Often we use the terms, organic, herbal, natural, homemade and handmade soaps as synonyms. We do not get to clearly identify the differences between them. For the benefit of our readers and the curious souls we are listing down the meanings of the same.
Organic soaps:
Organic soaps have ingredients from organic sources. This can be animal or plant source. It does not use any chemical or fertilizer or pesticides or artificially produced element in its entire production cycle. Some soaps claim they are organic. But, they also use lye or NaOH in soap production, which is an essential element. Therefore, even such soaps are not 100 per cent organic. Although, if apart from lye, other elements are organic, a higher percentage ingredients in the soap composition is organic.
Herbal soaps:
Such soaps are composed from plant sources for their medicinal values. They can be derived from the plant sources that are organic or non-organic in nature. These soaps do not use animal sources.
Natural soaps:
There is no technical definition for the word “natural”. In vague terms, it is defined as soaps, made using various natural sources. These soaps are made by blending butter and plant-based oils. Its’ ingredients are rich in vitamins, antioxidants, and nutrients. These are the kind of natural ingredients that your hair, body, and skin need.
Handmade soaps:
It uses the age old techniques of soap making. It uses raw materials like carrier oils, lye and other elements to add color, fragrances and other benefits. The soap maker designs these. The soap makers, hence, gets to explore their creative skills. This makes the process of handmade soaps a combination of science and art. Science, because the soap maker takes care of all the ingredients. It means calculating the exact quantity of each element in the soap recipe. Art as in the soap maker can add a lot of variations in terms of designs and colors. They then manufacture the soap and record the observations for further optimizations. The process of selling it also adds another dimension. It makes it a combination of science and art and business.
Homemade soaps:
More often, homemade and handmade are synonymous.
We hope that after reading this, the line of demarcation in your mind has become clearer for organic, herbal, natural, homemade and handmade soaps. The next time somebody uses these terms you are able to define the fine lines in your mind. 🙂