The Search for Soap
It can be very overwhelming looking for new products. There are way too many choices. Something as simple as getting a new bar of soap can turn into a week long research project. The time and dedication is above anything we should be toiling over when it comes to soap. But that’s exactly what I did.
I need a new soap. I’ve been using a plain Ivory bar of soap for a few years now. Partly, because I wanted something plain that didn’t have a bunch of chemicals in it, and partly because I wanted something easy. Sadly, it’s just not doing a great job. It’s kind of drying. I had really oily skin most of my life and so the idea that I might need to moisturize never even crossed my mind as a possibility until recently. I admit I went way overboard when it came to working on my skin in my early twenties. I had horrible acne and nothing doctors were giving me seemed to work, so when I literally stumbled upon this very high-end, successful esthetician who told me she could fix me, I jumped at the chance. Well, it worked, better than anything else I had tried. Unfortunately, I took it too far. Even after the acne was under control, I despised the scars it had left and kept at it. She gave me all the treatments for a discount and I couldn’t get enough of them. Chemical peels, laser treatments, all sorts of creams, on a weekly or monthly basis for years. The scars got better but my skin would pay the price years later. A few times I wasn’t careful enough, and I went out into the sun after a treatment. Maybe that did it? I also scoffed at the idea that she was possibly using ingredients that had been banned and taken off the market. Did that stop me? Nope, not really. When I think of what I might have been letting soak into my skin on my face and neck, I now shudder. At the time, all I could focus on was getting perfect skin and I didn’t care how. I eventually had to stop going because I couldn’t afford it anymore, but the damage had been done. Well, a year before my wedding my skin finally got around to collecting on that “debt” and I got light brown splotches (like birthmarks) all over my face and now my skin is just plain old dry. Life was too stressful though, there were mountains of problems on my plate and all my time and energy went toward trying desperately to hold things together. I had no time to deal with my skin, or wear makeup for that matter, so I just gave up for a couple years. Sure, it hit my self esteem hard, but what could I do? My skin was the least of my problems during that time.
Well, that’s changed. It’s time I gave myself a bit of attention and care. Self improvement is a great thing. And it’s been too long since I’ve really taken care of myself. That is a very long side note to get around to soap, but there you have it. I needed new soap. Nice soothing, moisturizing soap. I figure I’ll deal with my skin’s texture first and tackle the discoloration later, since the last thing I want to do is add more chemicals to my skin. And who knows, maybe it will resolve itself if I can just get my skin healthier. Where to begin? It’s not so easy, well not when you want to find the cleanest, most natural, organic, toxin free ingredients. After far too much research, cross referencing the EWG website (because not everything they say is “safe” might be good for me personally), and reading long scientific journals, Out of the several companies that seemed to make the cut, I ended up choosing three. I felt they were offering what I wanted and seemed relatively established enough to make me feel good about using their soap. Also… I kind of want it to look pretty, so that was a small factor. This soap is supposed to make me feel pampered and relaxed and that includes the whole picture. Packaging and display affects us. Our minds make a much larger difference in how we react to things than anyone seems to care to admit. So presentation matters too.
Since I did all this research, I figured why not let someone else benefit from it as well… or maybe just record it so if I forget in a year I can reference my own work? Let’s narrow the field as much as possible: bar soap only. So below are the three brands I ended up ordering.
Option #1: Makes 3 Organics
Here’s a company that is EWG verified and located in the U.S. Cheers for less expensive shipping costs. They also had a sampler pack (or guest soap package as they call it). Basically I get to try all of their soaps for under $10.
Ingredients: Safflower and/or Sunflower Oils, Coconut Oil, Palm Fruit Oil, Shea Butter, Water, Sodium Hydroxide (None remains after saponifying), Rosemary Extract.
Well, that seems pretty good to me. Oils that I don’t have any bad reactions to as far as I know. Rosemary Extract, doubt that will bother me. The only thing I noticed that I was confused by was on some of their soap, this unscented one for instance, under its Description it says, “Contains cinnamic acid.” Where exactly does that possibly come from? It’s not in the ingredients list above which I copied directly from its website page. And then some of their soaps don’t say it. Like this next one.
Ingredients: Organic Safflower and/or Sunflower Oils, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Palm Fruit Oil, Water, Sodium Hydroxide (None remains after saponifying), Orange Five Fold Essential Oil, Sweet Orange Essential Oil, Blood Orange Essential Oil, Geranium Essential Oil, Lemongrass Essential Oil, Organic Annatto Powder, Rosemary Extract.
Nothing about that cinnamic acid on this one’s description page. Maybe it was a typo? Or something left over from an old recipe? Not sure. But I still have a good feeling about this soap. Other than the essential oils that are really up in the air whether they irritate you or not, everything else looks safe and healthy.
Option #2: Rocky Mountain Soap
What really drew me in here, besides just how fresh and enticing their soap looks on their website was… two words. Goat Milk. They have a soap made with goat milk and that’s harder to find than you might think, especially in an all organic bar without other ingredients that you might be avoiding. There’s so few ingredients in this one. I’m not the biggest fan of lavender so it would have been nice to have a few more goat milk options in other scents, but maybe they will add more in the future. They do have a nice Honey, Oats, & Cocoa bar, that I’m going to try. That one has Ylang Ylang however, which I’m not thrilled about, but I really like the honey.
Ingredients: Goat Milk, Aqua (water), Sodium Cocoate Sodium Cocoate (Coconut Oil), Sodium Olivate (Olive Oil), Sodium Shea Butterate (Shea Butter), Sodium Sunflowerate (Sunflower Oil), Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil
Option #3: Chagrin Valley Soap and Salve
Last but not least, this company I discovered after I had ordered from the two above. These soaps are probably the most fancy seeming, in the sense that they have a lot of alluring scents and combinations. Not sure what this one is going to actually be like, but how could I pass it up? And they have sample size bars, yay!
Ingredients: Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Virgin Shea Butter, Organic Palm Oil (Sustainable), Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Organic Coconut Milk, Organic Castor Bean Oil, Organic Cocoa (Fair Trade), Organic Chocolate (Fair Trade), Organic Honey, Organic Cornstarch, Organic Rosemary Oil Extract (ROE)
That one above felt more like a self indulgence, so I needed something plain to evaluate as well. I ended up going for this very nice simple option.
Ingredients: Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Organic Babassu Oil, Organic Cocoa Butter,Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Organic Rosemary Oil Extract (ROE)
I’m not exactly sure about the ROE in this one and the Makes 3 Organics version of that ingredient listed as just Rosemary Extract. I read somewhere that it helps prevent yellow spots on soap and from oils going rancid, but isn’t a preservative in the traditional sense. However, hard soap bars don’t need preservatives the same way that liquid soap does. I’ve been bombarded with a lot of information over this soap journey of mine. Organic is clearly the better choice, but it can be hard to find a company that has all safe ingredients and you can also feel confident knows how (and has the infrastructure) to preserve them in a reliable way.
If you’ve ever tried any of these three soap brands, I would love to hear how you enjoyed them. What scents you found the best and any other scientific information about the processes they use. I’m excited for these to arrive in the mail. Hopefully they will get here before the holidays start and I can try them all out. I may do an update post if the soaps turn out better (or worse) than I expected.