And The Ingredients Are...

As a holistic educator, I have always been curious about ingredients. When I first started making candles and soaps, I did so because I wanted to know every single ingredient that the products that I made contained. Particularly when it came to soap (or beauty bars, or cleansing bars as they have more commonly become known), I was astounded when I started to pay attention to the ingredients of these products that I had been using consistently for decades. The more time I spent researching, the more concerned I became and the more resolute I became about making my own soap.

Soap at its most basic, is made by combining fats with potash or lye. The chemical reaction between these substances produces a salt, which is called soap. Any true soap is produced by this method, called saponification. While historically, soaps were an excellent way to clean the skin, the corresponding drying of the skin that occurred led to the modification and addition of ingredients to create soap that while deeply cleansing, was also moisturizing to the skin. As the commercialization of soap increased, the production process was modified to such an extent that many of the beauty and cleansing bars of today cannot even be called "soap", because they are no longer produced by combining lye with fats or oils. The process of making true soap has become so refined, that there is a vast array of amazing soaps that are both cleansing and moisturizing, that have not sacrificed the quality or number of ingredients.

One of the issues is that making really high-quality bars of soap can be costly. Many mass-produced beauty or cleansing bars are made far more cheaply by using cheaper chemical alternatives and dyes. One only has to look at the list of ingredients on any of the mass-produced bars to see just how many different substances are used to make those bars. Truth is, we should apply this concern to so many products that we consume, but I am limiting my scope in this blog to candles and soap that I make.

Whether I am making candles or soap, I really care about the ingredients I use. Each ingredient that I use in my products has been carefully selected for its integrity, its therapeutic value, and its natural state. As I deepen my journey into sustainability and environmentally friendly products, I am becoming more aware of the importance of sourcing ingredients, as well as including every ingredient of my products. As my business grows, I remain committed to creating and selling products that I actually use in my personal life, so that I never become disconnected from my core values, which are so deeply connected to the earth.