Shea Butter and Cocoa Butter Soap

Last updated: October 2026

Cocoa butter soap recipe: shea and cocoa butter cold-process bars

Four oils, 6 to 7 bars, a 4 to 6 week cure. Baraka's cocoa butter soap recipe is a cold-process bar built on 1 lb (454 g) of shea butter, 1 lb (454 g) of coconut oil, 8 oz (227 g) of olive oil and 8 oz (227 g) of cocoa butter, made with shea butter handmade by the women of the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Ghana. It is an everyday washing bar for face, hands and body, hard and long-lasting, with a creamy lather.

You also need 6.8 oz (193 g) of sodium hydroxide (lye), 13.6 oz (386 g) of distilled water and 1/4 cup (60 ml) of vanilla extract. The batch makes about 6 to 7 bars, depending on your mould, and the bars cure for 4 to 6 weeks before use. If cold-process soap is new to you, Baraka's guide How to Make Shea Butter Soap walks through the method from the first measurement.

In This Recipe:

• Cocoa butter soap recipe
• What This Recipe Is For
• Why Make This Yourself
• Coconut shea butter soap
• Why These Ingredients Work Together
• Ingredient by Ingredient
• Cocoa butter soap making
• Shea butter soap ingredients
• Before You Begin: Soap-Making Safety
• Ingredients
• Directions
• Troubleshooting
• Storage and Shelf Life
• Scaling and Substitutions
• Customisation Ideas
• Essential Oils
• Application Tips
• What We Know and How We Know It
• FAQ
• Try These Next
• Disclaimer

What This Recipe Is For

Five everyday uses. This bar is made for people who want a rich, conditioning wash and the satisfaction of making it themselves.

• Cleansing and conditioning dry or dehydrated skin in a single step
• Replacing commercial bar soap with a handmade, ingredient-transparent alternative
• Making thoughtful gift soap for birthdays, holidays, or hostess gifts
• Building foundational cold-process soap-making skills with a well-balanced oil blend
• Everyday washing for people who prefer a rich, moisturizing lather over a stripping cleanser

Why Make This Yourself

Intermediate, 30 minutes hands-on, 6 to 7 bars. Making this soap yourself means you choose every oil in the bar and keep all of the glycerin the soap makes as it forms. There's a particular satisfaction in watching raw oils and lye trace into soap batter, then slicing your own bars weeks later, and this recipe delivers that full start-to-finish experience without specialty equipment.

Handmade cold-process soap keeps the glycerin that forms naturally during saponification inside every bar. Many commercial bars are made a different way, some from synthetic detergents rather than saponified oils, so the two differ in composition and feel different on the skin. Both have their place: a commercial bar is consistent and ready to use today, while this bar lets you decide exactly which butters and oils you wash with.

The skill level is Intermediate. Cold-process soap making rewards careful measuring, particularly for makers newer to handling lye. The oil blend is fairly forgiving when it comes to scent and colour additions, though the lye and water amounts must always be followed exactly.

Plan on about 30 minutes of hands-on preparation, roughly an hour in total once the lye solution and oils have cooled, 24 to 48 hours in the mould and 4 to 6 weeks of curing. For more on formulating with shea butter across other projects, Baraka's Definitive Guide to DIY with Shea Butter is a useful next stop.

Coconut shea butter soap: what coconut oil and shea butter each do in the bar

Equal weights, two different jobs. This is a coconut shea butter soap: Baraka's recipe uses 1 lb (454 g) of shea butter and 1 lb (454 g) of traditional coconut oil, plus olive oil and cocoa butter. The coconut oil gives most of the lather, and the shea butter adds conditioning and a hard bar.

Coconut oil makes up a third of the oils here, 16 oz of 48 oz. Soap makers usually keep coconut oil at about 20 to 30% of the oils and regard about 35% as the point where a bar starts to feel drying. At 33%, this bar sits just above the usual range and below that point, which is why the shea butter, cocoa butter and olive oil matter: together they balance the coconut oil's strong cleansing with a softer, more conditioning wash.

