Too
often I see/hear people knocking M&P soap that it's not "real soap"
nor is it "handmade" because the crafter started with a soap base
instead of a mixture of oils, lye and other ingredients.
Here's how I look at it:
Cold
Process/Hot Process soapmaking is kind of like growing a plant from a
seed. You take a tiny little seed, put it into special soil and wait
for it to sprout. It sprouts, you tend it still in its little peat pot,
watching as it grows until it is strong enough to go outside and into
the ground.
M&P Soap is more like going to the nursery and
picking out a plant. You could go to the discount store and buy an "ok"
plant, but you want the best, strongest and most beautiful plant you
can find so you keep looking. Finally you find what you want, bring it
home and place it in the ground.
Both plants, the "home grown"
one and the store bought one, need the exact same kind of care. You
can't just stick it in the ground and say "there it is, it's a plant!"
You have to water it, fertilize it, make sure it's getting enough
sun/shade, keep the squirrels from eating it, etc. Both plants grow to
be beautiful and strong because of the top quality soil/fertilizer and
care you've given them.
So my point is sure, you can buy some
M&P base, maybe dump some cheap fragrance in it, put it in a mold
and say "there it is, it's soap!" And technically, that's true.
Likewise, you can use cheap oils and ingredients for CP/HP soapmaking,
though most people who go to the trouble of making soap from scratch
use fabulous ingredients.
Or you can buy the best soap base
you can find (preferably all natural), add special ingredients to it
like extra oils and butters, scent it with pure essential oils or high
quality fragrance oils and end up with a moisturizing bar of fabulous
soap.
In the end, your plant/soap is what it is because of what you've done with it. Sounds pretty handmade to me! |
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I totally agree Muffy!!! And considering my plants look like hell, your soap is top notch in my book!
(hugs)
Posted by: GreenSpaceGoods | February 13, 2008 at 05:54 PM