There are a lot of ingredients in cosmetics that often don’t make sense to many of us.
And while it doesn’t mean that this is a bad thing, it does make it harder to understand what you are putting on your skin.
Our ingredients list is already a lot shorter than that of most products you find in the supermarket, but there are still some you might be wondering about. Therefore, we have created a quick list of the most common ingredients in our bar soaps and explained why we use them, and what they do.
THE CORE INGREDIENTS
Our regular soap bars consist of a minimum of 6 ingredients:
OLIVE OIL: We get our olive oil as locally as possible. It always comes from Australia, but the exact location differs, depending on the year. In the past, we have managed to get it from just down the road, but at the moment we need to look further and get our olive oil from Victoria.
COCONUT OIL: Coconut oil is something we can’t affordably get from Australia, but we are working with some great Social Enterprises, doing amazing work in the Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. Check out Kokonut Pacific and Los Palos Coconut Oil to find out more.
Both of these oils contribute to a gentle, long-lasting bar of soap with a nice lather.
LYE: Lye, aka Sodium Hydroxide, aka Caustic Soda is THE reason soap exists. It’s basically the magic ingredient that turns oils and fats into soap. It’s a funny ingredient, as on its own it’s powerful and can be dangerous, but mix it with oils and fats, and it turns into a gentle, very safe substance called soap. The actual lye is not present in the end products, which is why we mention saponified oils (saponified meaning the oils have reacted to the lye), rather than lye in the ingredients list.
ESSENTIAL OILS: We use many different essential oils, and they come from many different places. Essential oils are natural oils generated by distillation of the raw material. They are the forces behind our beautiful scents!
SODIUM LACTATE AND GLUCONATE: Sodium Lactate and Gluconate are ingredients derived from the natural fermentation of sugars in corn and beets. They give the soap a smoother texture and a better lather.
ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS
Some of our products have additional ingredients, which makes them more suitable for the job they do, and gives them their specific look and feel.
CLAYS AND SPICES: Depending on the type of bar soap, we often use clays and spices to colour the bars. We use a variety of pink clay, kaolin clay, turmeric, cocoa and more.
CHARCOAL: We use charcoal only in our detox facial bar. Activated charcoal is a powder that is made by heating carbon-rich materials like wood or coconut shells, in the absence of oxygen. It absorbs a wide range of substances, which is where it gets its cleansing abilities.
EXFOLIANTS: Exfoliants are fun to play around with. Our favourite ones are crushed walnut shells and crushed macadamia shells. Their texture is very different from each other, so they both make completely different bars. Another great thing about using these is that they are waste materials, and there is nothing better than turning something that is waste, into something useful!
OTHER OILS AND BUTTERS such as Sweet Almond oil, Shae butter and Castor oil. We add these extra oils to some bars to make them more moisturising and softer.
There you go, our most common ingredients. We love creating new recipes with these. The natural, high quality ingredients ensure a effective, yet gentle bar with an amazing scent and feel.