If you want even more bubbles, resist simply adding coconut oil. Any change to an oil quantity changes the lye, so it has to go back through a lye calculator before you make it (see Scaling and Substitutions).

Why These Ingredients Work Together

Three hard fats, one liquid oil. Shea butter, cocoa butter and coconut oil are all solid at cool room temperature, and together they make up five-sixths of the oils, which is what gives this bar its hardness and long life in the soap dish. Olive oil, the one liquid oil, slows trace a little and softens the wash.

Oil	Amount	Share of oils	Main job in the bar
Shea butter	1 lb (454 g)	33%	Conditioning, hardness
Coconut oil	1 lb (454 g)	33%	Big, fluffy lather and cleansing
Olive oil	8 oz (227 g)	17%	Gentler, more moisturizing wash
Cocoa butter	8 oz (227 g)	17%	Firmness and a smooth, dense texture

Shea butter and cocoa butter are both rich in fatty acids that help condition skin and give the finished bar a smooth, hard texture. Coconut oil is responsible for most of the lather, the big bubbles people associate with luxury soap, while olive oil balances that cleansing power. Vanilla extract rounds the bar out with a warm, natural scent instead of synthetic fragrance. Together, the blend cleanses thoroughly without leaving skin feeling stripped.

Ingredient by Ingredient

Seven ingredients, each with a reason. Every ingredient below has a specific job, and changing any oil changes the lye.

• Shea butter: adds deep conditioning and a hard, long-lasting bar structure without clogging pores. Baraka's shea butter is unrefined, strained and filtered only, so its colour ranges from ivory to pale yellow and it carries a mild nutty smell; both vary a little between batches.
• Cocoa butter: contributes firmness and a subtle, natural warmth to the finished bar's texture and feel. It is hard and brittle at room temperature, harder than shea, which is why a sixth of the oils is enough. Cocoa butter is the ingredient this bar is built around, and Baraka's unrefined, unbleached and undeodorised cocoa butter, from Ghana, is the one this recipe calls for; 8 oz (227 g) makes one full batch.
• Traditional coconut oil: drives the bulk of the lather and helps the bar cleanse effectively. Baraka's virgin coconut oil is mechanically pressed and, in soap making, contributes hardness and abundant lather. It moves between solid and liquid with the temperature of the room, which is normal.
• Olive oil: a gentle, moisturizing oil that softens the cleansing effect of the coconut oil. More olive oil makes a softer bar that needs a longer cure; less makes a harder, more cleansing bar.
• Sodium hydroxide (lye): the alkali that turns the oils into soap. It is calculated from the oils, with about 5% held back so a little oil stays in the finished bar.
• Distilled water: dissolves the lye and carries it into the oils, then evaporates during the cure. Distilled water avoids the minerals in tap water that can leave spots.
• Vanilla extract: provides a warm, natural scent. It can gently tint the bars tan to brown over time.

Cocoa butter soap making: the cold-process method, step by step

Dissolve, melt, blend, pour, cure. Cocoa butter soap making with Baraka's cocoa butter follows the standard cold-process method: dissolve the lye in distilled water, always adding lye to water, and let it cool to about 100–110°F (38–43°C). Melt the shea butter, cocoa butter, coconut oil and olive oil together, cool them to the same range, then stir in the lye solution until the batter reaches trace. Add the vanilla, pour into a mould, leave 24–48 hours, then cut and cure the bars 4–6 weeks.

Two points are specific to a cocoa butter bar. Cocoa butter melts at close to body temperature and is hard and brittle when cool, so melt it completely before the other oils cool, or small solid flakes can show up later as specks in the bar. And because this recipe is five-sixths hard fats, a pot of oils left to cool too long will start to cloud and set, which thickens the batter before true trace. The full numbered method is in Directions, and common problems and their fixes are in Troubleshooting.

