What's the big deal about handmade soap?
A few weeks ago, I wrote about some of the worst (but common) ingredients in skin care (read it here if you missed it). We all know that ingredient choices matter, whether it's skin care or for cooking. As a consumer, reading labels can be an overwhelming quagmire of what's good, what's bad, and what's so toxic that it's mind-blowing that it isn't banned.
Soap is just soap....right? ...RIGHT?! Sadly, no. Not all soap is created equal. The vast majority of what's called soap is actually a solid bar of gnarly detergents. They're effective at cleaning. They also strip your skin of its natural oils, pollute our waterways when they wash down the drain, and contain ingredients that are dangerous for your health.
Crafting a bar of true handmade soap is like going back to your high school chemistry lab. Each ingredient has specific properties and changes how the soap turns out. For example, coconut oil makes a soap that foams well, lasts a long time, and is really good at cleaning. But...it can also be drying for your skin if it's used alone. So you add things like cocoa butter, which makes the soap super hydrating for your skin, but doesn't create good bubbles. There are even different types of bubbles that have to be considered when formulating a recipe.
Handmade soap is different from the mass market "soap" because it naturally contains high amounts of glycerin, which is actually a by-product of the saponification process. (I warned you it was nerdy chemistry!) It doesn't strip your skin of its natural oils and leave you with crocodile-dry skin. It doesn't pollute our waterways with toxic chemicals.
Ready to uplevel your soap game? Grab some bars of our Swashbuckler's Body Soap.
Soap is just soap....right? ...RIGHT?! Sadly, no. Not all soap is created equal. The vast majority of what's called soap is actually a solid bar of gnarly detergents. They're effective at cleaning. They also strip your skin of its natural oils, pollute our waterways when they wash down the drain, and contain ingredients that are dangerous for your health.
Crafting a bar of true handmade soap is like going back to your high school chemistry lab. Each ingredient has specific properties and changes how the soap turns out. For example, coconut oil makes a soap that foams well, lasts a long time, and is really good at cleaning. But...it can also be drying for your skin if it's used alone. So you add things like cocoa butter, which makes the soap super hydrating for your skin, but doesn't create good bubbles. There are even different types of bubbles that have to be considered when formulating a recipe.
Handmade soap is different from the mass market "soap" because it naturally contains high amounts of glycerin, which is actually a by-product of the saponification process. (I warned you it was nerdy chemistry!) It doesn't strip your skin of its natural oils and leave you with crocodile-dry skin. It doesn't pollute our waterways with toxic chemicals.
Ready to uplevel your soap game? Grab some bars of our Swashbuckler's Body Soap.