Why Use Natural Soaps?
Natural Soaps Are Made With Natural Ingredients! Natural! Commercial Soaps Are NOT!
As you stroll down the aisles of the supermarket or drug store you will see an assortment of body cleansers to choose from that are labeled as body bars, body washes, cleansing bars, skincare bars, deodorant soaps, and even beauty bars. They are nothing more than detergents in disguise.
Commercial bar "soaps" and body washes are generally produced on a large scale with synthetic detergents, preservatives, synthetic fragrance oils, and synthetic colorants which can irritate your skin.
Our natural organic soap bars contain only the ingredients that they need—not the extra preservatives that liquid body washes or commercial bars "soaps" require to increase their shelf life.
Commercial liquid body washes are 97% water! Water-based products need preservatives!
Our natural Handmade Soaps are made in small batches with materials found in nature, like pure plant-based oils, oats, honey, and goat milk.
They contain no animal fats, no synthetic oils, no artificial fragrances, no detergents, and no chemical preservatives.
Natural Soaps Contain No Detergents
Commercial "soap" bars and body washed are made from various detergents, synthetic materials, processed chemicals and cleansers, and stabilizers that are harsh on your hair and scalp and strip it of its natural protective oils and moisture.
These bars are often called "syndet" bars.
Since syndets are synthetic detergents they do not meet the legal definition of the word "soap."
You will notice that I keep placing "quotes" around the word soap. That's because your commercial soap is probably not real soap it is detergent.
In order to compensate for the way in which they strip natural oils from your skin, you reach for the bottle of lotion.
Although lather has little to do with how well a soap cleans your skin, consumers often judge a soap product on how well it lathers. That is why most commercial liquid body washes and soap bars use detergent surfactants or foam boosters such as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) or members of its family. These synthetic foam boosters generate a large amount of foamy lather.
Many synthetic surfactants, like sodium lauryl sulfate, were originally designed as industrial cleaners. These surfactants can be found in items like garage floor cleaners, engine degreasers, and car wash soaps. Many, also found in personal care products, are known skin irritants.
Do not be fooled by companies that claim "no SLS" on their labels. They have often simply substituted one of its relatives like sodium laureth sulfate, ammonium laureth sulfate or sodium coco sulfate.
The strong detergents in commercial soaps can dry the skin and may contribute to irritated skin conditions like eczema.
Our foamy lather comes from natural lathering oils like coconut, babassu, and castor bean. Please read our blog "How Does Natural Soap Create Lather?"
Natural Soaps Contain No Synthetic Fragrances or Colors
Commercial "soaps" and even some handmade soaps use synthetic fragrances or "nature identical" oils, colorants, and other additives that can irritate your skin.
Thousands of ingredients are used to create a synthetic scent. These ingredients come in powder or crystalline form and need solvents in order to be dissolved.
A common solvent that has been used for over 50 years is DEP (Di Ethyl Phthalate). Phthalates, known to cause birth defects in animals, are used to create synthetic fragrances and are also added to cosmetics to extend the shelf life. They are used in the production of plastics to increase their durability and flexibility.
Some companies reduce the strength of their fragrance oils by cutting them with chemicals like (Di Propylene Glycol). The sad fact--since "fragrance" blends are usually proprietary, the consumer never sees the list of chemicals used to create them.
Scented with pure botanical essential oils and colored with natural clays, organic juices and organic botanicals like herbs, spices, flowers, and root powders, Chagrin Valley natural soaps bars contain only natural and organic ingredients.
Natural Soaps are More Moisturizing
Our natural soap bars are formulated with lots of extra plant oil and butters in a process called "superfatting." Superfatted soaps have superior moisturizing and emollient qualities. Since adding extra oils and butters can decrease the shelf-life of a soap bar, commercial soaps sacrifice the moisturizing properties for their "forever" shelf-life.
The natural chemical reaction of making soap is called saponification. Once saponification is complete, the ingredients have combined and chemically changed into soap and glycerin. Glycerin is a humectant that draws moisture from the air to the skin creating a moisturizing protective layer.
Commercial soap companies remove the glycerin from their soaps. The excess glycerin will decrease the shelf-life. Also, these companies can sell the glycerin to companies or use it themselves to make the lotion your skin needs after using commercial soap.
Thus superfatting plus natural saponification creates a soap bar full of moisturizing, natural oils, and natural glycerin.
Natural Soap Bars Are Environmentally Friendly
Our organic natural soap bars are eco-friendly.
They are biodegradable and made with no synthetic chemicals to contaminate our water supply.
Many of the synthetic chemicals found in commercial soaps do not naturally break down.
Instead, as they wash down our drains and accumulate in our ecosystems.
These chemicals infiltrate our lakes, streams, rivers, and public water systems.
Our soaps are made with organic ingredients. Organic ingredients mean organic farming and organic farming is better for the environment. It improves the quality of our environment by protecting our land and groundwater from contamination and by promoting the use of sustainable resources and the conservation of soil and water.
Natural Soap Bars are Travel-Friendly
Our soap bars are great for traveling. These bars can double as body soap, shaving soap, and even shampoo which makes them great for camping, traveling, business trips, and the gym.
Learn More Blog: "Insider Tips: Places We Take Our Natural Soap"
Special Natural Soap Recipes Provide Great Variety
Any soap is only as good as the ingredients used to make it!
If you have tried a handmade soap and did not like it please know that "Not All Handmade Soaps are Created Equal!"
We begin each of our natural soap bar recipes with a special blend of skin-nourishing oils and butters. Each oil is chosen for the special properties it gives to the soap.
We make each soap bar unique by adding a variety of butters and oils, essential oils, oils infused with botanicals, juices, and other wholesome additives that promote naturally clean and healthy skin.
The result of our painstaking, meticulous soapmaking process is a mild, rich, moisturizing soap that feels creamy in your hands, offers a magnificent long-lasting lather, and leaves your skin clean, soft, silky, and radiantly healthy.
In conclusion: Why Use A Natural Soap Bar?
- They are real soap and they are natural
- Handmade in small batches with high quality natural and organic ingredients
- No synthetic detergents
- No synthetic fragrances or colors
- Super moisturizing
- Environmentally friendly
And last, but not least . . . When you purchase a handmade natural soap, you are supporting a small business that truly cares about and believes in the products they make.
When we say NATURAL we mean NATURAL!
That is our promise to you!
How We Make Soap At Chagrin Valley
Is There Lye In Natural Soap? Won't It Harm My Skin?
The True Cost of Commercial Soap