Equipment for this batch: a digital scale that reads in ounces and grams, a stick blender, a heat-resistant jug for the lye solution, a stainless steel or heat-proof plastic pot for the oils (never aluminium, which reacts with lye), a thermometer, silicone spatulas, a mould that holds about 4 1/2 lb (2,040 g) of batter, gloves and eye protection.

Shea butter soap ingredients: what goes into this bar and what comes out

Seven ingredients in, soap and glycerin out. Baraka's shea butter soap ingredients are shea butter, cocoa butter, coconut oil, olive oil, sodium hydroxide (lye), distilled water and vanilla extract. Baraka's shea butter is unrefined and made by hand by women's producer groups at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, Ghana.

What goes into the pot is not quite what ends up in the bar. During saponification the lye reacts with the oils and is used up, turning them into soap and glycerin. Because the lye is calculated with about 5% superfat, a small share of the oils stays unreacted in the finished bar, which adds to its conditioning feel.

Most of the water evaporates during the 4 to 6 week cure. The finished bar is therefore saponified shea butter, coconut oil, olive oil and cocoa butter, plus glycerin, a little free oil, a little remaining water and the vanilla.

The shea butter in this bar comes from Baraka's long relationship with the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Ghana's Upper West Region, where Baraka's founder, Wayne Dunn, has worked directly with the centre for over 15 years. You can see how it is made, from cracked and roasted nuts to filtered butter, in Baraka's article How is Handcrafted Shea Butter Made?, and the wider picture is set out in Baraka's Social and Environmental Impact Report.

Before You Begin: Soap-Making Safety

Lye is caustic; handle it with care. Every cold-process batch involves handling sodium hydroxide, so set up for safety before you weigh anything.

• Wear protective gloves and eye protection whenever you handle lye (sodium hydroxide).
• Work in a well-ventilated area — lye fumes are sharp and should not be inhaled.
• Always add lye to water, never water to lye — adding water to lye can cause a dangerous eruption.
• Keep lye, raw soap batter, and curing soap well out of reach of children and pets at every stage.
• This is an adults-only project from start to finish.

Ingredients

Makes 6 to 7 bars. The batch is about 4 lb 6 oz (1,980 g) of soap batter before curing; the bars weigh less once the cure has dried them. Weigh every ingredient on a digital scale, including the oils.

• 1 lb (454 g) shea butter
• 1 lb (454 g) traditional coconut oil
• 8 oz (227 g) olive oil
• 8 oz (227 g) cocoa butter
• 6.8 oz (193 g) sodium hydroxide (lye) — see Lye and Water Calculations below
• 13.6 oz (386 g) distilled water
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) vanilla extract

Prep time: 30 minutes. Make time: about 1 hour, plus 24 to 48 hours in the mould and 4 to 6 weeks of curing. Skill level: Intermediate.

Lye and Water Calculations

The lye is worked out from the oils by weight: each oil's weight is multiplied by its standard saponification value for sodium hydroxide.

• Shea butter: 0.128 oz NaOH per oz of oil
• Coconut oil: 0.183 oz NaOH per oz of oil
• Olive oil: 0.135 oz NaOH per oz of oil
• Cocoa butter: 0.137 oz NaOH per oz of oil

• Shea butter, 16 oz (454 g): 16 × 0.128 = 2.048 oz NaOH
• Coconut oil, 16 oz (454 g): 16 × 0.183 = 2.928 oz NaOH
• Olive oil, 8 oz (227 g): 8 × 0.135 = 1.080 oz NaOH
• Cocoa butter, 8 oz (227 g): 8 × 0.137 = 1.096 oz NaOH
• Total lye before superfat: 2.048 + 2.928 + 1.080 + 1.096 = 7.152 oz (203 g) NaOH
• Superfat of 5%: 7.152 × 0.95 = 6.79 oz, rounded to 6.8 oz (193 g) NaOH
• Water at twice the lye: 6.8 × 2 = 13.6 oz (386 g)

Always check any recipe's lye amount in a lye calculator before making it, especially if you change oil quantities or substitute oils. Free calculators include SoapCalc, the Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetics Guild calculator and LyeCalc.com. See Baraka's Saponification values and soap making: lye chart and guide for the values behind these figures.

