SOAP MAKING
12 Life-Changing Benefits Of Making Handcrafted Soap
(+ FREE Cheat Sheet)
Imagine achieving a fresh, healthy, and youthful complexion by using a soap made exclusively for you with all-natural and wholesome ingredients.
When I was around 11 years of age, I began to break-out.
At first, the break-outs appeared as tiny little "heat" pimples and annoying whiteheads, that would seem to clear themselves after a few hot baths.
By the age of 13, I had full-fledged acne and hot baths no longer were enough to clear up my blemishes.
As well, I knew I wasn't alone. Many of us go through the darkness of acne skin eruptions.
Approximately 50,000,000 Americans suffer from acne.
That's more than rosacea, eczema, and psoriasis COMBINED.
Moreover, a whopping 95% of all people will experience acne at some point in their lives!
To say that the condition of my skin left me with questionable self-esteem and a lack of confidence would be an understatement.
Already naturally introverted, my oily, pimply skin didn't help me climb out of my shell and become more engaging with others.
It's bad enough dealing with the awkwardness many of us experience during our teenage years.
Having blemished, scarred skin sure doesn't make that pivotal time in our lives any better.
Adding to my insecurities, I'm a fair-skinned black woman, and (to this day), no matter how small or minute the problem my skin experiences, it will be clearly decipherable because of my light complexion.
While matriculating from my teens to my mid-twenties, apparently the conventional wisdom of teenage break-outs subsiding when we reach adulthood didn't apply to me.
I was STILL DEALING WITH BREAK-OUTS!!!
I was pissed! Nothing was working.
But again, I wasn't alone.
Adult acne is prolific.
According to acne.org,
Adult acne affects 25% of adult men and 50% of adult women at some time in their adult lives. 1/3 of adults affected with facial acne also have acne on their back and body.
And nothing in the stores was working for me. I tried just about every over-the-counter product for break-out-prone skin available at the time.
Since the time I was a teenager (late 80's), and into the 21st century, there has been extraordinary growth in skin care product development:
Not to mention the societal awareness of how important it is to make healthy lifestyle choices including, but not limited to:
I knew I didn't want to use antibiotics or take any type of medication for my skin issues.
Intuitively, I wanted to use products that were as natural as possible, particularly when it came to soap.
And knowing this prompted me to beg myself the question...
How important is soap to our everyday lives?
I mean...VERY...right? Crucially mandatory.
In and of itself, the concept of soap is a pretty mundane topic.
But is it really?
Not in the context of dollars and cents.
And not so mundane. Soap is and will continue to be a mainstay in our lives.
So what does the importance of soap have to do with my break-outs?
Well...a lot.
Because it was soap that eventually saved my skin.
But not just any soap, but...
Natural, herbal handcrafted soap.
As I already mentioned, to treat my blemished skin, I didn't want to use antibiotics, medications, or chemically-ladened cleansers.
I wanted as natural an alternative as possible to those methods.
So I bought a book on natural soap making.
And the rest is proverbial history.
Now I'm a full-fledged #soapivore.
What is a soapivore, you ask?
Why do I celebrate natural, handcrafted soap making, and think you should too?
Let's delve:
Needless to say, NOT using handmade, herbal soap was no longer an option. My life had forever changed.
For the beautiful better.
Many of us are becoming more aware of our wellness and consciously taking better care of ourselves, advocating more for our health, eating better, protecting the environment, etc.
As well, more of us are extolling the value of using handmade soap and natural body care products (widely considered luxury or premium body products) to care for our skin, hair, and our essence>>> our tangible aesthetic energy.
We want to be able to pronounce and understand the ingredients on the labels of the soap and other products we use every day.
And we are willing to pay for this ability.
After I purchased my first soap making book well over 20 years ago, I couldn't absorb what I was learning fast enough. I found the entire soap making process fascinating, from the reconnaissance and sourcing of ingredients, to the giddy anticipation of taking a shower with a new formulation.
Yeah, that's right. I said giddy. I was giddy.
After I made my first batch, that was it. I was hooked.
Any soap maker can pretty much give you the same testimony.
Soap making is an addictive and rewarding endeavor.
I am going to share with you what I believe to be the most essential ways handcrafted soap will enhance your life, and why you should make, and forever and always use, natural, handmade soap.
1. Handmade soap made with natural ingredients is kind, soothing, and a wonderful catalyst of healing for all skin types.
If I had to pick my favorite benefit of making and using natural soap, this would be it. (Perhaps that's why it's the first one.)
