I am often asked why a customer should buy my handmade soap rather than
the brand name in the stores and since unfortunately we are in a time
where we are unable to personally converse with our customers I
like to answer this question and share the differences in this Article.
Handmade Soap vs Commercial Brand Name Soaps
Brand name soap makers are constantly advertising to consumers and are
often times very misleading.
For starters, their is a big difference between two words “Natural” and
Organic” when it comes to soap.
The word organic, when used on a label is a word that is
regulated by the USDA and has a set of quality standards attached to it.
The word natural does not, and often times those products use
detergents that have a chemical base as well as artificial foaming
agents and fragrances.
I always say, “read the label”!
But don’t be fooled, some smaller soap makers also use these ingredients, often times to keep the cost down when making products in large batches.
Ask questions like, what ingredients do they use? What is the process and method they make their soaps with? Educate yourself before buying.
Since this article is written about my own soaps and I like to be
transparent with my customers, I am going to share the differences
between store bought soaps and handmade Soaps by Gegi’s Original.
Four Reasons why you should buy handmade soap
#1 Glycerin
Glycerin is the ultimate moisturizer. It is a humectant, which means it has the
property of attracting water to itself from deeper skin layers, helps slow the evaporation of water from your skin and because of that it is important to have glycerin in your soap to not just clean your skin but also keep your skin moisturized.
Glycerin has a pretty high price tag and therefor it is the ingredient that is being removed from typical store-bought soaps and then added to additional products like lotions or creams. Why? It is simple, making money is being placed over your skin health and quality of life, so in order for your skin to restore moisture you now have to buy a lotion or cream to get it back after
it has been stripped from your skin while washing it.( you have to buy 2 products instead of one )
Think about it. When you wash your hands, how do they feel after you dried them? Do you immediately go for the hand lotion next to the sink?
My Soap base that I use is:
STEPHENSON OLIVE OIL MELT AND POUR SOAP BASE, where
20% of the oils and fatty acids used are from olive oil packed with
antioxidants and hydrating properties. Olive oil has been known for
millennia as a key ingredient in promoting skin health.
This base, made with pure virgin olive oil, is an all-vegetable base that lathers richly.
#2 Fragrance vs Essential oils
Fragrances are manufactured synthetic scents, that will have chemicals added to them to enhance the aroma.
The FDA does not require for companies to disclose the ingredients for their so called trademark scents and therefore those soaps could contain harmful chemicals that you will never know about. Some which have been known to cost skin irritation.
Did you ever have a fragrance soap or detergent that literately made your skin itch? Yep chemicals!
Soaps with pure essential oils that have been extracted thru either steam distillation or solvent extraction (a process in which oil-bearing materials are being extracted with a low boiler solvents like soybean or rice bran) and thru pressing methods, have no chemicals what so ever.
Now, you do not just have a soap that smells amazing but you can profit
from the therapeutic benefits that the properties of each essential oil offers. For Example: Peppermint soap does not just act as a refreshing skin tonic that can cool down inflammation cause by skin blemishes and acne it also works as
an antiseptic skin cleanser and can be used to treat urticaria and other forms of itchy skins. Or using coffee soap may help decrease the appearance of sun spots,redness, and fine lines.
I use Essential Oils from Jade Bloom
Jade Bloom Oils are 100% pure essential oils. Jade Bloom also requires that the farms they purchase from only produce organic, pesticide-free, and non-GMO raw plants and seeds for their distillery.
#3 How is it made? – What are they made with?
There are really only 2 ways you can make soap. Cold process or hot process.
The cold process is the oldest way of making soap, during which you are mixing sodium hydroxide (aka lye) with water add your essential oils and if wanted, the natural colorant like beet root powder of Alfalfa, after that you poor it into your molds and let it sit for 48 hours. Removed from the molds, you now have to let the soap air dry for 6 to 8 weeks so it cures/hardens. This is quite a process and takes time. Just like a good bottle of wine, you want your soap to age for best results.
The hot process is pretty much the same only here you cure your soap in
the oven or crock-pot until it is hardened.
Both processes are very simplified here and since you are using lye you
will always have the danger of not getting the amounts perfect and blowing up your kitchen if it gets to hot, so I prefer to get my base from a supplier as mentioned above.
I am melting the soap base to the required heat, than remove from the double burner and add essential oils and in some cases dried herbs from my garden. It is hand poured into individual molds, it than is left alone for at least 2 days to cool and relax before taken out of the molds. Now it is allowed to cure on the air for at least 4 weeks before it will get packaged and than stored.
Store bought soap is totally different. It is made in a factory thru a
continuous flow of the same “batch” that never rests. Rather than
giving it time to cure it is enhanced with fillers and chemicals
before formed into molds to harden it and give it a fragrance.
#4 There is nothing better than handmade Soap
As a skilled soap maker I can produce the soap that is right for any skin type, occasion or need. I can blend my own herbs in it (that grow in my garden),
choose the companies that I get my additional ingredients and base
from, based on their value, culture and standards that align with mine. Handmade soap preserves the integrity of all ingredients, so, when I say I made soap with olive oil base essential oils and added ground peppermint for the cold season, than that’s what’s in it! The vitamins and minerals that are found in those oils have the highest quality and I make sure of it because it is my Name that is on the product.
Conclusion
You can see there is no need for chemicals or synthetic additives on the
contrary, handmade soaps are better for your skin and overall
health. So yes they are worth the price tag and by the time you add up
the environmental impact (the chemicals in the store bought soaps
are non biodegradable) the physical impact (every essential oil has
a job to do, from helping with emotions, to healing your skin ) and
just plain knowing you are doing mother Earth good, the price tag is
really not that high.
You can buy my soaps here to give it a try.
Cheers
Andrea
