Natural Vs Unnatural Soap

Have you ever thought about what your soap is made of?

Most of us can’t pronounce the ingredients on the package, let alone understand what they are. Let’s take a moment to break down what soap is, the differences between natural and commercial soaps, and how you can avoid harmful products.

What is Soap?

Soap is a type of surfactant—a material that lowers the surface tension of water to wash away dirt and grease—made from the combination of oils or fats and an alkali. Some of the oldest kinds of soap are thousands of years old, using animal fats and potassium hydroxide derived from wood ash. Natural soaps are biodegradable, environmentally friendly, and use ingredients that are nutritious for your skin.

The main ingredients include:

Carrier Oils: This is the base of soap. Oils like coconut, grape seed, olive, etc. help to nourish and moisturize the skin.

Lye: Also known as sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, or caustic soda, this is another required ingredient. During a process known as     saponification, lye chemically interacts with carrier oils to produce (after several weeks of curing)  perfectly safe soap with no residual lye. 

Essential Oils: Concentrated oils obtained from plants that produce a natural, harm free scent as well as therapeutic effects and other health benefits.

Additives: Any ingredient used to enhance the quality or effect of a soap. Some additive we use include aloe vera, beer, juices, butters, honey, clays, salts, milks, and exfoliators.

What is Commercial “Soap”?

Believe it or not, most products we consider to be soap (“cleansers”, “body washes”, “facial bars”) aren’t actually soap at all! Instead they’re classified as detergents, synthetic surfactants made from harsh chemicals. While detergents may be more effective at cleaning some objects, they’re incredibly harmful to your skin and the environment.

Fun fact: although their artificially large suds lead us to associate lather with cleanliness, there is no correlation between lather and how well a soap cleans.

Detergents are also known to include:

Harmful Additives: Ingredients like parabens, phthalates, sulfates, alcohols, triclosan, propylene glycol, preservatives, and other chemicals can result in a plethora of health problems. These can range from          discomfort like irritation to more serious issues like hormone disruption, organ malfunction, and cancer.

Dangerous Amounts of Fragrance: The contents or overall percentage of synthetic fragrance oils are usually not disclosed on soap packaging. While easier to manage at low levels, high levels of fragrance oil can result in irritation, rashes, allergies, and other serious health    problems. These products are deceptive and intentionally hard to read. 

Consider this: if you don’t know the ingredients on the label, don’t put it on your body!

Why Buy Small?

Even after learning about the benefits of natural soaps, there are hundreds of shops to choose from, ranging from massive online businesses to cool neighbors and aunts. Not only does supporting small businesses improve your community, but it can improve the quality of your soap more than you’d think.

Higher Quality Oils: While some companies may only use one or two basic carrier oils, smaller soapers are more likely to choose a wider range of ingredients  specifically for their nutrition and benefits. For instance, we use a process called  super fatting—increasing the amount of oil in the formula—to get the most effect from our ingredients and produce deeper moisturized skin.

Ethical Choices: Small businesses are more likely to make socially    conscious  decisions when making their products such as cruelty free products, eco-friendly packaging, sustainable and ethically sourced       ingredients, fair wages and working conditions, local pickup options, and refills.

One of a Kind: These soaps are not mass produced, but unique artisanal products made with your needs in mind.

At Mythical Aromatics, we believe self-care is the best gift and justice you can give yourself. That starts with understanding what your body needs and how you can achieve that. By learning about the products you use, you’re investing in a happier, healthier future.

For more information on any of this, please reach out to us