You know the ingredients.
With mass-produced commercial soap, you don't always know what you're getting, and most commercial bars contain skin-drying detergents. With natural soap, the label will clearly state what's in the soap, so there's a good chance there will be no artificial ingredients. Artisan soap makers take pride in producing a raw bar with no added chemicals or synthetic components.
Natural soap - excellent for allergy sufferers
If you react to certain perfumes and dyes in commercial soap or have a sensitivity to some beauty products, handmade natural soap is less likely to affect you. As with all beauty products, it's always wise to do a skin patch test first if you're making a switch.
Natural soap - better for the environment
If you are concerned about the environment, buying handmade soap is a better choice than mass-produced commercial soap. Only natural ingredients go into forming Artisan soaps. Soap making is done by hand rather than using machines, therefore less chance of cross-contamination of other components from factory machines. The natural botanicals, clays, and oils that create soap are biodegradable.
Shop Small - Shop Local
"When you purchase Artisan & handmade soap, you support an independent small business and grow your local economy."
Here's a list of the base ingredients that go into making our soap bars.
Castor Oil
This oil used in soap making helps create a lovely rich and creamy lather; it's also a humectant that helps to hydrate our skin. Castor oil is the pale yellow liquid extracted from castor seeds and is very rich in antioxidants - used for centuries; it's a natural beauty product ingredient known for its anti-bacterial properties.
Olive Oil
This gorgeous oil is a natural source of antioxidants, plus vitamins A and E that help neutralise skin pollutants. Olive oil contributes to soap hardness and is both conditioning and moisturising. It's a key ingredient in luxury natural soap bars and helps to leave your skin soft and supple - especially kind to the skin during all the handwashing we've been doing lately.
Calendula
Calendula is widely known for its excellent skin properties. It soothes irritated skin, calms down inflammation and sensitive areas.
Natural soap infused with Calendula oil is a very effective herbal remedy for skin problems. Our soap is gentle and helps soothe irritated, itchy and dry skin - you can find Calendula petals in our Innocent Skin bar.
Cocoa Butter
Cocoa butter is a type of fat that comes from cocoa beans, and it makes an excellent skin moisturiser. Used in soap making, it contributes to soap hardness, produces a lovely lather, and is super skin conditioning.
Other benefits are helping to alleviate dry skin and improving skin elasticity.
Coconut Oil
It is rich in emollient fat, and when used in soap, it is an excellent moisturiser. It is also a conditioning oil that is solid at room temperature but quickly melts on the skin. Coconut oil contributes to the soap hardness and produces lots of lovely bubbles.
Vegetable Glycerine
Glycerine is a by-product of commercial soap making. In commercial soap manufacture, the glycerine is discarded or sold on for use in other skincare products. Your skin's natural oils become depleted during washing - glycerine can help lock in natural moisture and prevent dryness. It's also a skin-friendly ingredient if you suffer from acne, eczema, rosacea and dry skin. All our soap bars are glycerine rich.
Essential Oils
The pure grade essential oils in our soaps add beautiful scents and contribute to our overall sense of well-being. Essential oils are wholly natural and derived from plants and their components. From Sweet Orange to Neroli, essential oils can promote relaxation and alleviate stress. Other oils with citrusy scents are uplifting, such as Mandarin and Lemongrass. We use a broad spectrum of gorgeous essential oils in our soaps.
Palm Oil
This oil helps create a more rigid bar with a stable lather. Using palm oil in soap making gives good cleansing and conditioning properties.
"If it's grown sustainably, palm oil production can benefit local communities and help to protect valuable species and forests. By using sustainable practices, farmers can increase their income by making more palm oil from less land.
It is also worth noting, as this is a 'hot topic at the moment, that as humans in general, we are using the earth's resources to the point of destruction, if it's not Palm oil plantations, then it's Soya or Shea.
When we boycott one product, this will naturally put more pressure to produce more significant amounts of another"
Excerpt by kind permission of the Soap Making Magazine. https://www.soapmakingmagazine.co.uk/blog/index.php/2018/10/24/palm-oil-substitutes-for-cold-process-soap-making/
So much choice!
When you choose handmade soap, you will find many different kinds on offer. There are simple non-fragranced soaps and others that contain natural botanical ingredients, including seaweed, clays, Shea butter, oils and herbs, and all of the essential base ingredients mentioned above.
To give our customers more choice, and with the ongoing debate on Palm Oil, we will be adding a range of Palm Oil free soaps later this year.
Natural soap - where should I buy it?
There are thousands of artisan soap makers across the globe, and you only have to look at the social media pages and sales channels such as Etsy, Amazon and eBay to see the many soap makers and sellers there are in the UK.
As we become more environmentally aware and ditch plastic bottles of liquid soap in favour of bar soap, then the growth of the natural bar soap market will continue.
Our soap is made for us by a UK leading Artisan soap maker and is available in-store and online. We hope you love the soap bars you buy from us, and we welcome any feedback or questions you have about our products. You can leave comments and reviews by signing up to our website or via our social media pages and Google.