What I mean by "catalyst of healing" is...remember when I said that after regular use of natural, handmade soap, blemishes resisted reappearing, and over time my overall complexion improved?
That's what it's all about with any type of skin care product, right?
Our skin is our largest organ.
We use skin care products on our skin to get results, and...
...in most cases, with wholesomely-made soap and skin care products, you get RESULTS.
2. You get to employ the healthiest, most wholesome ingredients.
Unlike in the commercial soap making industry, the ingredients employed in natural, handcrafted soap making are pure, simple, and easily obtainable.
The highest quality herbs, oils, and essential oils are generally affordable and can be purchased locally, or are just a click away online.
The chart below is a mere representation of the types of ingredients from which natural, handmade soap is made.
Don't they all look pretty together?
These ingredients are what make natural, handcrafted soap so special.
Although organic ingredients may not always be available or feasible, it's always preferred to go organic/certified organic whenever possible.
*Making soap with breast milk has its detractors, and I've personally never made it or used it. If you want to experiment with making soap with breast milk for your own personal enjoyment, I say go for it; HOWEVER, I do not recommend purchasing breast milk soap off the internet or from anyone you are unfamiliar with. It should go without saying that because breast milk is a bodily fluid, soap made with it could contain bacteria and other pathogens. Take precaution, or better yet, steer clear.
3. Soap making is an inspiring creative outlet.
People who craft and make art have several characteristics in common, and the act and skill of soap making target many of those characteristics head-on.
We see something in our wheelhouse of capability that appeals to us, often our first thought is "I can make that!".
Soap making also provides a formidable marriage between art and science.
You will utilize both sides of your brain to implement any formula from start to finish.
Choosing your ingredients, deciding on if or how you want to color your soap, blending a fragrance for scent - all tasks tap into your artistic flair and design style.
Conversely, due to the chemical process called saponification, which is the process of transforming raw ingredients into soap, soap making is also scientific in nature.
The soap making process is essentially summed up with this formula:
Fat/Oil + Alkali + Liquid = Soap
Just from employing wholesome ingredients into this elementary equation, we get a changed life and complexion.
Think about it.
Crafters and creatives are usually considered the MacGyvers of the family. We can improvise with the best of them when it comes to being innovative and making something out of nothing.
Soap makers typify the idea of doing the most with least.
We may only have a few ingredients at our disposal, but we can still turn out soap that your skin will fall in love with.
Soap making is as visual as it is physiological or fragrant.
Choosing ingredients, weighing ingredients, taking notes, blending, and mixing - all tasks, when doing them accurately, requires some focus and attention to detail.
Being observant beckons a quality product.
Waiting for soap to trace while in the pot and waiting for cure time to be over so we can bask in our creation are two areas that unquestionably flexes any soap maker's patience muscles.
However honoring these processes with mindfulness is important and easy to implement.
If I'm in between batches or don't have handmade soap of my own to use, I support other soap makers who are in business by purchasing their soap.
Although nothing beats the freedom and intrinsic purpose of making your own soap and toiletries, there are some incredible makers of natural handcrafted skincare out there.
Supporting their businesses spreads and expands the love these products were intentionally made with.
Mastery of the soap making process and a working knowledge of the raw materials used to make soap allow unparalleled autonomy when it comes to independence from commercial manufacturers and quality control of ingredients.
If you want to use unscented soap that has muru muru butter and a chickweed herbal infusion, well guess what, you can have it. You can make it yourself.
(By the way, the thought of using soap with the winning combination of muru muru butter and chickweed makes my skin smile and applaud.)
If you want your soap to be a lovely light shade of purple, smell like French lavender, with a marbled effect from white clay prettily swirled in, you can have that, too.
Once you get a handle on the soap making process (which I show you how to do in my ebook series Soapivore Soap Making) making your own soap will set you free from commercial soap.
Free from dry, flaky, blotchy skin.
Free from a not-so-supple appearance and complexion.
You WILL be free to display smooth, enviable, flawless, healthy skin.
4. Economies of scale
Over time, you can save money by making enough soap to last you several months, for less than what it would cost you to purchase the same amount of soap retail.
As a new soap maker, on average, you will incur costs in 4 areas:
(1) A digital scale and basic kitchen equipment to weigh and mix ingredients
(2) Safety gear like gloves and eye protection
(3) Molds and soap setting supplies
(4) Raw ingredients >> oils, butters, liquids (mostly distilled water),sodium hydroxide, etc.
