INGREDIENTS & PROCESS
| Our soap is hand crafted in small batches (108 - 250 bars per batch) daily at our shop in Historic Bardstown, Kentucky. (Directions) We use all plant-based oils, no animal fats/products; essential or fragrance oils for scenting our soaps; and natural mineral-based colorants. Some varieties also contain milled grains, dried herbs, flowers, or petals; or other natural additives. INGREDIENTS: Olive Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Palm Oil, Rice Bran Oil, 100% Soybean Oil, Sunflower or Safflower Oil, Vitamin E., And in some varieties, Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, and/or Castor Oil and Jojoba Oil. Lip Balm ingredients: pure beeswax, cocoa butter, shea butter, coconut oil, sunflower oil, vitamin E, and Peppermint Essential Oil or Vanilla-Coconut Flavored oil. THE PROCESS: The process used to make our soap is known as Cold Process, and it has been used for centuries to produce soap. Our proprietary blend of ingredients are combined and mixed until ready for fragrance, color, and additives; then poured into wooden molds and insulated for about 24 hours, allowing the soap to "set up". After the soap is removed from the molds, it is hand cut from 20-pound blocks into 4 ounce bars. We then shelve and allow our soap to "cure", or dry out, for approximately 4 to 8 weeks. This is a necessary step to insure that when the soap comes to you, it is mild and perfectly aged to lather beautifully and last as long as possible. About pH http://www.dianayvonne.com/category/11.thephofcommoncleanser/ Take a look at the pH values listed on this link. Very informative. What is pH? Basically a measurement assigning a numerical value to to the concentration of acid and alkali in a given solution. A value of 1 means a solution that is purely acidic and a value of 14 is a solution that is purely alkali. A pH of 7 is an equal amount of acid and alkali. What does this mean for our skin? Typical human skin has a pH of 4.5 to 6. Most mass produced soaps, particularly the inexpensive ones, have a pH range of 8 to 10. Soaps in the range of 8 to 10 basically act as a solvent and strip away a protective barrier known as the acid mantle. This barrier provides protection from UV rays, extremes in temperature, wind, rain and pathogens. When stripped away by harsh, high alkali soaps our skin is left exposed to a long list of unhealthy skin conditions. All of our all natural hand made soaps are produced to have a cured pH of 4.5 to 6. |