The Benefits of Buying Handmade Soap

Being an avid supporter of independent artists, I recently found myself with a new passion to purchase; Handmade soaps. There are so many benefits to using handmade soaps that I don't even know where to begin! Handmade soaps come in a variety of colors, flavors, sizes, and of course prices. But they all have a few things in common as well. Handmade soaps are good for your body, good for the environment and good for the economy. Let me tell you why...

For starters, handmade soaps are great for your skin. There are so many fillers in mass produced soaps, that even though they may claim to produce soft skin, have moisturizing content, and even vitamins or other essentials, the truth of the matter is that they can also be full of detergents, chemicals and dyes. Handmade soaps on the other hand, are typically made from a natural glycerin base and have added ingredients such as olive oil, sunflower oil or coco butter, just to name a few. From there, they are scented and dyed from natural dehydrated ingredients that we may find in our own local market. Oranges, strawberries, poppy seeds, brown sugar, oatmeal, honey, mint, lemon, you name it and it may be in your soap, but it's all natural! Many of the ingredients found in handmade soaps are nothing less than the quality of the food you eat. And though I can not speak for everyone, I know that many of the handmade soap makers take pride in using the best quality ingredients they can find. If they wouldn't eat it, they won't use it in their soaps.

This brings me to the next benefit of using handmade soaps. Not only are they good for your skin, but there are many social benefits to buying handmade soaps as well. If you are an animal rights activist or even just someone who cares about their quality of life, then buying handmade soaps may be something that's important to you because handmade soaps are never tested on animals like many of the mass produced products we buy. Mass produced soaps are also often full of high content animal fat, while handmade soaps are full of vegetable based oils making them very vegan friendly. No animal by-products here! And not only removing animals from the equation, but handmade soaps are also better for the environment. Think about every time you take a shower, and how many detergents are being washed down the drain into our sewer system. Well, with handmade soaps, you can put your mind at ease knowing that what you've used in the shower was an all natural product made up of items grown by the earth, thus being safer for them to go back into the earth after being used. So as you can see, being environmentally conscious can have a great impact on more than just what you eat, but what you use for cleaning you body as well.

And finally, aside from the environmentally friendly socialites in the world, there are yet another group of people out there striving to make our economy a little more structurally sound, and that would be nothing less than the group of entrepreneurs we like to call independent artists. While you might pay a little more for handmade soap than you would for mass produced commercial soaps, you'll find that there is an added benefit to buying something made right here at home. There are many people making soaps and other wonderful handmade products all across the nation, that are not only strengthening the idea of a more natural lifestyle, but they are also strengthening the local economies in which they sell in as well. No more shipments from over seas, no more factories, no more labor wages. Handmade soaps are just one simple example of how buying handmade products can help our economy become more stable and locally sufficient. Let's support these small businesses and bring the jobs back home!

So, the next time you run across an art fair, or a craft show, and wrinkle your nose at $6 for one little 4oz bar of soap, think again. Not only are you doing something good for your body, but with that comes peace of mind for your lifestyle and the economy that you live in. Your skin will thank you, the environment will thank you, and so will the economy. So give it a try! You might just find that handmade soaps are your new favorite and affordable pampering treat.