Soap is an interesting thing; it is said that the history of soap goes back to early Babylonian times. It is also said that early Roman women discovered soap when washing clothes in a stream that was polluted with animal fat from sacrifices. As we know, animal fat can be an ingredient in soap. We all need soap for both personal hygiene and for cleaning clothes. It was not until doctors made the connection between soap and the spread of bacteria during surgery that we started to see less lives lost during surgery.
Soap is a cosmetic and a necessity to a healthy lifestyle. Soap is used for decoration and for destroying diseases. There are signs in all businesses now requiring their employees to wash their hands at least once before returning to work. Some businesses even have instructions on how to properly wash your hands. Hand washing is instrumental in stopping the spread of colds and infections.
While all of these tidbits of information can be used at your next family gathering, the fact is, there are certain things that we look for when we are searching for soap for personal use.
There are 5 things that are important to me as a consumer that I look for when I am purchasing soap.
1- Lather
I want my hands to be full of big soapy bubbles. I hate soap that is flat and there is no “soap” in the soap. I want fat, big bubbles to enjoy. You feel like the soap is working if you can see lots of bubbles. Whether it is true or not, I feel that the more bubbles I have, the cleaner that I will feel. My soap must lather up whether I am using well water, city water, hard water or soft water. That soap has to lather for shaving as well.
2- Clean
I want my soap to not only bubble in a way that makes me think it will get me clean, that soap has to rinse clean. I want my skin to be squeaky clean. I want my skin to rinse clean in any water that I use. Soap that does not rinse clean is not a soap that I will buy again. Sticky skin, or the feel of sticky skin, is not something that I want after I leave the shower. Soap residue leads to dry skin and dry skin can be more than irritating, it can become painful.
3- No itch
Soap that dries out my skin will not be found in my bathroom again. I live in a dry climate part-time and my normal climate is high in humidity. I do not want my skin to dry out and itch no matter which climate I live in. If my soap dries my skin out, I need to use more hand lotion and moisturizer to keep my skin from being damaged from scratching. My soap has to rinse clean and it needs to have a moisturizing property to it. It needs to work for both body and face. My smiling face requires some moisturizer.
4- Scent
Perfumes are mildly important in my soaps. I like a nice mellow scent and since we are currently living in the Rocky Mountains, I like a faint pine scent in the bathroom. Although, I like the pine, I do enjoy a very clean smell. Fresh linen, light floral scents, airy spring scents and beach scents usually get my attention. They are not cloying, but they do leave a lingering fresh scent on my skin. I do not wear a perfume so I am not clashing with anything and there is nothing quite as nice as wearing a fresh scent. Baby soap manufactures have made a living making babies smell good. Overly perfumed soap will not find its way into my house. Strong scents make me and Blu sneeze.
5- Solid
Nothing will make me toss out a bar of soap faster than one that melts. I do not ever want to pick up my bar of soap and have it ooze between my fingers. Dial is one of the worst offenders of oozing soap. Ivory, while clean, is another oozing soap. If my soap is not going to last more than a week, then I am not going to purchase any more. I will pay a little more for quality soap than to buy boatloads of inferior soap. Oozing soaps are messy in the sink and they leave a soap dish filled with wads of melted soap. These soap blobs can slip down the drain and sit in there gumming up the works until enough water has passed through the pipes to clean them out. I want my soap to wipe clean and not leave a mess that I need to clean up.
My soap buying has taken a turn towards the handcrafted soap artists in my quest to get a soap that has all five qualities for which I am searching.
These qualities must be present in the soap that I purchase for my family’s use. While Blu does not get to use the soap, he is an inspector and any package that comes in the house, he insists on smelling. He is nosy that way.
Recently, I discovered Peggi Hacker of Pink’s Pleasure on Artfire.
I purchased four bars of her organic 4-ounce soaps. She offers an assortment of scents and after some thought, I chose Fresh Cotton. It was not easy to choose just one scent, and although I could have had each bar a different scent, I was looking for some cohesion in my bathroom.
These bars of soap are filled with soothing coconut and palm oils that are easy on my skin and leave me feeling clean without any hint of a soap residue. The scent is clear and clean and brought a nice freshness to my shower and bathroom. It is not a heavy scent, but it also does not dissipate easily, which is actually a benefit as it eliminates the need for other room fresheners.
Peggi’s soap is filled with fun foam and lather that makes it perfect for people like me who feel that if there is no lather, there is no clean. These soaps are bubbly and shaving is a breeze with no dry and itchy skin afterwards. It leaves my skin silky smooth because of all the oils.
Here is a list of her ingredients in this bar of soap:
Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Palm Oil, Purified Water, Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifier), Soy bean protein (conditioner), Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent , Glycerin (kosher, of vegetable origin)
Pink’s Pleasure carries soaps for both bathing and for decoration. There are soaps in different shapes for the guest bathroom and there are hearty sized bars of soaps for the shower and bath.
Each bar of soap is individually wrapped and sealed before it is gift wrapped in a beautiful bag and tied with a feminine ribbon. This makes each bar of soap a gift ready to give.
Peggi lives in the Oro Valley near Tucson, Arizona with her husband of 29 years. In addition to soap, she is a talented jewelry designer and owns Pink Clouds And Angels where she sells her handcrafted jewelry.
http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/4350335
This image will take you to the soaps that I purchased.
Look at all this lather from Peggi Hacker’s Pink’s Pleasure soaps!
Here are some of Peggi’s other soaps. Each image will take you to the product information and purchase page.
Mother’s Day would not be complete without this lovely heart and rose soap for mom or grandma.
Nothing says summer like the scent of lemon and coconut – who does not love the smells of these fresh scents?
While you are at it, pick up this fresh mown grass scented soap for Father’s Day – all golfers love the smell of fresh mown grass.
Tell Peggi that me and Blu sent you!
Julie and Blu
