For the first few years of our business, D was the primary soapmaker. He taught me everything he knew and then I took over, ready to rock & roll. My priority was to explore ingredients and see if I could come up with a bar that mimicked something I used as a teen.

I was a late 80s teen who piled on the pancake make up, powder, black eyeliner, red lipstick and the occasional spiderweb face art. After long nights at goth dance clubs, I would just sleep in all that along a head full of Aqua Net and/or Stiff Stuff (I loved that smell). In the morning I would just put more make up on and go to school. Skin care was not something I knew about.

I worked at a discount store and discovered an Apricot Scrub that came in an octagonal container and smelled so yummy. It was filled with apricot seeds and maybe walnut shells, smelled like peaches, and made my skin feel so good when I used it. This was when I started taking care of my skin, I was 14-15.. 

Making an Apricot Seed bar was my first dive in to adding exfoliating ingredients to our Castile Soap Recipe. It is my favorite to use on my face, especially in hot weather. After that it was Coffee Beans and on to Activated Charcoal.

Activated Charcoal, sourced from discarded coconut shells, is something that many people like for their face. You might not think to use bar soap on your face, but many people do. It may or may not be for you, everyone’s skin is different. I am NOT a skin care specialist or formulator, I am a SOAP maker. The purpose of soap is to remove dirt from skin. Any additives to soap may have effects on skin, but I make NO claims that my soap will do anything but remove dirt.

Never use anything that has ingredients you may be allergic to, all of our labels are clearly marked with all ingredients. Oh and please do not eat anything that we make, soap included, even if it smells delicious. Nothing we make is intended to be eaten or use nefariously.

I can only share my own experience as well as what YOU, our customers have said about our bars. Activated Charcoal is our #1 selling soap bar since 2023. I could barely keep up with demand last year. People have told us that it has helped back acne, facial blemishes, weird peri/menopausal skin conditions, eczema flare ups and I’m sure I missed a few. 

Over Winter Break I decided to explore some new exfoliating ingredients like pumice, walnut shell and oat groats. For our customers that have been asking for a “pain scrub”, I am working on a bar packed with everything, so be on the lookout for that to be released in May.

Here’s a list of “natural” exfoliating ingredients that we use in some of our soaps & bath products. We source locally and from market vendors/farmers whenever possible. You can research to see if you might like to try, 

Activated Charcoal (medium, helps deep clean pores, detoxifying, absorbs oil)
Ground Apricot Seeds (mild)
Ground Coffee Beans (rough, contains caffeine, can be stimulating to skin)
Colloidal Oatmeal (soothing, creamy feel to lather, anti-inflammatory, anti-itch)
Ground Pumice (medium, great for feet, elbows calluses and dirty hands)
Oat Groats (rough)
Ground Walnut Shell (rough)
Calendula Flowers (mild, soothing)
Poppy Seeds (mild, decorative)
Dead Sea Mud (mild, deep clean, detoxifying, absorbs oil, reduce redness)
Luffa Powder (mild)
Ground Coconut Shell (medium)

Thanks for reading and letting me be a soap geek! This is my first "real" blog post in years. 

stay clean. smell good. live slow.
stef

Here's a peek at some of our Spring Bars getting ready to be labeled and shipped off.