Directions

Seven steps, then a 4 to 6 week cure. Read every step before you start, and have the mould lined and ready.

1. Put on gloves and eye protection. In a well-ventilated area, combine the sodium hydroxide and distilled water in a heat-resistant container — always add the lye to the water, never the reverse. Stir until fully dissolved and set aside to cool to around 100–110°F (38–43°C).
2. Melt the shea butter, coconut oil, olive oil, and cocoa butter together in a separate pot over low heat until fully liquid. Let the oils cool to roughly the same temperature range as the lye solution.
3. Slowly pour the lye solution into the melted oils, stirring continuously (a stick blender speeds this up) until the mixture reaches "trace" — a thickened, pudding-like stage where a drizzle from the blender briefly holds its shape on the surface.
4. Stir in the vanilla extract at trace and blend just until evenly combined.
5. Pour the batter into your soap mould, tap gently to release air bubbles, and cover.
6. Let the soap set in the mould for 24–48 hours before unmoulding and cutting into bars.
7. Cure the cut bars on a rack in a cool, dry place for 4–6 weeks before use, turning occasionally so all sides dry evenly. The soap must not be used before curing is complete.

Troubleshooting

Seven common problems, each with a fix. Most faults in a cold-process batch come from temperature, timing or measuring, and most are cosmetic.

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
White, powdery film on the top of the bars	Soda ash: unreacted lye on the surface meeting air before the soap has set	It is cosmetic. Plane or wipe it off after the cure. Next time, cover the mould straight after pouring.
Batter thickens suddenly when the vanilla goes in	The alcohol in vanilla extract can speed up trace	Add the vanilla at a thin trace and stir it in by hand, not with the stick blender. If the batter seizes, spoon it into the mould quickly and press it down.
Batter looks thick within a minute, then thins out again	False trace: the cocoa butter and shea butter have started to set because the oils cooled too far	Rewarm the oils until clear, check both pots are at 100–110°F (38–43°C), then blend in short bursts.
Bars still soft and sticky after 48 hours	A cool room, extra olive oil, or a weighing error	Leave the soap in the mould 2 to 3 more days. Check your scale, and re-run your amounts through a lye calculator.
Oily pockets, liquid weeping, or white crumbly streaks inside the bar	The batter never reached true trace, the lye was not fully dissolved, or the amounts were wrong	Do not use the soap: it may hold free lye. Wearing gloves, discard it, then check every weight before your next batch.
Cracks on top, or a darker ring in the centre of each bar	The batch overheated in the mould; a large, insulated block of soap holds its own heat	The bars are safe to use. Next time, pour cooler, leave the mould uncovered in a cool room, or skip insulation.
Bars turning tan or brown over a few weeks	Vanilla extract discolours in soap	This is expected. For a pale bar, leave the vanilla out or use an essential oil instead.

Storage and Shelf Life

Cure 4 to 6 weeks, then keep cool and dry. Cure bars uncovered on a rack in a cool, dry, well-ventilated spot for 4–6 weeks — soap must not be used before curing is complete. During the cure, the remaining water evaporates and the bar hardens, so a fully cured bar lasts longer in the shower and feels milder.

Once cured, store bars in a dry container or drawer away from direct sunlight and humidity. Properly cured and stored, bars typically last around 12 months, though a soap dish that allows drainage between uses will extend the life of any single bar in the shower or at the sink. The reason for the limit is the small share of free oil left by the superfat, which can slowly oxidise; small orange spots or a stale smell are the sign that a bar has passed its best.

The raw ingredients keep well too. Baraka's shea butter keeps 2+ years when stored properly, away from heat and direct sun, so a larger pack will see you through several batches.

Scaling and Substitutions

Halve it, double it, or swap with care. Every amount in a scaled batch is the full recipe multiplied exactly, including the lye and water.

