S
omething seismic has happened in the
world of soap. Sturdy, unpretentious
blocks of handmade soap have
replaced their brightly coloured and
over-scented predecessors. A new
breed of independent soap makers is
creating bars with natural oils and fragrances that
won’t dry out skin, aren’t full of petrochemicals and
don’t involve animals in their making or testing.
Packaging, when used, is minimal. Whereas liquid
soap or face wash come in plastic containers, these
bars of soap are either unwrapped or tucked inside
brown paper or cardboard boxes. Suddenly, buying
and using soap is as pleasurable as selecting a wedge
of cheese or a crusty roll from a farmer’s market.
These chunky blocks of soap feel right for our
troubled times, offering good honest cleanliness at a
reasonable price. Small batch soap companies, such
as the Friendly Soap Co and All Natural Soap, pride
themselves on their integrity, not just of their
ingredients but in their manufacturing. These soaps
are made using the cold-process technique, which
maintains the properties of its natural ingredients,
destroyed at high temperatures during commercial
soap-making. It also retains glycerin, removed by
the big soap companies to use in other products
including moisturiser. The extraction of glycerin, a
moisturising agent, causes soap to dry out the skin- one of the reasons so many of us stopped using it.
Rather than the overly scented soaps of
yesteryear – chemically created, pungent blends of
lavender, hyacinth and rose – makers like Heyland
& Whittle use essential oils, herbs and pure
colourants like madder rose and turmeric. Margate-
based Haeckels incorporates locally harvested
seaweed into its vegan block, and contemporary
household goods company Feldspar uses charcoal in
its Ash bar along with coconut and olive oils.
Soap-making has fine and noble history,
stretching back to 2800BC in Ancient Babylon when
someone must have cleverly realised that mixing
oils and fat with ash or clay (an alkali) produced
soapandglycerine.Backthentallow(renderedfat
fromsheeporcowkidneys)wasthemainfat
ingredient;olive,cocountandpalmoilcamelater.
Nowadays,environmentally-conscioussoap
manufacturershavejettisonedpalmoil,awareofits
linktomassdeforestation,forothervegetableoils.
IntheUK,soapbecamefashionableduringthe
reignofQueenElizabethI, whenthebathingcraze
SOAPER STARS
Thoroughly modernbarsleadingthesoaprevivalVETIVER SOAP, £4, 125g
Savonnerie Artisanale references traditional
soap making in the design of its bars. This
vetiver bar has added shea butter.
conranshop.co.ukASHSOAP,£12.50,100g
This bar is a mix of untreated
charcoal ‘to draw out
impurities’, olive and
coconut oils, plus vetiver and
mandarin essential oils.
feldspar.studioGENTLE GOAT’S MILK SOAP,
£5.50, 115g
All soaps from this small-batch
company are palm-oil free and
vegetarian. Ideal for sensitive
skin, this bar has no natural
colourants or essentials oils.
allnaturalsoap.co.ukBLACK POPPY & WILD FIG BAR,
£7, 125g
Made by a social enterprise which
trains the visually impaired,
disabled or people otherwise
disadvantaged. Poppy seeds aid
exfoliation, mixed with olive and
coconut oils and cocoa butter.
thesoapco.orgEXFOLIATING SEAWEED BLOCK, £4, 80g
A vegan-friendly soap made from British
seaweed, plus crushed coriander seeds and
peppercorns, aloe vera and tea tree oil.
haeckels.co.uk“BUYING SOAP IS NOW AS
PLEASURABLE AS SELECTING A
WEDGE OF CHEESE”
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