Learn to Make Your Own Herbal Soap
There is a really funny thing happening these days in the world of commercially made soaps. More and more people are being diagnosed with environmental and scent allergies, yet there are more and more strong-smelling soaps and other scented products being introduced into the market every day. This is making it really difficult for those who do have scent allergies to find products that they can use without having a number of health problems, such as headaches and breathing problems. If this is a problem for you, one of the things that you can do to combat it is to make your own soaps.
It is really easy to make your own herbal soap, and you can use fresh herbs in your soaps. These herbs will not only help to add a wonderful, light scent to your home made herbal soaps, but there are many herbs that are great for your skin that are ideal soap additives. There are a few different methods of making soap, but if you really want to get as natural as possible, making glycerin soaps is probably best, and it is probably the easiest soap making method as well. You can buy glycerin soap base that you can just melt on the stove, preferably in a double boiler. Once the base is melted, this is when you start adding things like color (usually a food grade color that you can get from the same suppliers as the soap bases), essential oils for scent, and herbs. Depending on your skin type and your skin care needs, there are different herbs that you may want to use. Some of these herbs include:
Aloe Vera – This is one of the best herbs that you can use in soap making. It is a healing herb and can really help to reduce the visibility of any scars you may have. Aloe vera will also make your skin nice and soft.
Basil – You may think that this is something that you only use for cooking, but basil helps to stimulate your skin, making it feel refreshed after bathing.
Lavender – This is a common and popular herb used in soap making. It is a healing herb and also helps to repel mosquitoes. Lavender has a soothing scent and is often used for aroma therapy.
Chamomile – This is another herb good for healing burns and has long been used to treat minor cuts and scrapes. Chamomile is soothing and is used to make many soaps and lotions.
When you make your own herbal soap, you can also use the herbs to decorate your soaps. This not only makes them look pretty, but also identifies the soap. Once you have poured your hot liquid soap into a mold (about a quarter of an inch from the top), lay a sprig of the dried herb on top, and then finish filling the mold with soap. You will have a lovely soap that you made yourself from natural ingredients. One more bonus to making your own soap: in the long run, you are going to save a lot of money.
Related Posts:
Herbal Face Masks
Herbal Remedies for RLS
Health and Wellness Articles
What is Agave?
Herbal Remedy Ingredients