Soap opera: natural soap will have you singing in the shower

Making soap is simple enough: Take an alkaloid and some fat, add water and voile, you've got suds. But in the quest to make the cheapest bar, many mass manufacturers have gotten chemical crazy. They use artificial dyes--often derived from coal tar, a carcinogen--to make soap colorful; irritating and drying laurel sulfates for bubbles; petroleum by-products, such as mineral oil, for moisturizers; and fake fragrances for, well, smelling good.

Natural soap makers, on the other hand, rely primarily on plant-based ingredients. For instance, for the fats needed, olive, palm and coconut oils are used. Moisturizers might be aloe vera, shea butter or hemp oil. Pure essential oils perfume the bars with scrumptious scents such as lavender, rose or peppermint (perfect for the morning shower). And in lieu of parabens (chemical preservatives), natural preservatives such as rosemary oil are called on. In addition, these soaps are never tested on animals, which is not always the case with conventional bars.

The best part? These quality natural ingredients give you a bubbly bar of soap that smells better than supermarket varieties, doesn't irritate your skin and can be super-moisturizing. The only problem is choosing.

To help you figure out which type of soap is best for you, turn the page and let us introduce you to some swell-smelling varieties.

soap opera

TYPE       HOW IT IS MADE                 USES

GLYCERIN   A by-product of soap           Great for dry skin.
           making, translucent
           glycerin yields a very
           moisturizing bar but
           one that melts fast.

FRENCH     Soap is milled                 Ideal for hand soap.
MILLED     (meaning water is
           pressed out) at least
           three times to produce
           long-lasting bars.

COLD       Made in small batches          Ideal for sensitive
PROCESS    that are allowed to            skin.
           cure for a month so
           that the alkaloid
           (often an irritant)
           rises to the top;
           the alkaloid is then
           removed. Produces
           a super-mild soap.

CASTILE    Can be made many               A nice option for
           different ways and is          those who prefer to
           available in liquid            avoid animal-based
           and cake forms.                products.
           Often refers to any
           vegetable oil-based
           soap--usually more
           than 70 percent.

TYPE       WHAT NATURAL                   WE LIKE
           SOAPS WON'T HAVE

GLYCERIN   Most mass-market               BEAUTIFUL
           glycerin soaps have            SOAP & CO. PUMPKIN
           artificial dyes, propylene     SPICE SOAP (This is
           glycol (used in antifreeze)    actually a hybrid between
           and triethanolamine            a glycerin and a French
           (TEA) (skin irritants and      milled soap.)
           possible carcinogens).
           Read labels carefully.

FRENCH     Conventional milled soaps      AUBREY
MILLED     most often have laurel         ORGANICS EVENING
           sulfates, FD&C colors and      PRIMROSE & LAVENDER
           cocamide DEA (possible         SKIN CARE BAR
           carcinogens).

COLD       Generic bars often             BOULDER BATH
PROCESS    contain drying laurel          AND BODY COLD
           sulfates, FD&C colors          PROCESS ORANGE
           and cocamide DEA               HARMONY SOAP
           (possible carcinogens).

CASTILE    Many conventional soaps        DR. BRONNER'S
           use tallow (beef fat) for      MAGIC SOAPS
           the fatty agent.               ALL-ONE HEMP
                                          ALMOND PURE
                                          CASTILE SOAP

COPYRIGHT 2005 PRIMEDIA Intertec, a PRIMEDIA Company. All Rights Reserved.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group