Our soaps are ‘high glycerine’ cold process soaps.

But what does that mean?

We can imagine that all kind of logo’s or buttons are easy for us to understand but not necessarily for you as our customer. I know we always talk about our high glycerine and how good it is for your skin. But what is glycerine exactly? Glycerin, also known as glycerol, is derived from plant-based oils. It also occurs naturally in fermented goods, such as beer, wine and bread for example. This ingredient was "accidentally" discovered in 1779 by a Swedish chemist heating up an olive oil mixture. He identified the resulting fat as glycerin.

So let’s start to explain what ‘Cold Process Soap’ is. It is the most traditional method by which the soap has been made for centuries.  It allows the soap~maker complete control over the finished bar of soap.  Cold Process soap is made from combining fats or vegetable oils (f.e. palm oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil) with an alkali (sodium hydroxide) and water solution. The oils and lye are warmed, combined and stirred.  This is where the necessary chemical reaction takes place and every lye molecule bind with a fat molecule to form soap.

From there, the soap batter is carefully poured into special molds and allowed to set over several days.  Once un-molded and sliced it can take from 4 weeks to several months until the soap has "cured" and is ready to be enjoyed.  Our handcrafted soaps contain extra oils or butters, which provides additional moisturizing benefits.

We carefully choose our blend of base oils depending on how we desire the finished bar of soap to be. Like baking a cake to get different textures and flavors, favorite soap recipes are often passed down in families for generations.

A natural by-product of cold process soap making is glycerin. Glycerin molecules are leftover when the fatty acids react and combine to the lye molecules. Most major soap manufacturers remove glycerin from their soaps and sell it to be incorporated into high end cosmetics.  Our cold process soap retains all of its natural glycerin. Our cold process soap is a long lasting bar that always has a creamy, rich and decadent lather that nourishes your skin as it cleans. A little side note is that if your "soap" from the store calls itself a "beauty bar", "bath bar", "cleansing bar" or "body wash", it is not actually soap at all.  Those products are actually chemical detergents created in a lab (think dish detergent and you have the right idea). They only give it these nice names because it is not allowed by law to name it soap!

So now about the glycerin, what benefits does glycerin soap offer?

First of all our soap is vegan-friendly and a great option for people with sensitive skin.Your skin’s natural oils are often stripped during the bathing process, whether from hot water or harsh products. Glycerin can help lock in your skin’s natural moisture and prevent over-drying. This may be especially beneficial if you experience drying conditions like: acne - dermatitis (eczema) - dry skin - psoriasis - rosacea. At the same time, glycerin is nongreasy. This means it’s a good choice for anyone with oily or combination skin. Glycerin may also have anti-aging benefits. According to a mice study reported in Science Daily, the ingredient can help even out your skin tone and texture. This may reduce the appearance of fine lines and other surface blemishes.

Glycerin is considered nontoxic and environmentally friendly.

Are there any negative points to consider?

Although our soap is safe for all skin types, the humectant effects of glycerine may be bothersome for people who have very oily skin. Doing a patch test on a particularly oily area can help you determine how it will affect your skin. However we did not receive any feedback like that from any of our customers.

If you have extremely oily skin ekoko has also options of soaps with combined herbs such as activated carbon, herbs with anti-inflammatory properties.

All of our pure ingredients also come at a cost. Synthetic-based and even some other ‘natural’ handmade soaps are cheaper to make, so they’re sold at lower prices. But they come at another cost; finally they don’t last as long so per use the price may even be higher. Count that with less benefits for your skin and less pleasure of use, you know what to do. 

One more thing: keeping your soap dry and out of the water keeps the bar long-lasting and holding all of its benefits. See for good solutions here.