Why Buy Only Natural Handmade Soap?
(and how to tell the difference)

I became interested in cold process soapmaking because I had very dry, aging skin due to a medical condition. I had tried many expensive beauty products and lotions with few results. Extensive research suggested that pure, 100% natural vegetable soap might be the answer. However, the more research that I did, the more I realized that you cannot easily purchase this soap, even in beauty supply stores, bath and body stores and most health food stores. I decided to try making it myself.

All homemade natural soap bars are made with lye. This process requires a certain level of expertise and entails a learning curve. Incorrectly made soap always stands a chance of having some free lye left over after saponification. These soaps are very harsh and drying to the skin and sometimes even caustic. Caustic lye can cause severe burns.

Don't let that scare you, however. If made correctly by an experienced soapmaker, there is NO lye left in the soap, once it is cured. A chemical reaction converts the lye (and oils) into pure soap, water and glycerine. The water evaporates away during curing, leaving a hard, long-lasting bar of soap. Cold Process soapmaking is one area where we excel over our grandmothers and their soap kettles and homemade lye.

Unfortunately, "lye" soap has always had a bad reputation as being drying, whereas specially formulated "beauty bars" are supposed to be moisturizing and good for the skin. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Real homemade vegetable soap is made from essential fatty acids from natural vegetable fats and oils and contains a large quantity of natural glycerin. Naturally occurring glycerin is a natural humectant (moisturizer), which attracts moisture into the skin. Sadly, the natural glycerin is removed from the components of virtually ALL marketed "soaps" and beauty bars.

Additionally, most "soaps" purchased in stores are mislabeled. If the ingredient list contains lists of chemicals such as "sodium palmitate" or "sodium laurelate" (and most do), it is a formulated beauty bar or detergent bar, NOT real soap. The fact that oils are listed chemically indicates that the oils are either petroleum based or "fractionated" and have had most of their glycerides (fatty acids) removed. Detergent bars are usually labeled as soap but really contain fractionated/synthetic oils and/or petroleum products instead of the complete natural fats and oils. None of these altered oils have their natural vitamins and nutritive skin care qualities intact.

Even when a bar is labeled "Glycerin" soap, there is a proportionately tiny amount of non-natural glycerin added back into the soap to supposedly reduce its drying effect. More often, it refers merely to the translucent nature of the soap. Real soap, with the naturally occurring glycerin intact, is normally not translucent, whereas chemical glycerin is often added to beauty bars (and transparent novelty soap) to achieve translucency, NOT for moisturizing.

To compound the drying effect, most store-bought soaps are formulated with petroleum based and/or large molecule oils and fats. These large molecule fats dissolve and combine with your natural skin oils. When they are washed or wiped away, they take all the natural oils with it. The skin is unable to absorb any of these oils. Animal fats, such as tallow and lard, often used in older (and cheaper) soap formulas, have the same effect, as well as clogging your pores.

All soaps that are meant for the skin need to be superfatted to some degree to avoid the dubious reputation of traditional "lye" soap (a new face with every bar). Superfatting with pure vegetable oils makes the soap gentle and moisturizing PLUS adds a cushion of safety to modern soapmaking. Superfatted soaps have converted ALL of their lye and then some - in other words, there are some nutritive oils left over after using up all of the lye.

Good, expertly made soap should be superfatted with small molecule oils, which are very close in molecular structure to natural skin oils. These oils are absorbed into the skin, drawing in with it added vitamins, beneficial oils and glycerin. Small molecule oils also "normalize" the skin and allow the free flow of natural oils to and from the surface. This cuts down on clogged pores and blemishes, which often occur with store-bought AND tallow based soaps, despite dry skin.

Good, natural handmade soaps such as Kathy's Vitamin Enriched Soap are superfatted and formulated with only the finest exotic vegetable oils and loaded with vitamins A, D, E, K (for skin health and healing), and F (essential fatty acids - for collagen production).

I use the following high-quality food grade oils in making my soap: 

• Coconut Oil (moisturizing, promotes lathering and hardness)
• Palm Oil (mild, promotes soap hardness)
• Olive Oil (cleans well, attracts and holds external moisture and forms a breathable film without blocking natural skin functions)
• Wheat Germ Oil (high in Vitamin E, also provides carotene and vegetable lecithin which nourish skin cells and prevent moisture loss)
• Carrot Seed Oil (high in vitamin A and beta-carotene, stimulates sweat and sebaceous glands which work to balance the skin's moisture content)
• Carrot Root Oil (high in vitamins A, E and provitamin A, stimulates sweat and sebaceous glands which work to balance skin's moisture content)
• Vitamin E Oil (provides Vitamin E, antioxidant)
• Sweet Almond Oil (excellent emollient, known to soften, soothe and condition skin)
• Apricot Kernel Oil (high in oleic and linoleic acids, especially good for mature skin, sensitive skin and skin that is inflamed or dry)
• Kukui Nut Oil (high in linoleic and linolenic essential fatty acids critical for healthy skin, easily absorbed, used to treat sunburn, acne, eczema, psoriasis, and chapped skin)
• Jojoba Oil (moisturizer and humectant, contains waxy esters which help skin maintain normal functions while allowing skin to repair and rebalance itself)
• Shea Butter (soothes and softens dry, chapped skin while nourishing all skin types, good for sensitive skin)
• Avocado Oil (high in vitamins A, E and D, protein, carbohydrates, amino acids, chlorophyll and glycerides, easily absorbed, heals and regenerates skins cells and tissues)
• Evening Primrose Oil, Borage Oil and/or Rosa Mosqueta Rosehip seed Oil (high in lenoleic acid, gamma-linolenic acid and essential fatty acids known as vitamin F, easily absorbed, promotes collagen regeneration)
• Cold pressed pure essential oils (i.e. in aromatherapy, lavender is soothing and moisturizing to the skin, reduces redness and irritation, promotes relaxation, is a natural deodorant and insect repellant.)
• Grapefruit Seed Extract (natural antioxidant and preservative)

