Untitled Document
Soap FAQ
- What is the olive oil used in your soaps?
- Is olive oil soap greasy as olive oil?
- Would you recommend your soap as a facial cleanser?
- Would you recommend your soap as a solid shampoo
bar?
- Are your soaps safe to use on hypersensitive skin?
- Are your soaps safe to be used on babies?
- Does your soap contain real natural vegetable glycerin?
- What means the cold process soap making method you specify?
- Does your soap contain lye (caustic soda)?
- What is your soap pH?
- Is your soap good for my eczema?
- Why is your soap so expensive?
- You claim your soap is organic. Is it Certified?
- Why is handcrafted soap different from commercial soap?
What is the olive oil used in your soaps?
Abegoa soap uses exclusively certified organic virgin olive oil, which is among
the best grade you can find worldwide. top
Is olive oil soap greasy as olive oil?
No, it is not greasy because it is saponified olive oil - or Sodium Olivate
- which is not greasy nor leaves a greasy residue. It may even be recommended
also for greasy skins and hairs. You will note that its lather is rich and creamy
but is easily rinsed off. top
Would you recommend your soap as a facial cleanser?
By all means. Abegoa Soap will not leave your face dry, tight and uncomfortable.
It will not clog your pores. On the contrary, unlike current commercial soaps,
due to the cold process method (not boiled for hours), its natural glycerin
is still there and the olive oil properties are kept intact for your skin benefit.
top
Would you recommend your soap as a solid shampoo bar?
Yes, in fact we specially recommend it as a solid shampoo bar. The best way
to use this soaps is in your bath for a total body care, including your hair.
For the same reason as it is great for your skin, you will be amazed with the
results in your hair. Your hair deserves a natural care ruther than detergent
(like sodium laureth sulphate or sodium lauryl sulphate) based shampoos. Users
frequently find no need for further hair conditioning. The solid form instead
of liquid let us use no preservatives at all. (note you will only note the difference
after a few washings).
top
Are your soaps safe to use on hypersensitive skin?
Organic olive oil makes the mildest and gentlest soap that is possible to create.
It is possible, though rare, for an individual to develop an allergy, even to
natural substances produced in an organic mode. Our soaps have absolutely no
additives except the respective organic essential oil. Even so, we made available
an unscented soap which is exclusively saponified organic virgin olive oil.
top
Are your soaps safe to be used on babies?
Babies will love it :), Olive oil soap is usually recomended for babies skin.
top
Does your soap contain real natural vegetable
glycerin?
Yes it does. In the traditional, cold process method of soapmaking that we
use, vegetable glycerin is produced and retained naturally during the saponification
process. The commercial soapmakers remove the naturally occurring glycerin from
the soap. It is then made into lotions and other products to resell at a higher
price. Handcrafted soapmkers like Abegoa leave the glycerin in the soap to nurture
your skin.
top
What means the cold process soap making method
you specify?
There are basically two methods of soap making:cold process and hot process
method (a third method, called melt is ins fact a techniques for making new
soap from existing soap). Cold-process soapmaking takes place at a temperature
just above room temperature, while in the hot process lye and fat or oils are
boiled together at 80 – 100 °C for hours or days until saponification
occurs. From this results that as in normal cooking, oil properties and nutrients
are kept intact to nurture your skin, while in the hot process method used by
commercial soapmakers those are savaged by the harsh boiling process.
top
Does your soap contain lye (caustic soda)?
Yes. It is impossible to make soap without lye (caustic soda - Sodium Hydroxide)
to saponify the oils. When the process is done correctly, nearly 90% of the
lye is eliminated on the first moments of the saponifying reaction, the rest
goes along with the curing and in the end NO lye is left in the finished bar.
In the end there is only Sodium Olivate (saponified olive oil). PH
tests monitor this evolution easily. (note that you may see detergent
bars that have no lye, beware with those...)
top
What is your soap pH?
Real soap, made by a skilled, professional soapmaker, has a pH of between 9
and 10. It is a basic error the belief that the skin must be cared with pH balanced
(ph7) products. Olive oil is the best oil for your skin, used for centuries
and is an acid. The skin digests it and absorbs it in an hour or so.
Some commercial soaps lower their pH but beware because the only way to do it
is throwing in chemical detergents like sodium lauryl sulphate. This
is not real soap and may be really harmful for your skin and general health.
top
Is your soap good for my eczema?
Please consult your dermatologist. We're not allowed to claim our soaps as
having curative or medicinal properties unless we actually treat them as, and
get them tested and certified as, medicines. So the short answer is that we
can't comment. But we have had several regular customers who have stated that
the soap has helped with problem skin. This may be a side-effect of the relatively
natural ingredients in our soaps (or indeed in other cold-process soaps)...
it may be preservatives, colorants or fragrances in commercial soaps that cause
unpleasant reactions. Our best suggestion is that you try our soap for a while
and see how it sits with you.
top
Why is your soap so expensive?
Because of the ingredients we use, that are all the best available (certified
organic olive oil and certified organic essential oils) and because it is handmade
in small amounts using the cold process method that has a slower turnover than
the process large commercial soap industries use. On other hand we do not use
soap making to produce glycerin to sell you apart in the form of an expensive
overpriced hidratant lotion. In other words, it is not expensive, the price
may be higher than commercial soaps due to better ingredients and higher intrinsic
value.
top
You claim your soap is organic. Is it Certified?
Yes. In fact Abegoa Soap is one of the few soaps certified organic by itself
(not only the ingredients). It is certified organic by Ecocert
(Controlo Ecocert Portugal - PT/AB 02).
top
Why is handcrafted soap different from commercial
soap?
By commercial we mean industrial soap made in large quantities. Handmade soap
differs from industrial soap in that, usually, an excess of fat is sometimes
used to consume the alkali (superfatting), and in that the glycerin is not removed.
Superfatted soap, soap which contains excess fat, is more skin-friendly than
industrial soap. Industrial soap is boiled for long loosing the nutrients and
properties of the already scarce natural oils and glyceryn, the most important
of the soap due to its hydratant properties, removed to be sold apart in more
expensive hydratant lotions. Composition itself differs a lot. "High quality"
"natural" Industrial soaps usually have cheap oils as palm or coconut
oil, preservatives and colorants. Normal industrial soap uses Sodium Tallowate
(a.k.a. tallow - animal fat) as fat. Others employ sodium lauryl sulphate
and detergents. Look for yourself their composition.
|
Shop online
