Rice Bran Oil in Cold Process Soap

Rice Bran oil is a rich source of antioxidants. It has compounds like oryzanol. (Gamma Oryzanol stimulates the release of endorphins). It also has a lot of vitamin E, including both tocopherol and tocotrienol.

Rice Bran oil comes from the rice plant and the outer layer of the grain. The oil made from the bran is used for medicine and contains a large amount of fiber.  

Rice bran is used for treating a lot of things including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, alcoholism, obesity. It is said it can help to prevent stomach and colon cancer; prevents heart and blood vessel (cardiovascular) disease. It can strengthen the immune system & increase energy and improve performance. It can improve liver function.

Some people apply rice bran directly to the skin for eczema.

Using Rice Bran oil in Cold Process Soap has been an interesting learning experience. I like to add various oils to my Olive oil base, At first it was to cut costs because at the time Olive oil was skyrocketing. Apricot Kernel, Sweet Almond, Rice bran and other oils were all less expensive and they offered their own unique variety of benefits.

I began to notice a sort of crusty lining to the tops and edges of my bars. Some were definitely soft while the ones with crusty edges were hard...even after just a week or two of curing.

The crustiness isn't a bad thing. Actually I love a fresh bar of soap because the edges are still sharp and new. I like the feel of that in my hand.

But it took me a while to figure out that it was the batches I had used a significant amount of Rice Bran oil. By significant I mean about 10%. My recipe holds about 40% Olive oil, and I use a lot of teas and juice in my soaps, so basically they stay fairly soft. the next time I use Rice Bran oil I will use it at about 5%.

Maybe I can reach a happy medium.