All-natural handmade soaps vs commercial soaps
Skin is our largest organ. And skin absorbs what we put on it, just as you'd expect from your moisturizer, lip balms, or some medical patches. Now for years you might have used commercially available body soaps, shampoos, conditioners and cosmetics and developed a dry skin condition. It's so widely common to have this condition that you've come to think that it's normal to have dry skin all year. And you buy some moisturizers from the same companies and apply on your skin many times throughout the day. But is it really normal?
We often talk about food. All natural organic food from farmers' markets are better than fast food or pre-packaged processed food with all the GMO ingredients heavily sprayed with pesticide, right? It's a common sense. But when it comes to skin care products, people often have doubts or shy away from natural products. Why? When we started our all-natural handcrafted soap company, some people asked if handmade soaps would work as well as their favourite Irish Springs or Dove soaps. They've never used handmade soaps before.
Centuries ago, soaps used to be made at home using animal fat, water and wood ash. This traditional method produced a rustic-looking all-natural soaps but it was a time consuming method. The process has evolved over time and now huge chemical corporations make those soap or body gel many people use. At those factories they use vegetable oils and/or animal fat mixed with lye and add numerous petrochemicals like foam enhancers, preservatives, colorants, and synthetic fragrance materials to produce detergent bars look like soap. They remove natural glycerin from soap so that soap becomes hard and drying, and they sell the extracted glycerin in profitable moisturizers to make more money. They have succeeded in reducing the price by mass production using petrochemicals and palm oil (cheapest plant based oil available, and the largest cause of rainforest deforestation) but as a result the consumers developed more dry skin conditions like eczema, earlier sign of aging, etc.
We think body care products are just like food products. Good wholesome foods today can be obtained at quality restaurants, bakeries, or organic markets. Can we bring back handmade all-natural soaps that doesn't irritate our skin? That's what we do at Skipping Stone Soap.
Body care products are used on our body externally but whatever contents will be absorbed through skin layer if the molecules are small enough. And we have this knowledge that the petroleum based chemicals i.e. preservatives, colorants, fragrances, foam enhancers are causing skin irritations, hormone disruptions, and some are even documented to be carcinogenic. Our soaps are free of those chemicals and gentle on skin of all types including sensitive skins.
It takes over a month to produce a bar of soap and we are proud of ourselves bringing the safe, artisan products to the market. And all are made with high quality, often organic, plant-based ingredients. The only exemptions are mineral-rich clays (earth-based) and unpasteurized honey (considered an animal product). It produces a rich foamy lather and leaves your skin clean, soft and nourished. It is gentle on the environment as natural soaps are completely biodegradable within 4 weeks after use.
We truly believe handmade soaps made with quality ingredients are far better than the store bought ones and we have been using our soaps for over a decade. Our families and friends love them. And our customers love them. Curious to try some? Check out our shop, try for yourself, and let us know what you think.