We're going to let you in on a dirty little secret.
Not all handmade soap is truly handmade.
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Handmade soap is good for you. It's made from nutrient-dense ingredients such as coconut oil, olive oil, + cocoa butter. All natural handmade soap contains no artificial colorants or fragrances. We sell all natural handmade soaps. They are made from scratch using raw ingredients. All of our colorants and scents are botanical-based in the form of dried ground-up flowers, natural clays, root powders, essential oils, etc.
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A great bar of handmade soap takes hard work and skill. Weights and measurements must be perfect. A healthy respect for handling lye is essential. And lots of practice is required, too!
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Many handcrafted soaps are made from "melt and pour" soap base. Soap makers like it because it's easy to use. All that is needed is to melt the soap base in a pot or a microwave, and then it's poured into a mold. Some makers add fragrance or colorants. We do not consider this to be "handmade" soap. We refer to it as "hand-poured" soap.
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The main reason we choose not to use melt and pour is because we do not approve of the ingredients found in most formulas. For example, we do not approve of propylene glycol, which is found in nearly every melt and pour soap base. While we can debate the toxicity of propylene glycol, the fact remains that there is no room for this ingredient in an "all natural" soap.
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Even more concerning is that we've seen several melt and pour soaps being sold as "handmade" and select ingredients such as propylene glycol are omitted from the makers' labels. The FDA requires cosmetics to have an “ingredient declaration,” a list of all the product's ingredients under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA). Omitting ingredients from the label is illegal practice.
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This lack of transparency warrants further questioning of the soap maker. If their product is truly handmade and all natural, they will be proud to explain their process.