About Soap Bars
How Do I Choose a Soap?
Once customers try a good handmade soap and realize how much better it makes their skin feel, they rarely go back to using commercial soap. But with so many scents and types, how do you pick the right one? Some people choose by fragrance or color, others are looking for a specific ingredient. For facial use I usually recommend a soap without artificial color or fragrance, and my facial soaps are made with half the amount of essential oils that I use for my bath soap. But all of my soap is gentle: I suggest trying a few different kinds and deciding for yourself which is right for you. I sell samplers of facial and bath soaps, of soap that men like, and five ounce bundles of soap slivers. My website is divided into categories (some of my soap falls into more than one category) so you can find a particular ingredient or scent more easily.
Are your soaps vegan?
Most of my soaps (and many of my other products) are vegan. There are a few that are not because they contain either goat milk, honey, or silk. I always list all ingredients on the product label. You can also search for vegan products with the search window.
Is your soap glycerin soap?
Mystic Water Soap is made the old-fashioned way using superior ingredients like olive and other food-grade vegetable oils, shea butter, goat or coconut milk, honey, herbs, plant essential oils and quality fragrances. And yes, it does contain glycerin, because whenever you make soap, glycerin is produced as a natural by-product of the chemical reaction between oils and lye. But what most people call glycerin soap is actually a prepared detergent or soap base clarified with alcohol and sugar. That kind of soap is also known as "melt & pour" soap because the artisan can melt it multiple times, scent it, and pour it into molds. It can be colored to mimic traditional soap and it can be very artistic. I use melt & pour only for making my transparent Goldfish, Frog and Mermaid children's soaps and luffa hand soaps.
I’ve heard that lye is bad for you.
Is there lye in your soap?
Without lye, oils cannot become soap and glycerin is just a sticky liquid. All real soap is made with lye. The two types of lye that are commonly used are sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide. Hard soaps are made with sodium hydroxide, while liquid soaps are made with potassium hydroxide. Cream soaps and soft soaps are made with a combination of both. Even melt and pour “glycerin soaps” are initially made with lye. But there is no lye left over in the finished soap: the oil and lye have been completely transformed into pure soap and moisturizing glycerin.
What is the difference between essential oil and fragrance oil?
Essential oils are derived from plant sources and are concentrated extracts that are usually steam distilled or pressed from some part of the plant: leaves, flowers, peels, roots, etc. Synthetic fragrance oils are created in laboratories to mimic natural oils, but also to create scents that cannot be extracted from plants: violet, melon, strawberry and others (not to mention bubble gum!) are always fragrances and not natural essential oils. When I use essential oils they will be listed on the label either by their Latin botanical name or common name, if it is a synthetic it will say "fragrance".
Is your soap all organic?
No, if I used exclusively organic oils I would not be able to price my products competitively. I use organic herbs, shea butter, goat milk and other selected organic ingredients for particular products. But all of my soaps are made with food-grade oils and are genuine made-from-scratch cold process or hot process soaps.