| Purchase Direct from these Shops >> |
Commercially available soaps often have added ingredients such as chemical preservatives, stabilizers, colourants and fragrances, some of which can be skin irritants. Petroleum based detergents may also be included in order to make the soap lather more effectively.
This may explain why soap doesn't always have a favourable reputation in skincare and is seen by some as a harsh method of cleansing, which can leave the skin dry, tight and itchy. However, natural soap is a very different product and is made from just three main ingredients - water, fat and caustic soda.
When combined correctly, the resulting mixture consists of approximately 75% saponified oil (the soap itself) and 25% glycerin (which acts as an emollient and is often removed in commercial soap in order to be sold separately). Traditionally made soap can also be 'superfatted' - that is, additional oils can be added during the soap making process, leaving a soap that is more suitable for dryer skins.
If you'd like to try a gentler alternative to most commercially available soaps look out for soaps made traditionally, with the glycerine content intact and fragranced naturally with essential oils.
However, we would like to point out that naturally made soap can contain palm kernel oil, an ingredient which although is good for your skin, can be responsible for deforestation of rainforest in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia as land is cleared to make way for palm oil plantations. The palm oil industry threatens native species and is now considered by scientists as the biggest threat to the orang-utan, which could be extinct in the wild within 12 years if deforestation continues at it's current rate. If you are using soap made with palm oil then we would urge you to contact the manufacturer to enquire whether they are using palm oil from sustainable sources.
Scene Green recommended products
