softening vs soothing

softening

noun

  • The process of becoming soft. 

  • The process of making something soft. 

soothing

noun

  • The act by which somebody is soothed. 

adj

  • Giving relief. 

  • Freeing from fear or anxiety. 

  • Tending to soothe. 

How often have the words softening and soothing occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )