Felted natural handmade soaps

Thanks to my good friend Trudi, I now have some lovely hand felted soaps in stock. Trudi has used high quality Merino wool as the main felting ingredient and fine bamboo silk threads as decoration to make these bars, so they are extra soft and gentle. Felted soaps may look a little unusual, but they really are a wonderfully practical way to use handmade soaps in the shower. By just wetting the felted soap you can use it as an all in one exfoliating body wash. The felt adds to the lathering effect and the wool gently exfoliates without being too scratchy. As you use the soap the felt shrinks with the soap and once its finished you are left with a lovely scented piece of felt that you can then use to perfume inbetween your clothes in the cupboard. If you like you can also make a small slit in the empty pouch and put in another piece of soap. They last extra long, and just need to be left to dry on a soap dish between each use. Felted soaps make an ideal gift particularly for men, as they're so practical and really wash away all the dirt after a hard days work. They are now available in the shop in Ronda and online too.

Dead sea mud bar-exfoliates and detoxifies

Dead sea mud products abound in the cosmetics industry, and luckily I was able to get my hands on some of this magical mud from a friend who came back recently from Jordan. I added it at trace to an olive oil rich soap base, and scented the soap with pure peppermint essential oil. The Dead Sea is the most saline body of water in the world and contains far greater concentrations of minerals than any other ocean (a concentration of 32% minerals compared to other seas, holding approximately 3%). Mud from the Dead Sea contains almost 20 different types of minerals, and in the beauty industry it is renowned for its gentle exfoliating and deep cleansing properties. It helps to tone, hydrate and improve blood circulation which inturn can aid differing skin conditions such as excema and psoriasis but also be a useful treatment for acne sufferers. So this soap is really an ideal all round choice as a general body bar but also for those people that suffer from troubling skin conditions. The Dead sea mud handmade soap bars are now available for sale on my website so why not try one, and treat your skin to a post winter de-tox.

Creamy Oatmeal Exfoliating Handmade soap

Another honey inspired soap, I decided to make this soap because many asked especially for it. Oats have an incredible attraction to water therefore helping to draw and hold moisture to the skin. Finely ground oatmeal also makes a fantastic gentle exfoliant, adhering to what is irritating the skin thereby washing it away with the soap. The benefits of using oatmeal soap include relieving skin irritations and redness from rashes or exposure, reducing itching and moisturizing or softening skin. These benefits make it an effective product for people with eczema, sunburn or allergies, the elderly and young children. Apart from finely ground oatmeal I also added a dollop of organic honey and mild essential oils of sweet orange and ylang ylang. It has a very gentle aroma and with no added colour it really looks and smells extra natural. With the high extra virgin olive oil content this handmade soap is super mild and extra moisturizing so it would be a good choice for anyone suffering from dermatitis, excema, or other skin irritations.

Honeycomb Handmade Soap

So Easter is over, the Royal wedding is over and its time to get down to some soaping again! My lastest creation was a bit of an experiment- I saw a tip to create a honey combed look to the soap bar by using bubble wrap when lining the mold, on line somewhere and thought it looked pretty good so thought I would give it a try. I used my usual recipe and added a good dose of honey from a local beekeeper I bought at a farmers market, steeped the olive oil in Madder root, that gave it a wonderful honey colour and added an extra virgin avocado oil to the final mix and some petitgrain and bergamot essential oils to give it a fresh but not too overpowering aroma. The resulting soap is remarkably like a honey comb! Even the fact that some of the bubble wrap was broken only means it looks like the cells are still full of honey. Its an excellent soap for extra dry skin or with its fresh scent and the deodorizing properties of the petitgrain and bergamot oils a good choice for general foot care.

Honey is actually a great natural moisturizer for dry and parched skin. A humectant, it is able to attract and retain moisture, rebuilding the moisture level in the skin without making it oily. Honey can also calm irritated skin, and helps replenish necessary skin moisture, especially during the winter months. If you use honey on the skin its very important to choose an organic variety and it can be combined with other ingredients to make face masks or just used direct on chapped lips.