About Our Soaps
Why buy handmade soaps? Store bought commercial soaps are full of detergents and synthetic ingredients that strip the skin of its natural oils and moisture. This leads to that tight dry feeling that many commercially produced soaps leave behind. Homemade soaps are made of more natural ingredients which help to keep your skin soft, clean, and nourished. Skin is the largest organ in the body, so take care of your skin. Try out homemade small batch soaps and see the difference for yourself.
Our soaps are all made with saponified oils such as Lard, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, and Castor Oil. The combination of these oils, when mixed with lye, create a conditioning bar of soap that has a nice lather and doesn't leave your skin feeling dry or tight.
I chose my oils for a variety of reasons.
Lard is one of the oldest soap ingredients there is. Lard helps make the soap mild, moisturizing, and conditioning. It also helps to ensure the bar is a nice firm bar and create a creamy lather. Lard is full of saturated fats which are great for skin. While lard does come from animals it is highly sustainable.
Olive Oil also has a long history of being used in soap, dating back thousands of years. It, like lard, also lends to a mild gentle soap. Unlike lard, olive oil does not help with a hard bar of soap. Olive oil is high in Oleic acid with contributes to a conditioning and gentle soap.
Coconut Oil is one of the most popular oils used in soap making. The reason for this is that it provides a lot of hardness to the bar as well as a high cleansing value and provides loads of lather.
Castor Oil is also very popular in soap making. This oil gives the soap a creamy texture and helps to boost and stabilize the lather. Castor Oil is also a humectant which helps to keep skin moisturized.
The above oils are used in all soaps. Also used in all soaps is Lye which is what turns the oils into soap. The lye and oil mixture goes through a chemical process which uses up all of the lye so no lye remains in the final product and the oils become soap.
Goat Milk has also been used in soap for thousands of years. Goats milk is rich in saturated and unsaturated fats. This helps to increase lather and also provide moisturizing and nourishing properties that skin loves. Goats milk also makes soap more gentle. As you may have noticed, not all of our soaps are made with Goats Milk at this time. As we continue to sell, I plan to transition all soaps over to a goats milk soap.
Fragrance Oils are used in most soaps and are used to add scent to the soaps. All fragrance oils used are phalate free.
Mica is mineral based and used to color our soaps.
Activated Charcoal is used as a gentle exfoliant and helps to draw impurities from your skin. Activated charcoal is used in any of the soaps that have a black or grey color added and can make the lather look grey.
Oats - Oats are used in a few of our soaps and are added as an exfoliant.
Poppy Seeds - these are added to some soaps as exfoliants.
Pine Tar - Pine tar has been used for thousands of years and is known to help soothe skin. Pine tar also has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, antipruritic, and antibacterial properties.