(And why should you care?)
 Before we get to what real soap IS, it's worth talking about what the soap that most people buy at the supermarket - the stuff most of us grew up using - is. Because that's a huge part of understanding why real handmade ABSOLUTE SOAP feels so great to use, and why we started making it in the first place.
The soap that most people think of when you say the word "soap," the stuff you see on store shelves and in restaurant bathrooms is, in fact, pretty much a block of pressed detergent (or a pump dispenser of liquid detergent), like what you'd use in your washing machine. It's made using chemicals with names like sodium laureth sulfate, decyl glucoside and pentasodium pentetate; words you'll NEVER see on the label of any ABSOLUTE SOAPS (which is a good thing, because we can't pronounce them anyway).
Even soaps claiming to be "pure," or using words like "natural" (or common variants like "nutri") usually contain these chemicals (or their equivalent cousins). Commercial soaps also often contain petroleum (irritating to people with sensitive skin), esters (known carcinogens), alcohols (which dry your skin), animal tallow (yes, really: animal fat - no kidding) low grade oils, waxes, fillers, detergents and preservatives.
But our real, handmade ABSOLUTE SOAP contains none of that. In fact, it has almost nothing in common with those other products besides the word "soap" itself. So the first thing that you need to know about ABSOLUTE SOAP is what it isn't: it's not commercially produced, it's not produced using chemicals, it's not tested on animals.
Instead, ABSOLUTE SOAP is handmade using pure, natural saponified coconut, palm, olive and other oils. Some of our bars have extra added ingredients like shea butter, cocoa butter, sea salt, cocoa, natural clay, and even coffee that do things like exfoliate, purify, provide extra moisturizing action, or add the slip necessary in a shave soap. That's why every bar of handmade ABSOLUTE SOAP is nourishing, moisturizing soap that won't irritate or dry your skin.
In addition to the lack of chemicals and animal fats, ABSOLUTE SOAP has other advantages over commercial soap, like the naturally occurring glycerin that keeps skin moist and supple. When oils are saponified (the process of combining fat and an akali), two things are produced: soap and glycerin. In commercial soaps, even those with a minimum of chemicals, the glycerin is often separated from the soap and removed. It's then utilized to make more profitable products, including cosmetics, medicine, printing inks and even explosives.
Occasionally a small amount is added back to the final process in an effort to make the product appear to be moisturizing. Of course what they never mention on the label is that they took a lot more out than they put back in. But in handmade ABSOLUTE SOAP, we leave the glycerin in the soap, allowing our bars to provide deep moisturizing benefits.
In the end, it comes down to this: use blocks of detergent or commercially produced soap that's been stripped of its natural moisturizing properties and augmented with chemicals, or use real soap, handmade from natural oils and allowed to cure naturally over time, keeping its natural benefits intact. Once you know the facts, and once you realize that ABSOLUTE SOAP is offering real versions of just about every soap and soap-like product most people ever use, we think you'll agree there's only one choice: |
