Frequently Asked Questions

Real. Simple. Soap. is soap that's meant to be used for bathing, either in the bathtub or shower. It's not meant to be a fancy decorative soap or just a hand soap. It's good for your skin and you'll love it in the shower!

Can I use your soap if I have sensitive skin? YES! Look at the list of ingredients on your current "sensitive skin" product, and do some online research about those ingredients. You might be surprised at what you're actually putting on your skin (and what goes ON our skin can and is absorbed through our skin...just think about how medical patches work). Our soaps are made with food grade, skin-nourishing oils and are wonderful for sensitive skin. You won't find any junk in our soap. Try a bar for a few weeks and see if you notice a difference. A good bar to try first for those who might be skeptical or worried about ingredients would be "Bare Naked," which contains no colors or scents. It's as pure as can be!

Isn't there lye in handmade soap? All soap is made with lye (sodium hydroxide), but there is no lye remaining in the finished product. If you've purchased "handmade" soap elsewhere and the soapmaker told you they did not use lye, then what you purchased was most likely a melt-and-pour soap. Melt-and-pour soap starts from a base that the soapmaker buys, melts, adds scent and/or exfoliants or colors, then molds. They might not have used lye, but I guarantee the base was made with lye, because you can't make soap without lye! And often times that base will contain other chemicals that might not be so good for you either.

Soapmaking involves a chemical reaction called saponification. The oils and lye combine molecules during the process and create a new substance – soap and glycerin. "Superfatting" involves using more oils than the lye can possibly saponify, which means those oils are remaining in the finished soap to nourish your skin. All of our soaps are superfatted at least 5%.

How is handmade soap different from commercial soap and why is it better for you? During saponification a by-product called glycerin is formed. Commercial soap manufacturers value this glycerin and take it from their soap to market it as a by-product or add it to their more expensive skincare products. Our handcrafted soap retains all of the glycerin for the benefit of your skin.

Most commercially manufactured soaps contain petroleum products, alcohols, synthetics and preservatives. Many bars of soap sold in stores are not even really soap - they are detergent bars. These detergent bars are made with inexpensive ingredients such as animal tallow, petroleum oils and added preservatives. These products are more drying and less beneficial than a real soap made from natural oils.   What you will NOT find in our soaps are artificial preservatives, animal fats, fillers, or detergents.

What kind of oils do you use in your soaps? We don't just use one recipe and change fragrances, each soap is unique. Most recipes contain these oils, although some also contain additional skin soothing oils and butters. Palm oil is universal and used in many expensive luxury soaps. Olive oil is used for it's moisturizing and antioxidant effects. Coconut oil helps the bar to lather and become harder.  Castor oil is a natural emollient, penetrating the surface layer of the skin, and creates fantastic lather. Shea butter provides superior moisturization and skin protection.

The oils and butters get mixed together with water and sodium hydroxide (lye), which is the catalyst that pulls it all together and creates soap with glycerin. This is called the cold-process method.

Is there a shelf life for natural soaps? Unlike commercial soaps, natural handmade soaps do not contain preservatives, so it's best to use it within a year. Store new bars in a cool, dry place until you're ready to use it.

Why does handmade soap seem so expensive? We use the highest quality ingredients possible to create our soaps, and do NOT use any cheap fillers, detergents or chemicals. Handmade soap is also labor intensive. When you compare handmade soap to commercial soap, it might seem expensive, but remember what you're getting (no fillers or junk and much better skin conditioning). Compare it to other handmade soaps, and you'll see we're extremely competitive on our price. Our bars weigh approximately 4.5 ounces, or more. Some customers cut their bars in half to fit smaller hands better, they're that big!  Handmade soaps typically cost $1.00 per ounce, some even more, and will also last much longer than commercial soap.

And, once you've been using good quality handmade soaps for a while, you won't be spending so much on lotions either!

Will my water make a difference with the soap? Yes! You'll get much better lather with our soaps if your water is soft/softened. Most soaps will do just fine, however, in harder water with the exception of "Oh Honey, Honey" and "Tres," which will have a lower bubble, more creamy lather in harder water. In soft water they'll be fantastic.

Do I need to care for my soap any certain way? We highly recommend you use a draining soap dish to prolong the life of your handmade soap. If left in a puddle of water, it will turn to a mushy gel. I have soap dishes and soap saver inserts available on the "Gift Basket" page. Soapmaking involves a chemical reaction called saponification. The oils and lye combine molecules during the process and create a new substance – soap and glycerin. "Superfatting" involves using more oils than the lye can possibly saponify, which means those oils are remaining in the finished soap to nourish your skin. All of our soaps are superfatted at least 5%.

Why do you use fragrance oils (synthetic) and not just 100% essential oils (natural)? I personally don't have a problem using soaps containing fragrance oils, because I know they are high quality, skin safe cosmetic fragrances. We only buy fragrances from reputable companies, never the "cheap imitation fragrances" others might refer to. Good quality fragrance oils aren't "cheap" to begin with, some are much more expensive than essential oils. I hold myself to a higher standard than that, and would never buy or use something in my soap that wasn't top quality (don't forget, my family uses the soaps too!). I scent my soaps at 1% of the recipe, so each bar contains a very small amount of fragrance, whether it's essental oils or fragrance oil.

There are many, many fragrances which people love, that just aren't available in a safe essential oil (not all essential oils are skin safe either). Scents that are very popular, such as Fresh Cut Grass, Black Raspberry Vanilla and Hardwood Musk just aren't going to happen unless I use a fragrance oil, and I like bathing with scents such as Lime Margarita or Cleopatra's Treasure.

I also struggle with the "sustainability" of essential oils. Do you realize how much plant material it takes to make a tiny amount of essential oil? And what is the environmental impact of all the machinery used to plant, harvest and process the plants to make such a small amount of oil? Are those plants grown without pesticides? Are they processed without solvents? Here's an interesting link about essential oils: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_oil#Production

Keep in mind that even some "natural" ingredients have been processed and compromised; extracted with solvents, grown with pesticides, over-processed at high temperatures, homogenized, hydrogenated and several-steps removed from the "natural" materials they're derived from. These processes aren't always unnecessary, but they should be acknowledged as such and not sanitized with the "natural" label.

Whether you choose 100% natural soap, or those containing fragrance oils, handmade soap is still 100% better for you than commercial detergent bars. Guaranteed.