Sea Freckle Soap Company

• How do you make your soaps?

I use the cold process method to make my soaps.  See "THE COLD PROCESS" page for how this process works.

 

 

• Does your soap contain sodium hydroxide (lye)?

No.  All of the sodium hydroxide used to make my soap batches completely reacts and is neutralized by the oils and butters it is mixed with.  There is no sodium hydroxide remaining in the soap after the saponification process.  I list all the ingredients used to make my soap on my labels. Although the ingredients list does include sodium hydroxide (lye), you must remember, this is BEFORE the saponification process that neutralizes it.

 

 

• What kind of oils do you use for your soaps?

I use quality butters and oils.  My recipe includes shea butter and avocado, castor, coconut, meadowfoam, olive, and palm oil. My palm oil is supplied by a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an organization that supports sustainable palm oil production.

 

 

• Do you use fragrance oils or essential oils to scent your soap?

I currently do not use pure essential oils to scent my soap.  Some of my soaps are fragrance-free, but I also use fragrance oils and blends.  Essential oils are natural oils extracted from the leaves, bark, roots, flowers, and fruits of plants.  Some have well documented and researched beneficial health properties-and some don't. Fragrance oils are synthetic blends of the aromatic compounds found in essential oils and have no beneficial health properties.

Fragrance oils are self-regulated and not policed by the FDA. There are over 3500 ingredients (aroma chemicals, essential oils and essential oil components) that are approved for use in fragrance oils.  Each of these ingredients undergoes testing by the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM), from irritation, solvency, and absorption, to physical characteristics like flash point, specific gravity, and flammability, as well as things such as carcinogenic indicators. Onc efully tested, the results are published in a peer-reviewed journal. The International Fragrance Association (IFRA) is an international organization that represents fragrance manufacturers. IFRA takes the information gathered about the ingredients from RIFM, evaluates it and publishes guidelines for usage. IFRA will make recommendations for which raw materials are safe to use in fragrance oils. The supplier I buy my fragrance oils from follows IFRA guidelines and only uses RIFM approved materials in their fragrance oils.

 

 

• What is the benefit of using handmade soap instead of commercial soap?

Handmade soaps contain glycerin, which is naturally produced during saponification. Glycerin is a natural humectant that draws moisture from the air to your skin, leaving it soft and moisturized.  Most commercial soaps remove the glycerin and sell it separately to be used in other more profitable products like lotions or moisturizers.

Handmade soaps also do not contain synthetic detergents like commercial soaps do.  The detergents used in in many commercial soaps are often petroleum based that can strip your skin of natural moisturizers, but handmade soap is just simply saponified oils and butters that clean without stripping away your skin's natural moisturizers.

Another interesting fact is that the FDA does not allow a product to be called "soap" unless it truly is, in fact, a true soap.  So if you are using something called a "body bar", 'body wash", "shower gel", "body gel", "body shampoo", "body foam", "body lather", etc., then chances are you are not using true soap, but instead are using synthetic detergents that the marketers at commercial soap companies have coined these other terms for.

 

 

• How should I store and care for my soap bar?

There are no synthetic preservatives in Sea Freckle soap like there is in commercial store-bought soaps.  There are only natural preservatives that are intrinsic in the natural ingredients used, such as olive oil, avocado oil, and meadowfoam oil.  This means the handmade soap will need a little bit of extra care to ensure a long life. Sea Freckle handmade soap is best stored out of water so that it air dries. You can rest your soap on a draining soap dish or stand it on its side, where the shower spray cannot hit it. If left in water, handmade soap tends to dissolve quickly because soap and glycerine molecules wash clean with water. 

 

 

• Who makes your soap stamps?

I custom order my soap stamps from Dave at Lasercutz Ltd, a laser cutting and engraving service based in the United Kingdom.  I received my order within a week and it was exactly what I wanted.  The laser-cut  soap stamps work perfectly, even with the small tiny font I use. Check out their webpage-there are a lot of great examples of the work they do as well as customer testimonials. 

http://lasercutz.co.uk/