I’m a handmade soap junkie. So is my kiddo. We both love the ‘flavors’ and the great smell and the fact that all the fats and oils in those handmade bars make our skin feel terrific. It’s not inexpensive, but I’ve found that real, handmade soap is far, far superior to the stuff I can pick up at my grocery store. Why though? I mean, why doesn’t the store stuff smell as good or make my skin feel as good? I knew the ingredients are different, but not exactly why I liked this stuff so much better.
I found this post from SwanMountainSoaps in the etsy forum that explained it perfectly. Thought I would share:
The “soaps” you see on supermarket shelves are not usually soap. Almost all of them are detergent bars. (Notice how they call themselves “beauty bars” or whatnot?) And like the stuff you put in your washing machine, they can strip the natural oils from your skin. That’s fine with the people in the next isle who want to sell you a lot of lotion and Vaseline, but it really isn’t so good for your skin.
True handmade soaps retain the glycerine that is a natural byproduct of the soapmaking process. Glycerine is a humectant – it draws moisture to your skin. And soapmakers usually formulate their soaps so that a wee bit of the skin-loving oils they use will remain on your skin.
Handmade soap is more expensive. It is. But, really, you get what you pay for. I buy a LOT, and have several fave sellers that keep my supplied. One of the things I do is slice the bars into 3 or 4 pieces. The kiddo gets his own soap in his own fave ‘flavors’. Slicing these ultra thick bars into several pieces helps them to last longer during the nightly kiddo bath extravaganzas.
Two recent favorite scents are:
Blueberry Muffin (YUM.. this smells JUST as good as the real thing)
Handmade blueberry muffin soap
Michelle, from Pegasus Soaps made the roll soap, below, in grape and cherry flavors for the kiddo. They smell JUST like popsicles. Can I tell you how much he LOVES them? !! 
handmade roll up soap
And what kind of handmade soap and bath products do you use?
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I love homemade soap too.
Anole Nook in Pittsboro, NC. is my favorite supplier. Made from [her] local goat’s milk. She has great fragrances: Cafe Amaretto, Grapefruit, Verbena…yummm
I absolutely love handmade soap as gifts and for myself!! Great post!
Thank you for including one of my soaps. I also make a variety of cold and hot process soaps too. That blueberry muffins soap looks divine and I bet it is awesome! Great post and I couldn’t have explained it any better the difference between store bought and handmade soap.
I am a newbie to handmade soap and I agree, I LOVE it! It doesnt dry out my hands like regular soap does
I LOVE handmade soap! I am always so rushed that I never have time to put lotion on after I get out of the shower, and now, with handmade soaps, I very rarely need it. And I live in South Dakota, where it gets super cold and dry in the winter. All I ever need is just a touch of lotion on my elbows and I’m good to go! I can’t quite get everyone else converted, though!
I haven’t used store bought soap in about three years. Refuse to use it. After I started using handmade soap, I found I don’t have to use body lotion quite so much anymore!
Bar of soap? It looks more like a candy bar
Traditional Soap is fat, lye and water to which scents or organic additives may be added…thinking here of flower petals, etc. Glycerine is extracted from this original soap that goes back to the glory days of Greece, many thousand years ago.
This type of soap moisturizes the body, leaving a minute layer of oil on the skin whereas other so called “soaps” strip the body’s natural oils.
Glycerine, in soapmaking, is a by-product of the saponification of fats, animal, olive oil, coconut oil, etc. I much prefer the traditional fat, lye, water “cold method” combination without the addition of man-made glycerine which uses the “melt and pour” method. I’m not exactly sure why though as both are wonderful but I just prefer the solidity of, what to my eye is, “real” soap.
Funny, eh? -smile-
posts like this is why i have your rss feed in my radar