Generally, there is a certain look of intrigue I get when this question is asked. Yes, I use beer in my shave soap (and in some of my bar soaps also). Beer has a lot of great ingredients that help enhance soap properties. The natural sugars in beer help to boost lather in soap, and most people enjoy a wonderful lather when it comes to soap! There are also other ingredients in beer that are great for the skin.
Hops- hops are the main component of beer. They are rich in antioxidants and have been used in skin products to help with skin inflammation. Barley-barley contains selenium which can help in fighting free radical damage. Yeast- Brewer's yeast is high in B vitamins and chromium making it great for the skin. I personally like to use beer that is local to Louisiana including Abita Beer, Bayou Teche Brewery, and Parish Brewing Company. I found after much experimentation that beer was the perfect vehicle for our shave soaps. The soaps do not smell like a bottle of beer, although some of the maltiness (is that really a word?) subtly comes through. Our shave soaps are a dual lye cream type soap that also contain tallow, stearic acid, and Shea butter to make the skin soft and smooth after using it. So, if you are one of those who are getting into wet shaving, we'd love to hear your feedback! Comment below for a chance to win a tin of our shave soap!
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Cocoa butter is one of my favorite butters to use in my products. I use it in my soaps, lotions, body butters, bath bombs, and lip balms. It's a great moisturizer and most people are not allergic to it. Here are some of the top reasons why we love cocoa butter so much!
5. It is rich in antioxidants! Cocoa butter is high in stearic acid, palmitic acid, and oleic acid, which provide a layer of protection from free radicals. It is used in many anti-aging products because of the high fatty acids that are naturally in cocoa butter. 4. It provides natural aromatherapy! Because of its natural chocolate/vanilla scent, the smell is distinct and allows for a relaxing aromatherapy experience. 3. It's a natural skin healer. Having a high lipid profile, the fatty acids in cocoa butter have been shown to help a number of skin issues. Just look at some of the best selling stretch mark creams...all of them are high in cocoa butter. 2. Low allergen risk! These days, there are more and more people with allergies. Did you know that if you have a sensitivity to latex, you could also have an allergic reaction to shea butter? Allergic reactions to cocoa butter are very rare. 1. It's an excellent moisturizer! Cocoa butter melts just slightly above room temperature making it a very easy butter to work with. It doesn't have the tendency to get the "grainy" texture that shea butter and some other butters can get when working with them. It leaves a silky smooth feel on your skin that stays with you long after you have applied it. If you want to feel just how great it works, try one of our products containing cocoa butter. One of my favorite ways to experience the silky feel of cocoa butter is in one of our luxurious bath bombs. We put shaved cocoa butter in each bomb to make your bath time extra moisturizing. What are your favorite things about cocoa butter? Did I mention that I love cocoa butter in a chocolate dessert?
At the soap conference this weekend, we had a wonderful session on how to make some really beautiful swirls in our soaps. The woman who was conducting the session is a certified aromatherapist. As she was explaining some of the oils in her soap recipe she was demonstrating, she spoke briefly about fragrances. She said that as an aromatherapist, she normally does not use essential oils to fragrance her soap and instead uses fragrance oils. She briefly went on to say the reason she does this is because essential oils are medicinal and using them frequently as fragrance can lead to overexposure. This really struck a chord with me as someone who took aromatherapy during my massage therapy training. Having a background in pharmacy, as a pharmacy technician, I know what overexposure to medications can cause. They can cause various conditions/diseases and allergic reactions. Essential oils should be treated the same as any other medication that you would ingest or put on your body. You can overdose yourself and cause problems within your body and develop allergies if you continually expose yourself to the chemical compounds in essential oils. While essential oils are natural, they are still made of of chemical compounds from the plants they are derived from. That is why any essential oil applied to the skin should always be placed in a carrier oil, such as olive, coconut, grapeseed, or other skin safe oils, before being applied. They should be used in very small amounts (just a drop or two) and should not be ingested unless you are under the supervision of a certified aroma therapist or naturopathic doctor. Essential oils are extremely concentrated forms of the plants they come from. It takes many pounds of plant material to produce a small amount of essential oil.
Fragrance oils are lab created using natural and man-made compounds. They are deemed to be skin safe or non-skin safe. Non-skin safe fragrances can be used in items such as air fresheners and candles along with other non-skin applications. Skin safe is for use in cosmetics and other items that will make contact with skin (such as laundry detergent, soaps, fabric softener, etc). They are extensively tested to ensure their safety. Not all fragrance oils are created equally. Some fragrance oils contain phthalates to create certain scents. Phthalates have been indicated to be endocrine (hormone) disruptors. You can read a little more about that here (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/endocrine/). I always make sure that when I am purchasing fragrance oils, they come from very reputable companies (not ebay or amazon) and they are phthalate free. I only use fragrances that I am comfortable using on every member of my family, from myself and husband all the way down to my 2 year old. While I always buy the most reputable fragrances possible, people can still have sensitivities to fragrances as well as essential oils and not be able to tolerate any type of fragrance (whether natural or lab created) in their skin care products. We always suggest testing the product on a small section of your skin before using to check for sensitivities. The most important thing, as a consumer, is to do research and ask questions. I am always available to answer questions about my products and even some questions about different oils and their usage. The big thing to remember is essential oils are extremely beneficial to the body and smell wonderful, but they are still medicinal and should be treated as such. You can find out more about the benefits and contraindications of essential oils by researching “essential oil properties” of a specific oil on the internet. The link below gives some info on a few oils. http://articles.mercola.com/herbal-oils/hyssop-oil.aspx I was fortunate to be able to attend a very informative soapmakers seminar in Round Rock, Texas this weekend. I normally cannot get away the weekend it is held due to scheduling conflicts, but I’m so happy that it worked out for me to attend. We have learned a lot about marketing handcrafted soaps and toiletries today. Website content and design was presented and I know that it is something I have been needing to work on. As you will see over the next few weeks, I will be updating pictures and descriptions on the website. This is to better serve you as my customers. I appreciate you taking the time to check out my products and would love to hear any feedback you may have! I will also try to do a bit more blogging on the webpage and give more information about certain products and general life around the farm.
We will also be sending out more emails and coupon codes, so make sure you join our mailing list to keep up to date with the latest specials and coupon codes. We will also announce new products and soaps as they come off the curing rack. Thanks again for being wonderful customers! |
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