All things soapy...
And you thought I was kidding!
Those of you who read my most recent blog a couple weeks ago know that this week's blog message would be a return to all things soapy. Liquid soap-y to be exact.
I am so pleased to introduce a new product to our growing line - liquid body wash -- and I want to spend a little time here to break down how liquid soap is made and how we came to choose the specific ingredients for our new body wash. But firstly, I want to give it a shameless plug. This body wash is amazing. It dispenses cleanly from our BHA-free bottle via an easy-to-use pump into your shower pouf or sea sponge and lathers up beautifully. One of our 8 ounce/237 ml bottles of body wash should last a month or more. I have been using the Orange Mint version and its citrusy scent smells wonderful.
Liquid soap consists of oils combined with potassium hydroxide and a fairly large proportion of distilled water. Our body wash formula is also known as a "bastille" type soap because its oils are plant-based. Because of that distilled water, a preservative is required to ensure that the product is safe for you to use. After much research, I settled on Optiphen Plus, a highly effective, broad spectrum antimicrobial preservative without parabens or formaldehyde. I also added Vitamin E at the end of the cooking process. Vitamin E oil is a fat soluble antioxidant. It is well known for its skin loving properties, including its ability to protect the skin from free radicals and is a great addition to skin care products.
The actual production of liquid soap is fairly lengthy and labour intensive. Liquid soap must cook until a test sample is translucent. In our soap studio, this process has been a consistent 8 hours from start to translucent stage, and the resulting soap paste must then be combined with distilled water over several hours to finally come to a liquid stage. Fortunately, once the initial "trace" has been reached, the soap pretty much cooks itself, requiring a stir only every half hour, allowing me to get other tasks done!
Our body wash is available in three variations: a men's options featuring our signature Cedar Leather fragrance oil, an all natural essential oil version with orange 5X and peppermint essential oils, and an unscented version for our many customers with skin and scent sensitivities.
We hope you will try our Body Wash, and to thank you in advance, we are offering a one use 15% coupon when you get to the checkout section of our store. Use the coupon code BODYWASH15 and you too can enjoy the abundant lather of Strawberry Creek Body Wash for yourself! This coupon is valid until February 10th and we think this batch will sell out quickly, so head on over to the store and order some today!
All the best,
Shelley