Soap

So, what's the big deal with soap? We all use it (I hope) and it's all the same, right? Wrong! There is a vast difference between store bought soap and the kind of soap that I make. Store bought soap, for the most part, is actaully a detergent. It is filled with chemicals that most of us can't pronounce, but it is effective at cutting through that oily layer our skin makes on a daily basis (alot of times too effective; it can actually strip the oils off our skin which leads to an overproduction of oil as our skin tries to rebalance itself).

The soap that I make is a true soap, no detergents added. It has been specially formulated to do exactly what I want it to do (isn't chemistry cool?!). The soap that I make cleanses your skin without stripping it. I have formulated my soap to have a lot of thick, rich lather, be very conditioning to the skin and be an effective, but gentle cleanser.

How do I make soap? Soap is the salt of an acid base reaction (remember your general chemistry? The product of an acid base reaction is a salt). I mix lye, the basic ingredient, with fatty acids, in this case vegetable oils. I simply mix, fragrance and color, pour it into a mold and put it into a warm oven overnight. By morning, I have soap! After the soap has hardened and can hold it's shape, it can be cut into bars and then is left to dry which leads to a hard bar of soap.

While my exact recipe is a secret and has been fine tuned to my liking over the last 6 years, I can tell you that my soaps contain coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil, castor oil, shea butter and silk. I use soap specific dyes, micas and ultramarines to color my soap. I am a scent ho and love fragrances, so I use fragrance oils as well as essential oils in my soaps.

While I have been soaping for 6 years, I still strive to perfect the swirl. I love swirled soap and marbeled soap. Check these out, this is what I'd love to perfect:

http://www.sweetchurnedsoaps.bravehost.com/soaps.html

Unfortunately, life gets in the way of soaping far too often and I don't get to do as much of it as I would like. Also, unfortunately, my husband is allergic to the fragrances I use and so I have to soap at my parent's home which makes it a bit more difficult.

I'll post some pics of my soap sometime soon. Too bad there isn't a smell feature on the computer, then I could relaly impress you!