Yep, you read the title of this page correctly….. How to wash! Or in other words, How to use soap
Why am I explaining this? Well becasue nobody actually uses soap properly. You might be thinking to yourself “….But it’s soap! Of course I know how to use it!” Well keep reading and you’ll see what I mean…..
OK, so I need to explain a couple of soapy making bit’s first so you get the whole picture.
TRACE
This will be quick, but it makes the next part make sense……
So when you make soap, there is a stage called ‘Trace’. It’s a bit technical, but all you need to know is that it’s essentially the time it takes for the oil used in the soap recipe to go from a liquid to a solid bar. This is important becasue it effects the time a soap maker has to get the soap into their moulds. This means that soap makers are very specific about the recipe of oils they use in their soap.
2 TYPES OF SOAP
So with that part understood, let’s move onto part two. 2 types of soap.
The first kind is incredibly beautiful. Swirls, lines, flowers and colours. However, now that you understand ‘Trace’, you can also understand that in order to create these beautiful designs, you need ‘Trace’ to happen very, very, slowly. This means that the oils used, have to be quite specific and restricts the ingredients a soap maker can use. Generally, these soaps do one thing very well (other than looking amazing) and that is clean you.
The other type of soap is the one that I make. I prefer to focus on the ingredients so that hopefully they can do something positive for your skin. I should also say, that I make no claims about the soap. (Actually I’m not allowed to legally) They don’t have swirls and beautiful designs, but they do a different job. The ingredients all have various benefits for skin and if you find the right one for you, then they can do amazing things. ‘Trace’ however, is quick (sometimes too quick), which is why I don’t have time to create beautiful designs and get it into moulds. But the end results are worth it.
Neither type is better soap and they both have elements of craft, art and an immense amount of practise, time and effort…. simply put, they are just different.
HOW TO USE SOAP…..
Now with all of that understood, it would make sense that if a soap actually does something (the type I make), then you want to get the benefits right? OK great, so let me explain why you’re not washing properly. This is how most people wash with soap…..
OK so you’re in the shower….. you turn on the tap and stand under the water. You get up a lather in your hands and wash yourself with it, or you simply pick up the soap and rub on your skin. The water then washes it off…….. instantly! Here is the problem and the reason that I’m explaining how to actually use soap….
If the soap doesn’t stay on your skin for even a second before it is washed away, then it’s not doing anything other than just cleaning you. I focus on specific ingredients and take a long time to develop my recipes. Trial and and error, over and over, until they are right. If the soap isn’t actually connecting with your skin, then you won’t get the most out of your soap. So how do you actually use soap? Well you already know. It’s the same way you wash your face or your hair……
Think about how you wash your hair, face or even shave for a moment….. When you wash your face, generally you wet your face and then your hands holding the soap. You then rub it between your hands, creating a lather which you massage into your face, or, you directly rub the soap on your face, creating a lather. And you do this all over your face until it is covered in lather, which takes a couple of minutes. It’s only at this point that the tap goes back on and you wash the lather off your face.
The few minutes that the soap connects with your skin, while you massage the lather into your face is enough to allow your skin to absorb the fantastic ingredients. As a second bonus, your skin get’s a well deserved massage. This method takes no longer than the first, but it does have many more benefits if you have the right product for your skin. You already use this method with your face and hair, so why not do this with your body too?
If you have any soap with amazing ingredients, whether they are mine or not, then take full advantage of them and use them properly.