There’s not a day that goes by without our skin coming into contact with soap. It’s one of the bare essentials to clean living and it’s vitally important that the soap we use is good to our skin. There are some chemicals that are used in commercially available soaps that can actually be quite harmful, causing our skin to feel dry and stripping away the natural oils present.

Commercially available soaps can contain chemicals such as parabens and SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulphate), the latter of which started its career as an industrial degreasant and garage floor cleaner. When applied to human skin it has the effect of stripping off the oil layer and irritating and eroding the skin, leaving your skin coarse and pitted.

But as always there are healthy natural and organic alternatives, such as organic soaps, which are great for the skin and use all natural ingredients such as natural oils to reach a better standard than ‘high street soaps’.

These organic soaps offer a healthier alternative and are made using a blend of organic vegetable oils. These oils can include but aren’t limited to: avocado (rich in vitamins & proteins), coconut (prevents dryness of skin and flaking), and olive oil (provides a great moisturising effect). Of course these soaps can run a range of natural ingredients and the sellers are always happy to go in-depth about the beneficial aspects of each of these organic ingredients.

A lot of organic soaps are made by small business owners and are homemade using a process called “cold press”. The “cold press” process means that the oils used in the organic soaps are never heated above 100 degrees centigrade which in turn means that all the natural goodness contained isn’t degraded due to overheating. Other products that can be “cold pressed” are coffee and oils that are used in cooking, all of which result in a better tasting and smelling product overall.

Using the “cold press” process lessens the impact on the environment because there’s less energy used in making the organic soaps. Also, since the organic soaps are made by local businesses the carbon footprint is considerably less than mass-produced soaps and you’re also supporting local ethical businesses.

Organic soaps come in a variety of different scents and compositions because of the variety of ingredients that can be used. Some can focus mainly on exfoliating, while others are made specifically to use instead of shaving cream. Because of the variety of natural ingredients used, the organic soaps also help alleviate the annoyance of skin conditions, in the case of shaving soaps, razor rash.

If you’re looking to switch to natural and organic soap, check out Eco Market where you will find a huge range of lovely natural and organic soaps all sold by small ethical sellers.