My Soap Love

I have been using handmade cold-processed soap for a few years now.  I discovered handmade soap when I first fell head over heads for a website called Etsy.  It was around 2006 when I came across Etsy and fell in love with the Handmade Movement.  I also became really interested in trying to go more natural in the products I was using in my home.  I kept coming across some scary facts about the different chemicals found in the products we are constantly exposing ourselves too.  One thing that I found was easy to try and turned out to be a very beneficial change was body soap.  Something about knowing that the product I use was created from scratch from simple ingrediants by an actual individual who I can email by name gives me a sense of comfort.  Also, having tried MANY bath and body products throughout life, I honestly can say cold-processed soap is the BEST soap I have ever used.  I would like to highlight two handmade soap makers who I have bought many bars of soap from and have never had a bad experience.  One of these is a local Virginia soap maker: Old Dominion Soap Company.  The soap sold by this shop is simple, inexpensive, but at the same time, FABULOUS!   The SimplyPom soap is my favorite, but the olive oil soaps and specialty soaps are just as lovely.  And, my favorite product of their's is the hemp oil lotion, which has been a miracle worker for my eczema ridden skin.  The second shop is an etsy shop called KBShimmer.  This shop is full of lots of fun and wonderful products, all that I have tried have been awesome.  But the soap is so fun and full of scent and color, great as a gift, and so fun in your own shower.  Give handmade soap a chance.  Know where your money is going, know what less packaging and simple ingrediants can mean for our Earth.

Handmade In the Bathroom

I love handmade soaps.  Well, to be honest, I love not only handmade soaps but also handmade lotions bath bombs, body scrubs... the list goes on.  And a great place to shop for these is on Etsy.
I have bought from KB Shimmer and absolutely adored all the goodies I received.  Check out these from her store:

Top Picture: Pink Sugar Bath Bombs Set of 3

Middle Picture: Good Morning Citrus 9oz Jar Sugar Body Polish Scrub

Bottom Picture: Rosemary Mint Essential Oil Soap

Just a few of the pros of buying handmade bath products: 

Direct sales, straight from creator to buyer

Less packaging

A complete ingrediant list

Contact with the creator so all questions can easily be answered

Fabulous customer care

Shopping local to support local artisans

Handmade soaps contain glycerine

I think everybody should give handmade soap a try!

SOAP! A slight addiction...

I think I may have a bit of a soap addiction. I love handmade/natural made soaps and bath products. I have purchased from nine different etsy shops and also sampled a local soap shop and two popular big name, yet still small, shops. I just love handmade soap and bath products.
I would love to share some of my favorites with all of you and encourage you to try handmade bath products. Supporting small business is always a good thing, but also there is a lot less packaging which environmentally is a huge plus and the products do not involve a mysterious manufacturing process that could involve unknown chemicals, unknown labor conditions, etc.

Of my purchases, here are my favorites:

roseofsharonacres tooth chips:
If you want truly clean teeth, like after the dentist clean, I highly recommend you try toothchips. I am so lazy in the bathroom so I sometimes grab the toothpaste tube instead of these, and if I do that for a while and then go back to the tooth chips, I can actually taste all the gunk (gross, I know) that my toothpast has been missing. I thought the fowl taste was the tooth chips, but after using them for a while, you will find the taste improves as your mouth becomes cleaner.

This fabulous shave soap from Gudonyatoo:
I have the grapefruit version of this shave soap in my shower and I adore it. Works great for shaving but I also have used it for my body and hair with great results. This bar lathers easily, is nice and dense. It has lasted ages and I love it!


The best soap EVAH! This pomegranate soap by Old Dominion Soap Company:

These soaps nver get slimy, they lather really well, nice and sudsy and the bars are very dense so they do not wear disappear quickly.

And this massage bar from lush:
I use this as a lotion bar. I must admit, I haven't had it in a while but when I did have it, I loved it. The smell seems a tad strong at first but it grows on you quickly.