After the upfront costs of gathering equipment and setup, and the ingredients you need (which, as we've already discussed, are simple, affordable, and obtainable), without breaking the bank you can crank out a nice stash of soap that could last you and a family of four through a full season or more (depending on the size of your soap batch, of course).
Once you purchase what you need to get started on the outset, your incurring costs will generally just be ingredients. If you buy ingredients such as oils, butters, and sodium hydroxide in bulk, you won't have to purchase them as often.
An aside:
Of course, should you start a business selling your soaps, your oils, butters, and sodium hydroxide purchases will be more frequent, and you will be factoring in other variables besides supplies and ingredients in your costs and expenses. I'm just referring to soap making as a hobby in the context of costs here.
5. Soap making is a life-long skill that affords you the ability to be independent of beauty industry conglomerates whose main objective is the health of their profit margins, not the health of your skin.
I won't go on a rant about the ills of commercial, mass-produced beauty products that claim to be "natural" when the only natural thing about them is their recycled packaging.
Don't have the time.
But I will say this...
Handcrafted soap made from natural ingredients, in my most humble opinion, is FAR MORE superior in quality than mass-produced soap ubiquitous on the market today.
Just read the list of ingredients on the packaging of any popular brand of soap sold in the Health and Beauty section of your typical big box store.
Many of these ingredients are actually surfactants and detergents. (Yes, detergents! As if we are bathing and washing ourselves in the heavy-duty cycle of our washing machines! Do we need to pour fabric softener over ourselves, too??)
Not to put these ingredients on blast because, really, we can't blame them. Surfactants and detergents have their places in civilized society, but not in our soap! Right?!
I think I might be ranting after all, so check it out for yourself.
Let's consider that ubiquitous oval-shaped soap we all know, Dove®, for example. Particularly the Sensitive Skin Unscented Beauty Bar.
Here's a screenshot of the soap packaging and the list of ingredients.
Now, let's take a look at these ingredients and assess what benefit, if any, to skin care they provide:
And again let me just say...I don't mean to diss these compounds; it's not their fault they are cheap substitutes for rich, nutritious oils and butters that our skin basks in.
Their development was strictly intended to boost the soap manufacturer's profit margin while concurrently giving the consumer (us) the familiar characteristics of the cleaning and foaming action of handmade soap. But doing so without the utilization of high-quality ingredients.
Bully for them!!
Not so wonderful for us.
The problem with the Dove company's methodology is that their "Sensitive Skin Beauty Bar"robs their customers of any real skincare benefit.
Your sensitive skin might be "clean", but it's also rough like a tumbleweed, itchy like you had a fight with a mosquito, and, over consistent use of the soap, may even break-out due to the dubious ingredients!
Your own handmade soap eliminates that ordeal instantly.
6. Soap making is a life-long skill that can be taught to others.
Aside from the numerous benefits provided by handmade soap made with high-quality ingredients, from one's fresh appearance and physical energy, to healthy skin and self-confidence, natural soap making is also a viable source of revenue, both as a physical product (selling the soap itself) and as a skill (teaching how to make the soap).
Many makers who sell their soap also conduct demonstrations, classes, and workshops for enthusiastic students who want to learn the craft of soap making. These events usually sell out fast, are fun and lively, and students typically take away their own soap and their imaginative wheels turning.
Before the advent of the modern-day internet, soap making knowledge came by either passing the knowledge down to the next generation or pouring over books on the subject.
The niche market of handcrafted soaps is still in the building stages, which is great news for those who are still learning the craft.
As we've already discovered, the natural body care market sees growth each year.
People aren't just interested in using these products, they want to learn how to make them as well. And they should. So I teach how you to make the highest quality soap possible for you and your skin in the Soapivore Soap Making Ebook Series.
7. Morality
In my experience, and in getting to know other soap makers and formulators of natural cosmetics, I've found that they tend to be people of high integrity.
More often than not, they began crafting soaps and natural body care products for the sole purpose of creating something beneficial and useful for themselves and others (meaning, not necessarily motivated by profit).
Moreover, similar to the reasons why I started to make soap, many of these makers had skin conditions that led them to research and ultimately find a solution that is largely based on using products with naturally derived ingredients.
This is carried even further to makers who start natural soap and body care businesses to create and share high-level, premium-quality products. These products make a significant impact on the lives, confidence, and self-esteem of the people who use them.
Makers of these products put a lot of thought, love, and care into their formulations, from how the ingredients are sourced to how the products are packaged. These products are made with humans (and oftentimes their animals and pets) in mind, with the intention of making our lives better.
Ultimately making a positive moral impact for all of us.
And isn't that what the world needs more of?
