Notes from the workshop

How we read labels

How to read a cosmetics ingredient list: why the order matters, what the numbers 1–4 in our lists mean, and why they say Limonene and Linalool.

Find your ritual

5 benefits of natural soap

Soap is the product you use every day. So it’s worth it being good — smelling nice, being gentle on your skin, and letting you know what’s in it. Here are five benefits of natural, handmade soap. You’ll feel the difference within the first week. 1. You know what’s inside A natural soap has a […]

Bulgarian rose oil: why it’s called liquid gold

Rose oil is the most expensive ingredient in our products. One kilogram takes between three and four tonnes of rose petals. That’s why it’s called liquid gold, and why it’s measured in grams. The rose reached Bulgaria by a long road The oil-bearing rose sets out from Persia — that’s also where rose oil was […]

The plastic in our packaging: where it isn’t, and where it is

An article about plastic in the world is easy to write and commits nobody to anything. The harder thing is to write what’s in your own packaging — including the part you don’t like. Here is the list. The soaps: paper A bar of soap doesn’t need a container. It’s wrapped in paper, and that’s […]

Lavender that smells of lavender

Lavender is the most recognizable scent in cosmetics, and that’s exactly why it is the most often faked. Most things that smell of lavender have never been near a lavender plant. Over 400 kinds, and they don’t smell the same Two kinds of lavender oil dominate the market, and the difference between them matters: Lavandula […]

Olive oil makes the softest soap. And the slowest.

The oldest recipe for hard soap in Europe has one ingredient: olive oil. It’s called Castile soap and has been made in Spain for centuries. We don’t make exactly that, but Olive soap is its closest relative on our shelf. What olive oil brings Olive oil is rich in oleic acid — a long, soft […]

The questions we’re asked most often

The most useful conversations about our products don’t happen online. They happen at a stall, when someone picks up a bar of soap, smells it and asks something specific. We’ve gathered the questions we hear most often. The first three are word for word from the Mish Mash Fest in 2021 — the rest piled […]

Coconut oil is what makes the lather

Make a soap from olive oil alone and you’ll get an excellent bar that barely lathers. Coconut oil is the ingredient that solves that — and in 12 of our recipes, that is exactly why it’s there. What makes the lather The fatty acids in an oil decide what kind of soap it will make. […]

Cocoa butter melts at skin temperature

Cocoa butter has one property that none of our other ingredients has: its melting point is almost exactly body temperature. In the jar it’s a solid block. In your palm it melts in seconds. That’s also why it’s used in chocolate — chocolate snaps, but melts in your mouth. Same physics, different use. Where it […]