biscuit & olive

I am a retired nurse who loves science and art, and cold processed soap has both! I have never seen the point of beautiful soaps that sit around unused, getting dusty in a spare bathroom. Many soaps are made beautiful with chemical ingredients that quality them as detergents and are not true soap. In fact, commercial bars aren't soap at all, their ingredients qualify them as detergents such as you use to wash dishes and clothes, which is why they can only legally be marketed to you as "beauty bars". I make my soaps with natural, skin loving ingredients such as goat's milk, shea butter, beer, wine, sweet almond oil, oatmeal, coconut milk, and coffee to increase the soothing effects on your skin. I blend a variety of oils to get the qualities I want in my soaps rather than relying on chemicals. For instance, coconut oil creates a nice bubbly and cleansing lather but if too much is used it is very drying. Shea butter is moisturizing but too much of it in a recipe makes a "lotion" bar which can leave you feeling greasy and not well cleansed. This is why my recipe has a variety of oils: each oil contributes a different quality to the soap. Each batch of soap is small and makes approximately ten bars therefore supply of each is limited and when they are gone they are gone. But I am always creating new ideas and if you miss something, there will always be more : )

I hope you enjoy my gallery. Follow me @biscuit_and_olive on instragam as well.