Keep your hands clean with handmade soap!

With today's emphasis on natural body care, even the ordinary bar of soap has come under the microscope. And for good reason too. After all, soap is a result of a chemical process (saponification) and most modern, mass produced soaps are detergents,  i.e. petroleum based. Hence, natural handmade soap is gaining popularity.

Natural hand made soap v. commercial soap?

So what are the benefits of using a handmade bar of soap over a mass produced, commercially available bar of soap? The mass produced bars of soap often have ingredients, like alkali, that cause skin irritation in some people. If after using a soap, your skin is left feeling tight, dry or itchy, its reacting to the chemicals in the soap.

The main difference between the handmade soaps and the commercially produced ones is the glycerine content in a handmade bar of soap. For commercial interests, the manufacturers of mass produced soap extract the glycerine from soap to put into more expensive products like liquid soaps, lotions and creams. And its the glycerine that is so important for good skin care - it keeps it soft and healthy.

Another advantage of hand-made soaps is that they are often milder than commercially produced ones. A good quality handmade bar of soap is usually made from natural oils and fats like shea butter, cocoa butter, coconut, palm or olive oil. None of these naturally occurring products contain the harmful chemicals found in a mass produced bar of soap.

To make our handmade bar of natural soap complete, all we now need to add is a scent. Essential oils and spices are extracted from natural sources - lavender, myrrh, cinnamon, vanilla and peppermint to name just a few can be added to make our bar of soap personal.

So for the best in bath and body care, leave the commercial soaps on the shelf and experiment a little with a handmade bar of natural soap.