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What Is Soap?
Soap is a chemical reaction between various hard and or soft oils, water and sodium hydroxide (lye). Soap is the oldest cleanser around. It is believed that soap was used as far back as Egypt by the Pharaohs and even Cleopatra.

Although lye is used to make soap, once the chemical process is complete there is not a trace of lye that remains left in the bar of soap. The process is called saponification. All soaps, even those you might find at the grocery store, are created with lye. Different soaps are made using various different oils. Both animal and plant oils can be used in the soap making process, each adding different qualities to the soap.

Conventional Soap
Most soaps available in stores today are not really soaps at all, but detergents. Detergents are a petroleum based products, like gasoline and kerosene, that are terrific to wash your dishes or even your clothes but I wouldn't suggest them for your skin. Detergents tend to leave your skin feeling dry, itchy and tight. Other ingredients in mass-marketed soaps include DEA, Isopropyl Alcohol, BHT and Triclosan (commonly found in anti-bacterial soap). All have been known to been skin irritants. The most common ingredient in conventional bar soaps is sodium tallowate. It is the natural product of combining tallow, or beef fat, with lye. Tallow processes quickly, produces a harder bar of soap and is cheap and plentiful making it attractive for mass producing and marketing conventional soap.

Handmade Soaps
Handmade soaps are becoming more and more popular very quickly. Consumers are discovering the benefits that handmade, detergent free soaps have to offer. With the common use of synthetic chemicals and studies about their harmful effects, consumers are searching for alternatives. Those who suffer from skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema, as well as people that have sensitive skin (like me) often find immediate relief by switching to handmade soap. Compared to a store bought bar of soap, handmade soap is very mild. A majority of them are made from vegetable-based oils, such as olive, coconut, and palm, will often have wonderful luxury butters like cocoa, shea or mango and might even be scented with a wonderful essential oil to help enhance the whole experience.

Learn more about this author, Sharon Kenworthy.
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