Amongst the many wonderful products available on our website are 100% natural soaps from Shangri La Botanicals. But what is a ‘natural soap’ and why should you consider using them over other soaps?

A brief history of soap

The whole business of making soap is thousands of years old.  The first evidence of the manufacture of soap is from Ancient Babylon, in 2800BC. The word soap comes from the Latin Sapo, via an early Germanic language, so it’s been around for quite a while.

To make soap you need fat, an alkali and enough heat to keep the fat liquid. Mixing the fat and alkali creates a reaction know as saponification from which we get soap.  Evidence suggests the earliest soap would have been made using plant oil and ashes. In fact alkali is a derivative of the Arabic word for ashes; ‘al-qaly’. Through time animal fat, most commonly tallow or rendered beef fat were used in the production of soap, alongside the development of processes which retained the use of plant extracts, such as olive oil.

The benefits of cold process

Today there remain three methods for the production of cleansing soap.  Cold process, hot process and fully boiled process. Our soap uses the former and here’s why…

By its very nature soap made using a cold process can only be made in small batches by dedicated people. As saponification occurs, a natural by-product is glycerin. In industrial ‘hot’ soap making processes this is removed either to be sold on or simply washed away. MISTAKE! This is the ingredient which makes handmade soap so much better for your skin. Our skin loves glycerin. When your skin feels dry after using soap it is because the glycerin content is low, the tell tale sign of a lower quality product. The cold process allows the skin nourishing glycerin to be re-incorporated into the soap and results in a gentler more luxurious bar of soap.

Another result of smaller batches of soap made by artisans is that it tends to include better, more natural ingredients as opposed to synthetic oils, petro chemicals, detergents and animal fats.

Shangri La Botanicals

Shangri La Botanicals soap is made with shea butter, olive palm and coconut oils and is completely free of synthetic fragrances, colorants, chemicals, preservatives and animal products. That’s where the 100% natural part comes in. There’s nothing synthetic about their soap!

All of the fragrances used are from essential oils inspired by the pristine environment of Northern Yunnan. These are distilled from 100% natural, organic fresh flower and plant essences and have no detrimental effect on your skin or the environment, being completely biodegradable. They are handcrafted with love, passion and skill to provide a truly remarkable soap experience. Your skin is going to love you for this!

Click here to experience the wonder of Shangri La Botanicals soap for yourself.