Why use natural handmade soap?
The benefits of using handmade soap are many: simpler ingredients, fewer chemicals, natural vegetable oils instead of animal fats. All these things are important to many people today. The reasons to use a more natural, handmade product are not always obvious, however. Read on to learn more.

We live in a day and age where the technological advances are many. Cell phones, microwave breakfast, instant pototoes, digital TV, radios the size of a credit card.... Many of these advances are there to make our lives easier. However, when it comes to skin care and the ingredients you put on your skin, technology is probably not what you had in mind!

Why is Handmade Natural Soap so special?
Natural soaps are made in a time-honored fashion. It involves a very simple chemical reaction between oils (or fats) and lye (sodium hydroxide for bars). All soap is made with lye, but there is no lye in the finished product. The chemical reaction converts the lye/fat mixture to glycerin. The glycerin is a natural by-product and, as such, the relationship between the soap molecule and the glycerin means you have a cleanser with abundant, luxurious lather that cleans like nothing else. As a bonus, it does not strip your skin of its natural, protective oils.

Commercially made soap usually contains detergents, fillers, chemicals, petroleum, high animal fat content (read: sodium tallowate) and irritants like SLS or SLES (sulfates). Commercially made soap tends to be less eco-friendly as well. While commercially manufactured soap usually costs less, the impact on your skin and the environment is shocking.

Natural handmade soaps are made with natural oils, have a high glycerin content, are better for the environment with no detergents, phosphates or sulfates, and are never tested on animals.

What is Natural Soap made of?
At Nee Nee's Soap Shop, we use all-natural vegetable oils in our soaps. Each oil is carefully chosen for its cleansing properties in soap. Soybean and Coconut oils are the only oils we use. Our soybean oil is partially hydrogenated, vegan and as natural as we could find for cosmetic use. Shea Butter adds essential moisturizing properties to the soaps we make, aiding in keeping your skin soft and supple. Goat's Milk is also a natural, skin-friendly moisturizer that helps your skin maintain its pH balance, thus making your skin more healthy and better protected. Essential and fragrance oils contribute each soap's unique scent; natural spices/herbs, oatmeal, and/or flower buds and plant leaves contribute texture. We use NO colorants or unnatural dyes in our soaps. What you see is what you get!

Why is Glycerin Important?
Glycerin is a humectant. It attracts moisture and gives it back to your skin. In natural and handmade soap making processes, one molecule of glycerin is created for every three molecules of soap. Commercial soap makers often remove the glycerin from their soap and then sell it to the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. With our natural soaps, however, all of the naturally occurring glycerin remains intact along with all its skin-nourishing benefits.

When and how did soap-making begin?
Until about a century ago, all soap was made from animal fats, and much of it was made at home. Families would save the lard from butchering animals to make soap. Lye was made from the ashes from the fireplace or pit. However, in 1916, the first synthetic soap (detergent) was made. This occurred because of a shortage of animal fats, or tallow, during World War I. From that point on, synthetic soaps became popular with women eager to free themselves from yet another exhausting household chore.

Today, however, we not only understand the process of natural soap making better, there are a wide variety of natural oils and ingredients available. Making handmade natural soap has never been easier, and you don't have to use animal fats to do it. This is great news for vegetarians, vegans and those just wanting a more natural alternative to the "detergent" we us on our hair, our skin and in the sink!