How Our Handmade Bars Are Made 🧼
scrub me clarifying bar
Let’s show some love for the scrub me soaps! I don’t give these face and body cleansers enough appreciation; ever since I started making and using plant-based soaps the skin on my body has greatly improved. Using a cleanser with ingredients that are beneficial for your cells and free from harmful or irritating makes a big difference in how your skin functions. I’m talking results like less dryness, reduction in breakouts, clearing of redness, and an even overall tone.
So let’s get detailed about how these skin-loving soaps are made!
The original recipe:
My philosophy behind all the skincare items I create and make is “Everything you need and nothing you don’t”. This means I want the ingredients that go into each skincare item should have a purpose for your skin and/or benefit it in some way. Each different scrub me soap and treatment bar is unique and treats different skin types or skin issues.
skincare items made by an esthetician
I use the skincare knowledge I have learned over the years of working and educating myself as an esthetician to choose what’s best for every soap. I like essential oils because they provide deodorizing aroma as well as skincare benefits (unlike artificial fragrances). I also love working with various plant-based oils because these oils contain many vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. The oils that I like the best at the moment are babassu, almond oil, Abyssian seed, grapeseed, and olive oil. Other additives like calendula flowers, clays, oats, loofah and more provide specific skincare benefits like soothing, healing, detoxifying, and exfoliating.
Part of my job as an esthetician is to read ingredient labels of skincare items so I can decipher if they would be beneficial for my client’s skin or not. I love that I can control what goes into all the scrub me items so I know for a fact they are “esthetician approved”.
scrub me secret: On the back of each soap, you’ll find a detailed description of what the soap bar can do for your skin. I often encourage customers to choose their soap based on the skincare properties vs. the color or scent.
Cold process soap making:
After choosing ingredients and formulating a recipe we are ready to start the cold process, process! I measure out all the oils, essential oils, and other additives in grams. I’m not going to give away any secret recipes today, but there is a science to creating a soap recipe. You have to have the correct ratio of ingredients; otherwise, the soap will not turn out right.
scrub me secret: I’m lucky to have parents that really have a talent for cold-process soap making. That is their job at scrub me. I create the recipes, gather all the ingredients, and batch them together before I pass them off for making. thanks, mom and dad!
Cold process soap needs fat to make the recipe work. Common fats include goat milk, tallow, and plant-based oils. We use a combination of plant-based oils because I like all the products to be vegan. Oils are melted and combined before they are blended with a sodium hydroxide (lye) mixture. During this process the oils become saponified. This is a reaction that happens when lye is blended with a fat; in this case, the oils. When saponification happens there is no longer any lye or raw oils left in the product. Saponified oils are the outcome of this reaction and that is what makes soap!
This is our seasonal soaps in the making! Two separate colors are made and then gently swirled together.
Essential oils, mica powders, clays, and exfoliants are added and mixed. When everything is combined it is time to pour the soap into the mold. At this point, the soap should be a pudding consistency. This mixture is then poured into a soap mold. We use traditional soap molds that form a long, rectangular block of soap that is then cut into soap bars. The soap sits in this mold for 24-48 hours so it can firm up and harden.
Soap in its soap mold after pouring and sculpting the top.
scrub me secret: colorful ingredients like lavender buds, flower petals and colored seeds look pretty to put in the soap but lose their color in the soap-making process. calendula flower petals are the only flower that does not lose its color in soap.
scrub me balancing treatment bar
The final product:
After 24-48 hours the soap “loaf” is removed from the mold and cut into even bars. We make small batches so each batch makes just 25 bars. Multiple batches can be made in one day. When the soap bars are cut I set them in a protected place to cure. Curing takes 4 weeks! If the soaps are not cured for long enough they will have a slightly softer texture and melt quickly in your bath or shower. When the 4-week mark is reached, the soaps are done and ready to package.
The best kind of soap for sensitive, reactive, or breakout-prone skin 🧼
My skin is the type of skin that gets red, itchy, and sensitive easily. That’s actually one of the reasons why I started making my own skincare years ago. I truly think that all the extra additives in body washes and commercial soaps that are there to make items smell, look, or feel a certain way are making our skin sensitive, unbalanced, and reactive. Simple bar soaps made with skin-loving ingredients are the best thing for reaching the goal of clear, healthy, and radiant skin on your body.