Be Natural’s soap making additives

Normally, the word additives conjures up thoughts of artificial substances added to food for various reasons.  In the world of natural soap making however, additives are an integral part of the soap being produced and often form the therapeutic and medicinal benefits held within the soap.  Be Natural Uses a range of lovely natural soap making additives and I wanted to highlight a few of those and how they are beneficial as skin food.

Our signature soap, Be Relaxed has generous amount of organic lavender essential oil added to it.  We source the oil locally whenever we can.  Lavender oil has many benefits when used in a soap from stress relief, helping sleep, antibacterial and antiseptic and sweetly fragranced.

Be Smooth contains the wonderful Pick Clay or Kaolin, as it is also known.  Pink Clay improves skin softness and is ideal for all skin types. It is very soft and can be used on fragile, dehydrated or sensitive skin. It is fantastic to use on mature skin, lined or wrinkled skin.

Taranaki Honey is used in two of our soaps – Be Clean and Be Lathered.  Honey makes a fantastic soap additive as it extremely moisturising and helps keep moisture locked in the skin. This moisture and elasticity helps to give the skin it’s natural glow and healthy “look.” Antioxidants means slower aging, less wrinkles, less damage from free-radicles.

Coffee grinds are used in our Be Fresh soap – but why?  Because coffee grounds are a perfect ingredient for removing disagreeable scents from your hands after, say, you’ve been cooking with a lot of garlic or fish, working on your car, or fixing the lawnmower.  Because coffee is a diuretic, soaps containing coffee have been known to visibly reduce the appearance of cellulite by drawing fluid away from fat cells, essentially dehydrating the fat cells.  This shrinks their size, resulting in a tightening effect from the outside.   Coffee contains antioxidants that are amazing for overall skin health. Antioxidants fight premature ageing of the skin due to heat, light, pollution, and damaging free radicals. Coffee’s antioxidant power, flavonoids, are released when brewed, and are captured in the hand soap.

Preservatives?

And lets not forget natural soap making additives are also there to prolong the shelf life of the soap!  Mass produced soap (which is basically solid detergent, not soap at all) contain nasty chemicals to prolong shelf life, not because they are good for your skin! Many of the additives we use however, help to keep the soap for months, whilst sitting waiting for the perfect customer!  We use grapefruit seed extract as a natural preservative, which prolongs shelf life and keeps the soap smelling beautiful.

What are some other additives we use?  How about, pumice, poppy seeds, vanilla paste, calendula petals, rose petals and essential oils.  All of these wonderful natural ingredients provide fantastic fragrance along with benefits for healthy skin.  Our clients have been reporting fantastic feedback recently – many clients find they prefer one soap over all others as it suits their skin type.  So, have a browse, and see if you can discover a perfect match for your skin!