8. Start (or support) a small business that sells handmade soap.
To piggyback on reasons #6 and #7, if you can make soap, you can sell what you make or you can teach others how to make it.
Conversely, if you want to use handmade soap, there are wonderful soap makers you can support with your dollars who offer beautifully-crafted, gloriously-scented soap, made with one-of-a-kind ingredient combinations.
The Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetic Guild is a trade organization that supports and promotes natural soap and cosmetic makers.
9. One word: Glycerin. The moisturizing compound that is retained in handcrafted soap.
Glycerin serves us and serves us well.
Why?
Moisturizers.
Lotions and creams are big business, and although they are wonderful additions to our skincare routine and regimen (I highly recommend using moisturizers!), handcrafted soap lessens our reliance on them.
Because of glycerin.
Handcrafted soap retains this skin-softening humectant and byproduct of the saponification process. Hence, consistent and continuous use of handmade soap will encourage our skin to remain supple, moisturized, and glowing without the requirement that we also use lotions and creams to compensate.
Statistics show that the US toiletries industry generates over $7 billion in annual revenue from the sale of lotions, creams, and oils.
$7 BILLION!
Just from lotions and creams!
That's a lot of ashy!
So as you can see, commercial lotion and cream manufacturers (and by extension commercial soap makers) make big bucks off of your dryness.
10. Endless possibilities of oil, butter, liquid, and fragrance combinations.
The oils!
The butters!
I mean, who doesn't love a good, luscious body butter to smack up, whip, and rub down on our entire body??!!
For a quick primer on a selection of delectable oils and butters that I really love in soap and in other body care products, check out this blog post.
There are so many choices when it comes to, really, the most crucial ingredient in ANY soap formulation, whether handmade or not.
Hard butters, semi-soft butters, fruit butters, dark oils, light oils, nutty oils, herbal oils...
And scent that bad boy with an aromatherapy blend from an endless smorgasbord of essential oils and resins.
We deserve, okay?
Then factor in the liquid phase of soap making. One of the many beautiful things about handcrafted soap is that the artisan has innumerable liquid options to dissolve the alkali needed to activate saponification.
Not just water...oh no no.
Flower and herb water infusions, nut milks, goat milk, fruit juices, vegetable purees...
Not to mention, you literally have your pick of nutrients and additives to take your formulations to the next level...
Clays...powdered oats...powdered herbs...flower petals...
Your skin is licking its chops just thinking about the abundance of luxury available to it.
Making your own soap gives you the FREEDOM TO CHOOSE your ingredients, from every phase of the process.
YOU are in control. YOU get what YOU want.
11. Soap batches can be customized in a variety of ways to address the specific needs of the user.
You are in control. You get to customize and structure your soap formulations based on factors that matter most to you, whether those factors are associated with:
As well, customization and/or unique, not-often or ever-seen combinations of ingredients and techniques, are huge unique selling propositions for soap making businesses.
You can structure your product lines to appeal to specific segments of your market, and promote your soaps to those niche markets in ways that resonate with them.
For instance, strategically promoting your unscented goat milk and oat soap to customers who have sensitive or aging skin, or marketing soap scented with a sexy, deep fragrance during a Valentine's Day sales campaign.
There are an infinite number of ways to be creative when customizing your soap batches.
12. Need a last-minute gift? Your extra soap could be that gift.
When you make soap, you will undoubtedly have a stash of finished inventory on hand at any given time.
Beautifully scented, cut, and packaged soap makes a warmhearted, thoughtful gift.
Occasions to share your beautifully packaged soap:
I've outlined 12 distinct reasons why, if the body, mind, and heart are willing, soap making is an honorable skill to develop, and even take to market.
I've talked about how energetically uplifting handcrafted soap is to use.
How it can improve the tone and texture of your skin.
That it has the capability to soothe a variety of skin conditions.
I have an awesome resource for you that will show you how to make your own soap
Download and print the cheat sheet that outlines why producing and bathing with handcrafted soap are sybaritic experiences that should be enjoyed, shared, and promoted.
Medical Advice Disclaimer:
The information in this blog article has not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration. The information in this article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases or conditions. This article provides the reader with practical information regarding handcrafted soap making, based on basic soap-making science and ancient anecdotal practices of health and beauty. In no way should the contents of this article be regarded as medical advice. It is recommended that the reader perform a patch test before using any formula described. The author and all invested parties will not be held responsible for any allergic or adverse reactions, contraindications, or ill effects from manufacturing or using any products described in this article.
©Michelle Morgan, The Anointed Bar, LLC
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