Some people avoid bar soap because they think it will leave their skin feeling dry and itchy. But not all bar soap is the same. While some can make your skin feel dry and itchy, others (like glycerin soap and handmade soap) can be very moisturising. This is because the ingredients used to make soap can vary substantially. Cheap soap that is readily available in supermarkets is often loaded with with cheap, harsh, synthetic chemicals such as sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS). Manufacturers also often remove the beneficial glycerin that is formed during the saponification process to sell separately.
SLS strips natural oils from the skin, leaving it feeling dry and itchy, and it penetrates the first skin layer which can cause an inflammatory reaction in some people, resulting in a rash. Arkara Glycerin soap is very different. It contains a high amount of glycerin which is a natural humectant that attracts moisture from the air to your skin. This leaves your skin feeling soft and clean without feeling greasy. It is suitable for oily, dry and normal skin types.
Glycerin is a natural skin emollient (skin softener) that attracts water from the surrounding air. Because of this, glycerin is highly prized in soaps, lotions and creams for maintaining moisture in the skin throughout the day. Animal fats and vegetable oils contain between 7-13% of glycerin as a part of their natural chemical makeup.
During the soap making process, the fats/oils and lye blend together to form soap while the natural glycerin maintains its integrity as glycerin and basically settles in between the soap molecules. Too much glycerin and the soap will become mushy and disintegrate quickly. Too little glycerin and the soap becomes very harsh and drying to the skin.
Typical store-bought soaps have had all of the glycerin removed and placed into additional products such as lotions and creams. The reason is instead of buying one product that will clean AND moisturize, (such as handmade soap) a consumer now has to buy two products to serve the same purpose, thus, an increase in profit for the company.
When profit is placed as a higher priority than quality of life, the consumer is the one who suffers. By removing the glycerin, store-bought soap takes on a skin-moisture-stripping quality that will dry the skin and leave it vulnerable to cracking and flaking.
But why take our word for it? The best way to find out is to put it to the test! Purchase a bar of handmade soap and give it a try. I can assure you, the experience will be well worth it.