About
I am a soapmaker dedicated to the development and use of natural products in and outside the home and 2007 marks my 10th year online as a free resource site. I believe that everyone should benefit from natural toiletry products that are without question, far superior in quality and effectiveness, not to mention “safer” than most anything commercially produced on the market today. Soapmaking is only one of my passions, but it has never waned.
Our finished soaps are natural, hand-cut rectangular “salt” blocks crafted using the cold process method of soapmaking. Favored oils for soapmaking include Coconut, Palm, Palm Kernel, Olive, Jojoba, Sweet Almond, Avocado, Hazelnut, Castor, Canola, and Grapeseed with Cocoa, Shea, Mango, or Sal butters. We also frequently use additives including non-toxic Essential Oils, Rosemary Extract, Herbs, Honey, Goat Milk, Tea, Heavy Cream, Glycerine, Cranberry Seeds, and Oatmeal.
I have experimented in soapmaking with dried herbs, herbal teas, floral waters and other natural ingredients for all-natural coloring, texture and potential benefit(s) to skin and hair. Soaps can be used effectively on hair and scalp, but are best followed up with a lemon or apple cider vinegar rinse. Some soaps are more “conditioning”, some are more “cleansing, and some are just better used in the bath.
Soapmaking generally starts out as a hobby before it becomes a passion. Not only is it pretty exciting in itself to make a bar of soap that lathers beautifully, cleanses exceptionally well, smells great, and helps to soften and condition your skin, but most everyone who tries a bar, likes it too. Then you can’t help but study the ingredients required and their properties. You learn about essential fatty acids, gamma linolenic acids, oleic acids, alpha hydroxy acids, sufactants, emulsifiers, oxidation, fatty acid chains and much much more. That isn’t all.
You learn that there are most often “un-natural” reasons you are no longer wearing your best “skin”. The worst news is that harmful chemicals that are topically applied are assimilated through your skin and into your system, so consequences are often more than “skin-deep”. If you’re an internet surfer, you will undoubtedly run across one of the many sites that warn of the potential dangers of chemicals commonly used in commercially made products. Recently released news reports of studies conducted citing the “all too real dangers” of potentially harmful ingredients used in commercial cosmetics and toiletries has begun to raise the awareness in all of us and the race is on to look to nature for comfort and healing.
First and foremost, we’re committed to taking great measures to improve the health and well-being of our own large family and to study anatomy and nature’s way of ensuring the wellness of her children. It is turning out to be a long and interesting journey, but one we’ll continue to share on our site.