There are also many other oils (grapeseed, hemp, etc.) often utilized for their superior skin care qualities. Additives, such as milk, herbs, herbal teas and other botanicals, as well as well-chosen essential oils, are often added for further skin care benefits.

Natural hand-cut homemade soap is not always pretty, but it is packed full of vitamins, oils and moisturizers yet leaves your skin squeaky clean - never slimy, oily or greasy. Minutes after using it, your skin will feel like you have used lotion on it - soft and smooth with an attractive glow. After trials on my own skin, I have found that fine lines, wrinkles and spots have disappeared, as well as blemishes, clogged pores, dry patches and rashes, WITHOUT USING LOTION! My skin is healthier and more attractive than it has ever been since I stopped using store-bought manufactured soap.

Many people have used manufactured store-bought soaps for years, thinking that they are using a product that is good for their skin and never realising that their less-than-perfect skin is the result of using these very soaps. Don't make this mistake! After switching to homemade natural soap, most find that their skin becomes healthier, smoother and less prone to dryness, redness, rashes, bumps and breakouts.

When shopping for soap, beware of the many soaps sold on the internet (and elseware) as "Homemade" and/or "Natural" soap. Don't be fooled by the various 1 and 2 lb loaves selling for under $10.00, regardless of the scents and additives listed in the description. Don't be fooled by the fancy transparent soap with the bright colors, imbedded colored shapes/toys and popular perfumy-type scent blends. Most of these are made with artificially colored and scented manufactured melt-and-pour soap base - these are NOT handmade, NOT natural and definitely NOT real high quality soap. People buy large lots of cheap, manufactured soap base (transparent and/or opaque), melt it down, add artificial scents and colors (sometimes a little shea butter or oatmeal) and then pour it into molds. This is NOT the same thing as handmade soap made from natural raw ingredients.

Price is the first tipoff to this "scam". Expect to pay fairly well for good homemade soap. There are no bargains. Good natural ingredients for handmade soap are expensive even for the average soapmaker, especially if making at home in small batches. There are cheaper alternatives to the better, more expensive oils but these do not always yield a superior soap. Cheaper homemade soaps are often made with Crisco, believe it or not - not a bad thing, just not likely to yield a superior soap.

If you see soap selling for less than $4.00 per bar ($1.00 per oz or $16.00 per lb), do further research before buying to make SURE you are getting the good stuff. With the exceptions of sales, clearances and wholesale, you won't see good handmade cold process soap made from natural raw materials selling for much less than this if the soapmaker wants to stay in business.

Transparency is the second tipoff. It takes an expert to make reliably good transparent soap from scratch. It is made with 90% ethyl alcohol in a hazardous process. The resulting soap is very drying despite often being labeled "glycerin soap". Transparent soap may look nice, but it does not make a superior skin care product. Most expert soapmakers wouldn't be bothered except to make some for looks or for a special effect. If the advertising for a transparent soap says it is "homemade", chances are they are lying.

Disclaiming the use of lye in their soap is the third tipoff. Soapmaking is NOT possible without some form of sodium or potassium hydroxide (aka lye). Even large soap manufacturers must use some form of lye (although their ingredient lists hide this fact with terms like "sodium palmitate", which is saponified and fractionated palm oil with the glycerin removed). Saponification, the process which forms soap, requires lye. Shower gels, liquid soaps, detergents and melt-and-pour soap base are ALL made with lye. Disclaiming the use of lye in their soapmaking indicates that the person is using melt-and-pour soap base and utilizing the fact, in their advertising, that the lye has cured out of the soap base, as it has in ALL good cured soap.

Fancy, molded shapes are the fourth tipoff. It takes a very experienced soapmaker to mold real handmade soap into fancy, intricate shapes. Real handmade soap does not lend itself to fancy molds. It hardens too slowly and the glycerine makes it stick to the indentations of fancy molds. It can be done but some sacrifices must be made to the skin care qualities of the soap, even by experts. Consequently, the majority of intricately molded soaps on the market are made with melt-and-pour soap base.

Do research and educate yourself before buying soap. Know your soaps and know your ingredients. Shop carefully. If in doubt about an ingredient, ask or do research to find out if it is good for you and your skin. A good quality soapmaker should be able to tell you what each and every ingredient in the soap is for and what it does for you and your skin.