How did Tara's Soap Shop get started?
Once upon a time, I wanted to try something new. I took a soap making course, fell in love and I've been passionately making it happily ever after since! Soaping brings me joy and it's a creative outlet for me. I also love crafting something that can be used everyday, by anyone, and can add a little something extra in the process of cleaning yourself! Most soap is kinda boring and dull. Soap can be fun! I've always liked color (even my bedroom walls were purple as a kid) so I enjoy adding that flair into my soap making to make bath, shower or handwashing a little more fun and uplifting while also getting a superior clean. A lot of love is put into every bar and its important to me that my customers get more out of the soap they buy and that it does more than just clean. I take the time to create fun and unique products that are healthier for your skin, the environment and also bring joy to your day.
​
Why my soap is so AH-MAZING
​
All my soap is made in small batches so each one is crafted with LOVE & PASSION. I use high quality plant based oils known for their excellent cleansing and moisturizing properties and my signature recipe ensures each bar is perfectly balanced to provide a hard bar that has a luxurious lather to cleanse and hydrate your skin. There are no harsh chemicals that dry out or irritate your skin. We don't extract the glycerin that is naturally produced in cold processed soap so our bars maintain their moisture content and keep your skin feeling soft and moisturized after washing, so there's likely no need to buy an extra product to rehydrate your skin. Every bar has simple, easily pronounceable and understandable ingredients so you know exactly what you're putting on your hands, face and body. I purchase my ingredients from companies that focus on responsibly and sustainably sourced products. Every bar is crafted with love, passion, excitement and creativity, and my prices reflect the time, quality, effort and care I put into each bar. I really enjoy making a product that gives the community a healthier choice, that is better for the environment, safer for our families and fun to use. All my soaps are considered vegan and made the cold processed way.
Why is handcrafted soap so much more expensive than corporate brand soap bars?
​
When comparing handcrafted soap to store bought brands like Dove or Irish Spring etc, chances are those bars aren't even real soap! It's true. You might see they are called "beauty bars" or "bar soap" and when looking at the ingredients list, they are not made in the traditional saponification way. These kinds of bars are mass produced. They have cheap fillers like detergents and chemicals that mimic what soap does (bubble, lather, creamy feel etc) and these fillers help keep costs low and profits high for the company that makes them, but they have the tendency to leave your skin dry, itchy and sometimes irritated after cleansing. I'll use Dove bars as an example. Dove makes the claim that soap strips the natural moisture barrier from skin so you shouldn't use traditional soap to clean yourself. Rather, you should use their "beauty bar" because they add "1/4 moisture cream" to their bars to makes it superior. Traditional soap making creates glycerin, the special ingredient that leaves your skin feeling moisturized and soft after cleansing. It's true that a soap striped of this special ingredient or one that never had it in the first place will likely leave your skin feeling dry or irritated after cleansing but the truth is, traditional soap is the superior bar to use because the glycerin is part of the soap and left inside. Dove bars don't keep this wonderful ingredient in their soap, they extract it for use in their other products, and they appear to add a different ingredient to mimic what the magic of glycerin does. Dove uses the name beauty bar because they aren't allowed to use the word soap because their bars just aren't soap! They are a solid detergent made up of surfactants to simulate what real soap does. They use the name "beauty bar" to sound appealing to women but these claims are misleading to entice people to buy their brand. Big brands often use the amazing benefits of glycerin in their lotions and creams, which are skin moisturizing products. Not only should you buy their beauty bar but you should also buy their lotion for a complete skin enhancing experience! So you end up spending more money for two products to do the same thing 1 bar of traditional, cold-processed handcrafted soap does. You also end up with more plastic containers that might end up in the landfill. Handcrafted soap is usually minimally packaged, doesn't come in a plastic container and its made with real, wholesome ingredients that are better for the environment and for you.
You're skin deserves better and its worth it to pay a little extra up front for a bar that's made with superior wholesome ingredients and made in small batches with love, quality and care. Chances are you will only need 1 product instead of two, saving you money in the long run.
​
The Cold Processed Soap Method
The word Soap is short for Saponification, which is the process of mixing a fat (oils and/or butters) with sodium hydroxide (aka Lye). The classic, old fashioned method of making soap back in the 1600's would include animal fat, like beef tallow, pork or sheep lard and mixing it with Ash (lye) from the fire. I do not use any animal byproducts in my soap and only use plant based oils as the fat content. We also have the luxury of using pre made sodium hydroxide instead of building a fire big enough to create a large amount of ash that would be required, not to mention how dirty and messy soot can be! We've got it a little easier, cleaner and more fun in the 21st century since we can add all kinds of other benefits that boost health for the skin. The cold processed method requires the soap to sit and "cure" after being poured. Curing allows the water content left in the soap to evaporate, the pH level to balance out and the bar to harden up to last much longer. It takes 4-6 weeks for the curing process to complete before its ready for use. Its worth the wait because the end product is a luxurious, lathering, hard bar that cleanses, conditions and leaves you feeling AH-mazing!
Its very important to have a soap dish or somewhere the soap can dry fully between uses. Handcrafted soap tends to disintegrate quickly if left to sit in water because it doesn't have hardening chemicals in it like corporate branded soaps. Its hardened in the natural way by water evaporation in the curing process. It will become gloopy and messy and won't last more than a few weeks. Make sure to have a dish that allows the water to drip away and keep your soap out of the way of shower heads or water drips to help it last a long time. Soap that is allowed to dry between each use will last for months, even years! If you don't have a soap dish, check out our accessories
​
​
Did I miss something?
Questions?
If you have any questions about my products or general inquiries, please don't hesitate to reach out. I love getting mail and talking to people about soap! I hope you enjoy my body care products as much as I love making them for you. Thanks for dropping by.
Stay clean my friends! :)
-Tara