Why Handmade Soap?
The question I get asked most often is "how did you get into making soap"? Let me be the first to admit that I had never knowingly tried handmade soap. My journey into handmade skin care came as a result of issues with my skin, as well as my daughters' skin.
Growing up, I was "blessed" with acne beginning in the fourth grade. My parents sent me to a dermatologist early on to tackle the issue. Fast forward many years and eczema developed in the form of dry patches on my legs. Store bought lotions did nothing for me. Next I tried organic coconut oil applied directly to the dry patches. While the coconut oil reduced the size of the dry skin, it never completely went away. I remember thinking - "maybe it's my soap".
To make a long story short, I took a closer look at the ingredients listed on my bottle of body wash. The first ingredient was water - after that, it was a series of other things that I could not pronounce. So basically, the body wash I used daily was made of mostly water. How is that moisturizing?
You see, although many commercial soaps make claims of moisturizing skin, the one's I'd purchased weren't working for me. I stumbled across a soapmaking video on YouTube, bought two bars of soap from that soapmaker, and the rest is history. Do understand - it took MONTHS of research to determine if soapmaking was something I wanted to get into and I had SO many questions:
- Is lye safe on my skin?
- Where do I even purchase lye?
- How do I formulate a recipe that's right for me?
Many of my questions were answered by learning about FDA regulations, which you can read about here. Just as I did, you will discover that many commercial body washes and soaps are actually classified as detergents. In short, not only are handmade soaps more nourishing to the skin, they can also help with sensitive skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema.
Rest assured that every ingredient used at Bubbles & Reign Soaps serves a purpose and was made with sensitive skin in mind. It took many MONTHS BATCHES to create what I think is a perfectly balanced bar of soap- moisturizing, bubbly, and cleansing. Don't take my word for it...grab a bar for yourself! If it doesn't meet your expectations (and mine), contact me so I can make it right!