Chemically speaking, soap is a salt.  An acid and a base react with one another and are neutralized to form a salt or soap.  A more basic explanation is: oils and fats combine with Sodium Hydroxide or “lye” in a process called saponification to produce soap.

4000BC "Purifying Oils", recorded on Hebrew Tablets, mention the use of cleaning aids, possibly ashes, limestone and oil mixed together to make the first recorded "soap".

100AD Pliney the Elder writes about soapy dyes used to cleanse and dye hair.

800AD Soap making becomes recognized as an art in Italy and Spain.

1300AD France becomes the leader in soap making, using imported oils rather than animal tallow.

1622AD King James I grants special privileges to the artisans in the soap making industry.

1630AD Colonial Americans, faced with a shortage of soap from England, begin producing soap in the home. Cooking grease, animal tallow and ashes were stored and yearly were cooked into soap for the following year.  Originally, all soap was made from animal fats – mainly lard from pigs and tallow from cattle. It was readily available and at the time no one questioned the use of animal by-products. Over time, new oils were extracted from vegetables, grains, and nuts providing an alternative to animal oils.  

1730AD Tallow Chandlers and Soap Boilers appeared in the early 18th century. They would go door to door buying grease and tallow, later to sell it back as soap, door to door.

1780AD Mass distribution began in local and outlying areas to General Stores, Stage Coach stops, and hotels. The art of producing soap in the home was waning, but until the early 1900’s, much of the soap used was still made at home..

1837AD William Proctor, a candle maker; and James Gamble, a soap maker, formed a partnership to manufacture and sell their products. The two men were responsible for producing and distributing low cost, high quality soap products. Sales reach an unprecedented $1,000,000. Even today, their insight into mass-marketing and distribution are studied in college Marketing classes.     

1930AD With the Great Depression, distribution was failing; money was in short supply, so homeowners began the search for soap recipes. It was during this period that daytime Radio dramas were introduced to the America home. Today, we know them as "The Soap Opera"!

1940AD The Government was buying all of the commercially available grease to produce glycerin, used to produce weapons. This produced another shortage of soap, and home production was still strong.

1950AD A post war boom economy makes consumable goods readily available again. The automobile was a fixture, TV's were everywhere and the art of home soap making really begins to decline. 

Present day  Many people who have become aware of the differences between natural handcrafted soap and commercially manufactured detergent bars, are either making their own soap or opting to use only handcrafted natural soap. 

Most of us grew up using soap that we purchase from our local grocery store.  Therefore, many of us have experienced dry, itchy skin for most of our lives. Then we probably have tried many types of creams and lotions, many of which were very expensive.  Most likely, nothing helped your dry, itchy skin.  What all of us have been trying to do is to undo the harm that the commercial soaps have caused to our skin.  Large commercial soap makers want to make soap last longer while making it as inexpensive as possible; therefore, they use chemicals in their products to do the job.  Remember, they also remove the glycerin during the manufacturing process in order to use it in other products.  Glycerin is one of the best-known humectants (attracts moisture to the skin) -- it draws moisture to your skin, which is vital to having healthy skin.  Since it is removed from commercial soaps, it is another reason that these soaps dry out our skin.  

Is there LYE in my soap?

ABSOLUTELY!  Soap can’t be made without it!  I do use sodium hydroxide, or lye, but my soap is nothing like Grandmother’s lye soap!  Granny did not have the luxury of scales to measure ingredients for soap, so many times her soap was lye "heavy", causing irritation to the skin.  I carefully weigh and measure all ingredients and superfat my soap.  There is no sodium hydroxide in my finished soaps.  The process of the chemical reaction in cold process soap called saponification naturally rids the finished product of lye.  My finished soap contains only the essential oils and natural vegetable oils, which provide you with a moisture-rich bar.

Successful soap making today is a result of a much better understanding of chemistry, experience, and a wider variety of ingredients to choose from.  Today’s handcrafted soaps are milder and so much better for skin thanks to the availability of vegetable and plant oils.

Handcrafted soap retains all that extra glycerin, known to soften the skin naturally.  It is still often extracted during the process of manufacturing commercially made soap, then sold as a valuable by-product to the cosmetic industry.  Natural ingredients are rarely used in commercially manufactured soap.  If used at all, it is sparingly.

Fortunately, today you have a choice. My handcrafted soap feels incredibly rich and silky.  It is soothing and moisturizing.  I use no harmful chemicals and you can easily read the other ingredients on my label.  Only friends and family test my soap, not animals.

I use only the highest grades of coconut, palm, and olive oils available and organic oils when possible.  Almond oil, apricot oil, avocado oil, castor oil, Jojoba oil and Kukui nut oil are also added to each and every bar because of their beneficial qualities to skin.  Coconut oil ensures lots of fluffy lather, palm oil makes a hard bar, and olive oil has nourishing qualities for your skin.  I enrich each bar with Shea butter. Shea butter is also known as African Karite Butter, and is extremely moisturizing and gentle to the skin.  When added to soap, it gives it an exotic feel that is so luxurious that once you experience it, you may never want to be without it.

Some of my soaps have the added ingredients of Goat Milk or Coconut Milk, which provides an even creamier, more luxurious lather and added benefits to healthy skin.

I add many healing herbs, grains, and flowers for texture, color, and exfoliation. I purchase 100% pure essential oils or tested fragrance oils to scent my soap.  If I color our soap, I use only FDA approved colorants. 

REMEMBER ... what ever you put on your skin is absorbed and distributed to all internal organs and systems! 

Do you know what ingredients are in YOUR soap?