All Natural Beaute

An exfoliant is a mechanical or chemical agent that’s applied to the skin to remove dead skin cells. Mechanical exfoliants, like ground oats, are they type I focused on in my latest eClass on Exfoliants in CP Soap. These exfoliants are all (at least) mildly abrasive in nature (as opposed to a chemical exfoliant, like glycolic acid, which removes dead skin cells in other ways).

Many different all-natural ingredients can be added to your handmade soap to create an exfoliating bar of handmade soap. I tested 32 different exfoliants! Seeds, nuts, shells, grains, dried foods & botanicals can all be added to soap to help slough off dead skin cells. They can be used whole, chopped, or in powdered form.

You might wonder… Why would a soapmaker add exfoliants to their soap?

3 Reasons to Use Exfoliants in Your Soap:

• Exfoliants give soap a scrubby texture to remove dead skin cells & soften skin!
• Exfoliants help kick up lather quickly (important for frequent hand washers)!
• Exfoliants add visual interest to an otherwise plain all-natural bar of soap!

1) Exfoliants can give your soap a nice scrubby texture which helps soften skin by removing dead skin cells. While it’s true that our skin will shed its dead skin naturally about every month, using an exfoliant helps more come off all at once… leaving baby soft skin behind. Also, it’s nice to know it’s getting washed down the drain instead of falling onto our bed sheets or on our carpets (which becomes food for dust mites… I know… eeew).  After using a well-made exfoliating soap, skin should feel softer & smoother, but not irritated or scratched!

2) Exfoliants help kick up lather quickly, which is important for frequent hand washers (especially with so many nasty viruses going around). With a non-exfoliating soap, it can take 10-15 seconds to active it & get the lather going, before you can wash your hands. Compare that to only a few seconds to rub vigorously on a bar soap with exfoliants to get the lather going. That means you can start & end your handwashing more efficiently.

3) Exfoliants can “fancy up” an otherwise plain bar of all-natural soap by adding visual interest. While some exfoliants, like bamboo powder or ground pumice, are not obvious by just looking, others like orange peel, dill, or adzuki bean powder look really beautiful in plain uncolored soap (see pic below).

I am so excited to share all that I know about using exfoliants in cold process soap with you, through this blog & my new Exfoliants eClass! My hope is that you’ll learn something new, be inspired to try some new exfoliants with confidence, and have more success in your future soapmaking.

Is there a reason you like using exfoliating soap that I forgot to mention?

Feel free to share in the comments!

The post 3 Reasons to Use Exfoliants in Soap appeared first on The Nova Studio.

* This article was originally published here