In basic terms Soap is a cleansing agent made from vegetable salts or animal fats. 

 What type of soap do you use?  Examine the label does it look like something out of a chemistry book??? Commercially produced soap can be made from animal fats and a vast range of chemical ingredients.   Even hand produced soap, if is it Glycerine soap,   is probably made out of a soap base, which contains  sodium laureth sulphate, propylene  glycol, sucrose, sodium laureate, microstate acid, pentasodium pentetate etc In contrast there is a hand made soap made entirely from natural ingredients, this is known as Cold Process Soap.

Skin matters, it is a porous membrane that provides the  biggest gateway to chemicals and toxins …commercial soap may clean but chemicals will enter the body nutrients will be lost in the heating process and the soap will strips the body of valuable moisture and often leaves skin feeling dry.

Cold Process soap is made from a range of oils, palm, coconut and olive. Soaps also contain water and even with a cold process lye has to be added to this to act as a setting agent. At the Wild Olive Soap Company we have been making cold process soap for over 8 years and base our soaps around olive, coconut and palm oil.  The process involves warming the oils and then allowing them to cool, adding the water with the lye and then generous amounts of essential oils, clays and organic herbs. Every part of the process is carried out by hand weighing oils, sieving herbs, stirring the soap and  monitoring temperature.  There are no hard and fast rules, soap will start to thicken at its own pace and this can vary week to week with outside temperature etc... Once the liquid has thickened then the soap is poured into large square moulds and is left to set for a week. Some soaps contain colourant again these are vegetable based and can greatly enhance the appearance of the product. The cooling process takes place in an insulated cabinet and when the soap comes out of the mould it is still a soft and is easily cut into bars.  The soap is then left to harden.  The longer you leave soap the more it hardens and the longer it lasts.

Once you are satisfied that the soaps you are using are good for your skin then this is only part of the story, quality soaps contain essential oils.  Essential oils are liquid extracts from certain flowers or herbs.  It takes thousands of roses to make   a kilo of rose oil….hence the price of rose oil around £5000 per kilo.

Aromatherapy grade Essential oils have many beneficial qualities which can be retained by the soap.  LAVENDER oil is a  soothing and relaxing oil, ROSE GERNAIUM oil is gentle and calming and a good hormone balancer,  PINE is anti bacterial and anti inflammatory, TEA TREE is anti septic and anti  fungal…

Essential oils can promote well being and influence mood…. ORANGE oil is happy oil, YLANG YLANG is sensual and, SPEARMINT is refreshing and uplifting.

Scent has the power to evoke emotion, and this is all part of the experience of soap.

Other ingredients in soap are clays these are high in silica and contain valuable healing minerals.  Skin problems such as eczema and dermatitis can be greatly improved by using the correct soaps…oils such as geranium are excellent for this.

Soaps can also be used for Detox,  a soap with seaweed and sea salts deep cleans the skin.  Scrub soaps are useful for removing dead skin…face soaps containing avaocado oils and Neroli and Palma Rosa are excellent for cellular rejuvenation….lessening wrinkles at a fraction of the cost of cosmetic creams.

A good soap should smell divine and make you want to use it, it should contain the essential oils that suit your skin type and should be appropriate, relaxing lavender before you go to bed, invigorating spearmint to wake you up in a morning.  Soap should lather well and moisturise and tone your skin. If you enjoy perfumes the fragrance should linger... Everyone uses soap and by choosing a quality product soap can enhance your quality of life and general wellbeing.

At the Wild Olive Soap company we are passionate about soap if you would like details of our range of natural aromatic soaps and a free sample call us on …0161 428 9210 or contact us via our web site  www.wildolivesoap.com. 

Last but not least using natural soap is not only kind to you but kind to the environment, the product is hand made locally there is  virtually no energy ( except human!) used in the process and there is absolutely no wastage and minimal packaging. .