10 Reasons why you should give handmade soap a try

10 Reasons why you should give handmade soap a try

1. It doesn’t dry your skin out

When I used my first bar of handmade soap in 1999, I couldn’t believe how good and luxurious it felt. My dry skin suddenly became soft and normal and the skin allergies I battled with for a long time, disappeared. Always a lover of indulgent bath products, it felt as if I had discovered one of the best kept secrets in the world.

I am grateful that soap making came across my path because it changed everything. Today I have forgotten what it feels like to always struggle with itchy, dry skin.

2. It lasts longer, much longer

Yes, you are reading right. A handmade soap lasts much longer than its synthetic counterpart. A big, chunky bar like ours will last 4 to 6 weeks of everyday use. It is of course important not to leave it lying in water, but you will see that the soap remains good to the last bit.

3. It is kinder to the environment

Real soap is bio-degradable and non-toxic. It will not kill our wildlife, fish or plants. I always tell the story of my rottweiler who thought the soap was food and ate a whole bar. She was no worse for the wear, although I do believe she had spotlessly clean insides.

4. It cleans better

It almost sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? A soap that is non-drying and yet it cleans better, but it is for real. Whether you are a gardener, mechanic or axe murderer, real soap will get you spotlessly clean.

5. It doesn’t aggravate eczema

Handmade soap is so mild and gentle that it will not aggravate eczema or any other skin condition. If you are a sufferer, start off using a colour- and fragrance free soap. Once you experience how well real soap treats your skin, you can move to a 100% natural soap like our Rooibos & Honey or our Oatmeal, Milk and Honey soaps.

6. You are MUCH less likely to have an allergic reaction to it.

A dermatologist told me that allergies are rising year-on-year by a whopping 25%. We see this in our shop all the time and it is really worrying. The good news is that you are much less likely to have an allergic reaction to natural soap. As a matter of fact, returning to natural ingredients in all your body products are advisable. What I have found to my surprise, is that natural products just work better in general, even if you don’t believe all the scare-mongering.

7. It is true soap and true love soap is hard to find

Did you know that you are not allowed by law to call a synthetic detergent bar a soap if it does not contain at least a certain percentage of the real thing? Hence one finds beauty bars, cleansing bars, moisturising bars. True soap is expensive to manufacture in both ingredients and process. The majority of real soap we find in South Africa are either imported or handmade. You are one of the lucky ones if you have access to handmade soap.

8. It is preservative-free

Soap is naturally alkaline, which makes it hard for yucky things to grow. What this means for you is that you do not have to expose yourself to yet another preservative, just pure comforting goodness.

9. It is made by real people – not machines

We are returning to a time where the love and effort real people put into producing beautiful things, are appreciated once again. Besides, with the large unemployment figures in South Africa it is always better to support products that are produced by hand rather than some soulless machine. My staff constantly tell me how much they love their job and I understand completely. There is little more satisfying than producing products that are beneficial, luxurious and appreciated. I am still the main soap maker for the company and it remains an act of love and enjoyment.

10. It has been around since forever

Handmade soap has been around for centuries. It is as tried and tested as you could wish for. During World War II, the oils and fats used to make soap were needed to feed people, hence the advent of synthetic detergent bars, or what people commonly and wrongly consider as soap today. Unfortunately, when the war ended, there wasn’t a return to real, good soap as by then it was recognised that far bigger profit was possible with synthetic cleansing bar