At my last craft fair, a man came up to me and without even browsing, asked for my most moisturizing soap. The only soap I had that was different from all my other soap was the now-sold-out Campfire, which contains shea butter. He bought the last bar.
I’ve come to realize that even though olive oil soaps are extremely mild and gentle, they aren’t particularly known for being moisturizing. Now, soap will never remove the need for good ol’ lotion and moisturizer, especially if you live in semi-arid Colorado. That said, different soap ingredients bring different benefits to the table. So I’ve started making some four-oil (and three-oil, and two-oil) soaps. The big addition is cocoa butter, which I am now adding to about 20% of the new soaps I’m making.
As I’ve mentioned before, I am adding other oils to my soaps to branch out. My four-oil soaps currently have olive, cocoa butter, almond, and castor oil. I still make pure olive oil soap, and a lot of it! But I am also making a bit more of a variety for people who are looking for more in their soaps. Cocoa butter is an amazing moisturizer in its own right, and has a most endearing quality of melting at the temperature of the human body. I wish it weren’t so expensive, though–it costs 4-5x what olive oil does, and making a 100% cocoa butter soap would mean selling it at a much higher price.
The first four-oil soap that will be available early February is called Coffee Lovers. The cocoa butter lends a lovely whiff of chocolate aroma, and the soap is scented with a vanilla macadamia coffee fragrance. I love going into my curing room and picking up a bar to smell! It makes me crave hot chocolate, especially now that it is so cold as we head into the heart of winter.
I hope y’all like cocoa butter soaps. As always, please free free to contact me with any specific requests!
