This rose embed melt and pour soap has pretty pink roses and green leaves suspended in crystal clear soap. Making the embeds from white shea butter base makes the colors pop, and it’s an easy flower soap for beginners. I made mine in an oval mold that looks almost like a little fishbowl.
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Materials & Tools
Soap Bases
- Shea butter melt and pour soap base for the rose and leaf embeds
- Clear melt and pour soap base, about 3 oz per oval cavity
Color & Fragrance
- Stardust mica in Pink Watermelon and Tail Green (from this Stardust mica set)
- Eucalyptus fragrance oil (I used one from Barnhouse)
Molds & Tools
- Rose mold with different size roses
- Fondant mold with leaves
- Oval 6 cavity soap mold
- Spouted pour cups and a small flat spatula
- Spray bottle of isopropyl alcohol
- Thermometer
Fragrance Amount
I put the fragrance only in the shea butter embeds and keep the clear base unscented so it stays crystal clear. I use 5 ml of fragrance oil per 16 oz of soap base. You can always use less, but I wouldn’t go over 5 ml per 16 oz.
How to Make Rose Embed Melt and Pour Soap: Step by Step
1. Mix the Mica
Melt the shea butter base and add fragrance. Mix Pink Watermelon and Tail Green mica with a little alcohol in small cups. Here’s a handy trick: after you pour the color into the soap, squirt a little alcohol into the cup to rinse out the leftover mica. The cup acts like a little hood, so you don’t get a face full of fumes.
2. Pour the Roses
Stir the pink color into some of the shea butter and pour it slowly into the rose mold so it fills all the little details. If you overfill, slide the flat side of a spatula across the top to scrape off the extra. Spray with alcohol and let it set.
3. Pour the Leaves
Color the rest of the shea butter green and pour it into the leaf cavities of a fondant mold. Spouted cups make it easy to pour precisely. Wipe off any overfill and spray with alcohol.
4. Unmold and Make More
Unmold the roses and leaves. If you see a thin skin around an edge, fold it down or trim it off. Rewarm the leftover colored soap and make a second set so you have plenty of embeds. Any trimmings go right back into the soap for later.
5. Pour a Thin Clear Layer
Melt the clear base (mine was in the 170s °F) with no fragrance, color or glitter, so it stays crystal clear. Pour just a very thin layer into the bottom of each oval cavity. Keeping this layer thin puts the roses close to the front of the bar. Spray with alcohol.
6. Place the Roses Face Down
When the clear layer cools into the 120s °F, spray the roses generously with alcohol and set them face down in the mold. Wait for the rest of the clear base to cool to about 124°F, then pour it slowly from the side, just enough to cover the roses. Spray with alcohol.
7. Add the Leaves
Once that layer has cooled a bit (mine was around 100–115°F), arrange the leaves behind the roses with the wide part facing out to fill in the background. Rewarm the clear base in short 10-second bursts and stir. Don’t overheat it, or it can turn cloudy. At about 130°F, spray with alcohol and pour slowly from the side so the soap flows underneath the leaves. Add any last leaves, spray, and pour the final layer.
8. Unmold
Let the soaps set completely, then loosen the edges and pop them out. The rounded oval mold makes the roses look like they’re floating in a little glass bowl.
Tips & What I Learned
- Use white shea butter base for embeds. Colored shea butter embeds show up better in clear soap than clear-base embeds do.
- Keep the clear base plain. No fragrance, glitter or color, so it stays clear.
- Don’t overheat clear base. Rewarm in 10-second bursts. Overheated base can cloud.
- Pour from the side. Pouring slowly along the edge keeps embeds from shifting.
- Spray before every pour. Alcohol on the embeds and each layer helps everything stick.
- Watch for skins. If the base forms a skin, rewarm briefly and stir before pouring.
Troubleshooting
My clear soap looks cloudy.
It was likely overheated, or skin got poured in. Rewarm in short bursts and stir any skin back in before pouring.
My embeds floated or moved.
Pour slowly from the side and only enough to cover each layer.
The embeds melted.
The clear base was too hot. Wait until it’s in the 120s–130s °F before pouring over embeds.
My roses have messy edges.
Scrape overfill off the mold with a flat spatula before the soap sets.
FAQ
How much clear soap do I need?
About 3 oz per oval cavity in my mold.
Can I use clear base for the embeds?
You can, and the colors will be darker. I prefer shea butter embeds because they show up better in clear soap.
Why is the clear base unscented?
Some fragrances can cloud clear base, so I put all the fragrance in the embeds.
How much fragrance should I use?
I use 5 ml per 16 oz of soap base. You can always use less, but I wouldn’t use more than 5 ml per 16 oz.
More Flower Soap Ideas
- Summer Roses Melt and Pour Soap
- Pretty Flowers Melt and Pour Soap
- Fancy Melt and Pour Soap with Flower Embeds
- Heart Embed Melt and Pour Soap
- All my melt and pour soap tutorials on YouTube
If you make this, I’d love to see it! Tag me on Instagram or Pinterest, and subscribe on YouTube for new soap tutorials.
