Handmade Soap Benefits for the Skin

Author: Balaji Shankar, Jun 1, 2024

What is handmade soap?

Soap is produced by blending a highly alkaline solution with acids to form a near neutral solid called soap. The most common alkaline substance used in soap making is Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) a.k.a lye. To be more precise, the blending is actually a very energy intensive whipping process. This is to ensure that the alkali and acids form a homogeneous mixture which is then poured into silicon or wooden molds of desired shapes and sizes to form soap.

When the blending process is done by hand it is called as handmade soap. The blending may also be done by a power-driven stick blender which the soap maker holds in his hand and blends (which is still called handmade).

Handmade soap ingredients

At the simplest form, handmade soap has 3 ingredients : RO water, caustic soda and some fat (like coconut oil or olive oil or tallow. Tallow is the hard fat around the kidneys and loins of cattle, sheep, pigs and horses.[1] )

Creating an aqueous lye solution (caustic soda and water), letting it cool and then blending it with fat is how soap is made.

But as we love variety, we like to add scents, fragrances, color, other smoothening agents, moisturizers and so on - leading to a virtually unlimited list and combination of ingredients. It is possible to make very exotic soaps like vetiver essential oil flavour (which costs upwards of 25,000 Rs a litre!)

What are the benefits of handmade soap for skin?

As we saw above, making handmade soap is as varied as making bread or curry. Imagination is the limit. The benefits rendered by a handmade soap are a direct consequence of two things: 1.ingredients and 2.recipe.

A well made handmade soap will have sufficient oils to completely saponify (neutralize) all the caustic soda in the recipe and will also have 5-6% excess oil (called super-fatting). And by choosing skin friendly oils like coconut or almond or sesame or olive one can have a very smooth soap.

And by adding castor oil or shea-butter we can get a moisturizing soap. By adding neem oil or karanja oil (pungam) we can get many skin-care benefits. By adding things like Kaolin Clay or French Pink Clay you can get benefits like toning, removing blemishes, exfoliating and de-toxifying. So ingredients greatly influence the quality of soap

At Doodle Soapery we lay a great deal of emphasis on our choice of ingredients and our handmade soaps give the following benefits for the skin

1. Clean very well.
2. Very foamy (because of the natural formation of sodium cocoate in our recipe)
3. Super smooth (again due to super-fatting and choice of tested recipes)
4. Excellent Moisturizing (use of castor oil - also the natural glycerin present in handmade soaps)
5. Natural antibacterial and fungicide and has skin-care properties (use of neem, pungam oils)
6. Skin-toning, removing blemishes, exfoliating and de-toxifying (use of french pink clay)
7. Mildly fragrant and skin-friendly (use of essential oils instead of synthetic fragrance oils)

Are there other benefits?

Of course! When you buy handmade soap

1. You are supporting small businesses
2. You are being environment friendly (handmade soaps are non-polluting and bio-degradable)
3. You are being economically responsible (by supporting local raw materials & low/no power production)
4. You get a variety of choices

Why handmade soap is expensive?

There are a few reasons for this

1. Handmade soaps cannot be mass produced. Each batch of soap is a work of craftsmanship if not art. So if we include the cost of skilled labour (instead of machine production), the soap costs more.
2. The ingredients may be naturally expensive. For example organic cold pressed coconut oil costs 400 Rs or more per litre. A cheap chemical alternative is stearic acid which costs around Rs 40 per kilo.
3. Essential Oils cost a lot more than synthetic fragrances.
4. There is no organized distribution channel for handmade soaps in India . So the cost of taking the product to the discerning consumer is high.
5. Handmade soap sale is generally a personal, word-of-mouth, one-to-one business. This again increases the cost of delivery.

Natural soap benefits

A well made natural soap can deliver 7 benefits to the buyer

• 1. skin-friendly cleaning
• 2. moisturizing and exfoliating
• 3. aromatherapy benefits due to essential oils
• 4. skin-care and protection
• 5. pamper yourself without guilt (eco-friendly consumption)
• 6. feel good about supporting small & local businesses
• 7. free yourself from harmful chemicals and preservatives

Are handmade soaps better?

It all depends on handmade soap's ingredients and the recipe (ratio of oil to lye).

Generally speaking, a well made handmade soap is way better than commercial soap. It is free from SLS, Paraben, Stearic Acid and a host of other chemicals that can damage the skin irreparably. It is skin-friendly, earth friendly and can be moisturizing, exfoliating, and protect the skin.

Cold process handmade soaps retain much of the antioxidants from the vegetable oils used in blending [2]. Antioxidants have a host of benefits in skin-care like anti-ageing, protection against UV radiation, brighten skin-tone, prevent wrinkles, smoothing skin and so on. [3]

Are handmade soaps good for skin?

A well made handmade soap is very beneficial for the skin. It is free from SLS, Paraben, Stearic Acid and a host of other chemicals that can damage the skin irreparably. It is skin-friendly, earth friendly and can be moisturizing, exfoliating, and protect the skin.

Can I use handmade soap on face?

If it is well made you can of course use it for your face. To be safe, do a patch test first please.

At Doodle Soapery we make the finest organic, cold process, natural handmade soaps at an affordable price of Rs 95 for 100g.

References

1. https://www.britannica.com/science/tallow
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6225244/
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8776015/