Ingredient	Half batch	Full batch	Double batch
Shea butter	8 oz (227 g)	1 lb (454 g)	2 lb (907 g)
Coconut oil	8 oz (227 g)	1 lb (454 g)	2 lb (907 g)
Olive oil	4 oz (113 g)	8 oz (227 g)	1 lb (454 g)
Cocoa butter	4 oz (113 g)	8 oz (227 g)	1 lb (454 g)
Sodium hydroxide (lye)	3.4 oz (96 g)	6.8 oz (193 g)	13.6 oz (386 g)
Distilled water	6.8 oz (193 g)	13.6 oz (386 g)	27.2 oz (771 g)
Vanilla extract	2 tbsp (30 ml)	1/4 cup (60 ml)	1/2 cup (120 ml)
Bars	About 3	6 to 7	12 to 14

A half batch suits a small loaf mould and is a sensible first attempt. A double batch is the one for gift giving, but it holds more heat in the mould, so pour at the cooler end of the temperature range.

Substitutions

Substitutions change the lye, because every oil has its own saponification value. Run the new oils through a lye calculator before making any of these:

• No cocoa butter: use the same weight of shea butter. The bar will be a little softer and may need the full 6 weeks to cure.
• No coconut oil: use the same weight of Baraka's palm kernel oil, which gives a hard bar with quick lather. Palm kernel oil is pressed from the kernel inside the palm fruit's stone and is not the same thing as red palm oil, which would colour the soap orange.
• No olive oil: use the same weight of another liquid oil, such as sunflower oil or sweet almond oil.
• No vanilla: leave it out. Vanilla plays no part in the lye calculation, so nothing else changes.

Customisation Ideas

Scent, texture, lather and colour. Each idea below keeps the lye calculation the same unless it says otherwise.

• Swap the scent — replace the vanilla extract with skin-safe essential oils (see Essential Oils below), up to 3 tbsp (45 ml) in total for this batch.
• Add exfoliation — stir in 1–2 tbsp (15–30 ml) of finely ground oatmeal or coffee grounds at trace for a gentle scrub bar.
• Adjust the lather — increasing coconut oil boosts bubbles but can be drying; any change to an oil quantity changes the lye, so always re-run it through a lye calculator first.
• Try a swirl finish — reserve a small portion of batter, tint it with a soap colorant made for cosmetics, and swirl it into the mould before the batter sets.

Essential Oils

Up to 3 tbsp (45 ml) in total, or none. The bar works well unscented or with vanilla alone. If you add essential oils, Baraka's recommended limit for soap is no more than 1 tbsp of essential oil in total per 16 oz (454 g) of oils, so this 3 lb (1,361 g) batch takes no more than 3 tbsp (45 ml) of all essential oils together. These figures are Baraka's recommended limits for soap.

• Lavender essential oil — 30–40 drops (about 2 g) per batch for a calming, spa-like scent that pairs naturally with the butters.
• Sweet orange essential oil — 30–40 drops (about 2 g) for a brighter, citrus-forward bar; phototoxicity concerns with citrus oils apply to leave-on products, not a rinse-off soap like this one.
• Patchouli essential oil — 15–20 drops (about 1 g) for an earthy, traditional soap scent.

Add essential oils at trace, the same point as the vanilla. Avoid cinnamon bark or clove bud oil in noticeable amounts — both can be irritating to sensitive skin even in a rinse-off soap.

Application Tips

Use it like any bath soap, once cured. Lather in the hands or on a washcloth with warm water and apply to skin.

A single bar typically lasts 4–6 weeks with regular daily use. Store the bar on a draining soap dish between uses so it stays firmer for longer. Expect a soft lather that leaves skin feeling conditioned rather than tight or dry.

What We Know and How We Know It

Three kinds of source. The facts about Baraka's shea butter, cocoa butter, coconut oil and palm kernel oil come from Baraka's own product specifications and documentation. The lye figures are calculated from standard published saponification values for sodium hydroxide, the same values used by common lye calculators, and the essential oil limit is Baraka's recommended limit for soap. The method, temperatures, cure time, troubleshooting and storage advice reflect common practice in the home soap-making community; no claim on this page rests on published research.

