Doctors let me keep my fat in a jar after I got liposuction – I mixed it with lye and rose petals to make my own soap
AFTER undergoing an invasive liposuction procedure, one man couldn’t part with his body fat and brought it home in a jar.
Instead of letting it sit after the surgery, he repurposed it to make a rose-scented soap that fulfilled all his natural skincare needs.
Robert Tolppi (@roberttolppi) recently underwent a liposuction procedure.
In a viral TikTok video, the 23-year-old documented the incredible process of making homemade soap using his human fat.
DIY DREAM
Instead of donating or tossing it out, he convinced doctors to let him keep the fat taken during the extensive surgery.
“They were going to throw it away as medical waste, but I asked if I could keep it because I’ve always wanted to make soap, and I didn’t want to waste perfectly good fat,” he explained.
His idea to create his soap from human fat was spawned from a cult classic film.
“Turning human fat into soap is most commonly associated with the movie Fight Club, where Tyler Durden, the protagonist, takes fat from the dumpsters of clinics and turns it into soap,” he said.
“Though I wasn’t drawing specifically on that movie, I found the idea of human fat soap compelling, taking the conclusions of the zero-waste movement and our society’s push to recycle to the next level.”
He shared that they removed about 400 ccs of his fat, which is close to almost two pounds.
The Connecticut resident brought the liquid home in a big glass jar.
Instead of letting it sit in the container, he put it to good use by being resourceful with his newly acquired fat.
Soaps made from human fat, also known as tallow soap, can act as a natural anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antioxidant moisturizer, according to experts at Summer Solace Tallow.
STEP-BY-STEP
First, he poured the far into a large pot and heated it up.
Using an at-home soap-making kit, he mixed the fat with lye to render the chemicals into a more usable form.
“Make sure you do your research before handling. I’m not a professional, but you definitely want to keep the windows open and diluted outside,” Polppi advised.
He then added some rose petals and vanilla essential oils to ensure that his soap would have some fragrance.
He poured the mixture into the mold and let it cool down and harden.
Once it was set, he cut it into square blocks that resembled regular blocks of soap.
The last step for his DIY trick was to make sure the soap produced a lather when he ran it under water.
In the video, he called it “the ultimate test.”
Polppi had unique reactions to his soap venture and not everyone was a fan.
“It’s interesting how varied the reactions to it are,” he said.
“Some find the video funny, while others find it outright disgusting.”
“Your use of recycling is truly impeccable,” one Instagram user commented.
“I understand that’s what soap is made of.. but a jar of human fat is literally making me gag,” another said.