclaimer

The information in this article is for general education. It reflects traditional use, reported experience and, where noted, published research. It has not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or Health Canada. Baraka products are cosmetics and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or medical condition. Keep products away from the eyes and out of reach of children, and speak to a qualified healthcare provider about any skin or health condition. If you add essential oils, use no more than the amount given, and leave them out for young children, during pregnancy and on sensitive skin. Individual results vary.

About the Author

Wayne Dunn is the founder of Baraka Impact and a former Professor of Practice in Sustainability at McGill University. He holds an M.Sc. in Management from Stanford and has spent over 15 years working directly with the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Ghana's Upper West Region to source traditionally made shea butter and natural oils. He shares DIY skincare recipes and ingredient guides designed to be made at home with real ingredients — and sourced with full transparency about where they come from.