FAQ

How do I make shea butter and cocoa butter soap at home?
You make it in about an hour of work spread across one afternoon, then wait 4–6 weeks while the bars cure. Set up a digital scale, a stick blender, a thermometer, a heat-safe jug and a pot that is not aluminium, plus gloves and eye protection. Weigh Baraka's shea butter and cocoa butter with the coconut oil and olive oil, make the lye solution, blend to trace and pour. The full method is under Cocoa butter soap making and Directions above.

Can I use cocoa butter in cold-process soap?
Yes — cocoa butter works very well in cold-process soap, adding firmness and a smooth, dense texture to the finished bar. It pairs naturally alongside shea butter and coconut oil, as in this recipe, contributing hardness and structure without making the bar brittle or crumbly. Here it is 8 oz (227 g) of 48 oz of oils, about one-sixth. Baraka's cocoa butter is unrefined and hard at room temperature, so melt it fully before mixing.

How long does homemade soap need to cure?
Most cold-process soap, including this recipe, needs a full 4–6 weeks of curing on a rack in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place before use. Curing allows excess water to evaporate and lets saponification complete fully, giving you a milder, longer-lasting bar. A bar made mostly of hard fats, like this one with Baraka's shea butter and cocoa butter, is usually firm at 4 weeks; give it the full 6 if you swapped in more liquid oil.

What's the best homemade soap for dry skin?
A cold-process soap built on shea butter, cocoa butter, and coconut oil, like this recipe, tends to suit dry skin especially well. The butters help retain the soap's naturally occurring glycerin, so skin feels conditioned and comfortable rather than tight or stripped after washing. Baraka's unrefined shea butter is the largest single oil in this bar, alongside the coconut oil, and the 5% superfat leaves a little free oil in every bar.

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.

Meet one of the women behind Baraka's shea butter in this short film: Shea Butter Producer: Zenabo Imoro.

Shop the Baraka Ingredients in This Recipe

Three of the four oils in this bar are Baraka ingredients.

• Shea Butter — Shop Shea Butter — Baraka's shea butter is unrefined, strained and filtered only, and made by hand by women's producer groups at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Ghana; in this bar it brings conditioning and hardness.
• Cocoa Butter — Shop Cocoa Butter — Unrefined, unbleached and undeodorised cocoa butter from Ghana, hard and brittle at room temperature, which gives this bar its firmness.
• Traditional Coconut Oil — Shop Traditional Coconut Oil — Virgin coconut oil, mechanically pressed in Ghana's coastal coconut belt, which in soap contributes hardness and abundant lather.

Browse more: Butters · Oils · Recipe Books

Try These Next

If you enjoyed this recipe, these soaps use the same cold-process skills:

• Shea Butter and Turmeric Soap — a natural way to colour a shea bar golden once you are comfortable with this method.
• Shea Butter and Goats Milk Soap — a good next project once you're comfortable adjusting liquid ingredients at trace.
• Honey and Shea Butter Soap — adds honey to a shea base, a step up in managing heat in the mould.
• Creamy Cow Milk and Shea Butter Soap — swaps some of the water for milk for an even creamier bar.
• Shea Butter and Aloe Vera Soap — worth trying if you want a lighter, more soothing everyday bar.
• Shea Butter and Tea Tree Oil Soap — a great next bar if you want the same shea base with a fresher, herbal scent profile.
• Shea Butter and Rose Geranium Soap — for makers who want to explore floral scenting on the same base method.
• Shea Butter and Citrus Soap — a brighter, everyday alternative using the same core technique.

About These Ingredients

This recipe is expanded from Baraka's DIY Shea Butter Soap Making eBook Vol 1, a recipe book in the Baraka shop with 17 soap recipes, which explores additional formulations, ingredient options and variations for cold-process soap making.

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. Always patch test a new ingredient, 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. 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.