Skinsations Soap & Bath Products


Welcome to Skinsations Handmade Soap and Bath Products!

I first tried soap casting, or glycerin soap making in 1999 as a rainy day project with my young son. I have always loved scented soaps and bath products, but have sensitive skin and often had allergic reactions. I also was wary of the list of unpronounceable ingredients on most of the products offered in stores. I found that I could use handmade soaps and glycerin soap without any problems. As time went on, I did more research and began making my own soap from scratch. I found that I really enjoyed the process, working with the fragrances and colors and creating beautiful, yet useful soaps. I also added other products such as lip balms, body butters and milk baths to the product line. All recipes are my own creation and the result of many hours of trial, error and research.

Skinsations Soap uses only the highest quality ingredients in all of our products. Our handmade soaps are ecologically friendly and do not contain any harsh, unpronounceable chemicals. We use food grade vegetable oils, plant essential oils and top quality cosmetic grade fragrance oils. We use a variety of colorants including FD&C food colorings, micas, oxides, and herbs and spices.

Q. What is soap?

A. Chemically speaking, soap is the sodium (or potassium) salt of a fatty acid. When a fatty acid (fats such as tallow or live oil), is mixed with an alkali (a substance that corrodes, such as lye) the fat splits into 2 parts- fatty acid and glycerin. The sodium part of the lye joins with the fatty acid to become soap. This process is known as saponification. Simply put~ Oils + Lye = Soap. You can not make soap (of any kind) without lye (sodium hydroxide) or potassium hydroxide (used to make liquid soaps). However, once the chemical reaction takes place the lye is no longer present in its alkaline form. As a matter of fact, it has now turned into something very pleasant and wonderful.

History of soap:

Soap making can be traced back to as early as 2800 B.C.. The first evidence of commercial soap making can be found in ancient Rome. The ancient Celts also were know for making soap. This early soap was likely made from goat tallow and wood causticized wood ash and was used mainly for cleaning textiles such as wool and cotton. While public baths were popular in Rome, soap was not used for personal cleansing. During the Dark Ages, the making and use of soap fell off drastically and wasn't fully revived until around the 13th Century when France joined Italy and Spain in the production of soap. Due to its availability olive oils were used in the southern regions while to the north, beef tallow was more commonly used. Colonists in the New World found it easier to make their own soap than to have it imported. Soap was usually made once a year at butchering time to utilize the animal fats and ashes that had been gathered from the hearth. This soap was generally a very soft soap, stored in barrels. Lye was made by running rain water through wood ash and was tested by dropping an egg in. Depending on if the egg sank or floated indicated whether or not the lye was strong enough or too strong. It was difficult to get good results and this soap was often very harsh. Salt was a rare and expensive commodity, but if available could be added to the soap to make it harder. Since then, soap making has evolved. Instead of wood ash, we have sodium hydroxide (lye) or potassium hydroxide (used to make liquid soap) and have formulas that tell us the proper ratios of oils to lye to get consistent results. We also have a wider variety of oils and fats, as well as exotic butters to choose from. Most commercially made soaps today are actually detergents, or petroleum based rather than animal or vegetable based.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us anytime at [email protected].