FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Beeswax has the sweet smell of honey. Beeswax is the natural wax made by honey bees in the hive. Beeswax is also known as Cera alba and Cera flava. A wide variety of cosmetics use beeswax as an emulsifier, emollient, and moisturizer. The Apis Mellifera, commonly known as the honey bee, secretes beeswax to construct the walls of the honeycomb.When secreted the wax is a transparent colorless liquid. When it comes into contact with air, it turns into a semi-solid substance.
Beeswax has emollient, soothing and softening properties and helps the skin retain moisture do it is often used in cosmetic and skincare products as a thickening agent, emulsifier, and humectant. After processing, beeswax remains a biologically active product retaining anti-bacterial properties. It also contains vitamin A, which is essential for human cell development . Throughout time, people have used it as an antiseptic and for healing wounds. Hippocrates even recommended and used it himself.
Honey is an excellent moisturizer, hydrator and inhibitor of bacterial growth.
Goat's Milk
Goat's milk benefits in soap has been known almost since time began. It has been used for centuries as a luxurious beauty aid. The low pH level of goat milk is close to our skin own pH, making it a very gentle cleanser. Goat milk also contains alpha-hydroxy acids, which are known for their restorative and rejuvenating qualities.
Shea Butter/Karite Butter Butyrospermum Parkii
Shea Butter is becoming increasingly popular in the natural body care and cosmetic industries for good reason. It has been used for centuries in Africa for its moisturizing and healing properties, where it has been used to protect and condition skin which has been damaged by the sun and wind.
Benefits:
Shea Butter is naturally rich in Vitamins A, E, and F, as well as a number of other vitamins and minerals. Vitamins A and E help to soothe, hydrate, and balance the skin. They also provide skin collagen which assists with wrinkles and other signs of aging. Vitamin F contains essential fatty acids, and helps protect and revitalize damaged skin and hair. Shea Butter is an intense moisturizer for dry skin, and is a wonderful product for revitalizing dull or dry skin on the body or scalp. It promotes skin renewal, increases the circulation, and accelerates wound healing. It is also beneficial for many different conditions, such as:
Dry skin
Stretch marks
Itchy skin, skin rashes, Eczema, and Dermatitis
Sunburn
Small skin wounds
Damaged skin
Rough skin (such as on feet)
Insect bites
Muscle aches, fatigue, and tension
Wrinkles and signs of aging
Chapped skin from cold weather
Dry or over processed hair
Diaper rash
Skin allergies
Frost bite
In addition, Shea Butter offers a low level of UV protection (approximately SPF-6), and may be incorporated into natural sunscreen recipes. Because of its soothing nature, anti-inflammatory and rejuvenating effects, it is a perfect ingredient to incorporate into skin care regime. It is also wonderful to use in the summer as a moisturizer before and after sun exposure to reduce possibility of the skin peeling or becoming dried out.
WARNING: There is one known health warning about shea butter: People who have nut allergies and latex allergies may be sensitive to shea butter. Please do a small test patch before fully using.
Palm Oil
Just over 80% of the fatty acid content is divided almost equally between Oleic, which gives conditioning characteristics, and Palmitic which provides a hard bar with a stable lather. Palm oil soaps clean well but a high percentage can cause drying, used in excess is brittle and, because of the high fatty acid content, the amount of glycerin in a soap made only with palm oil is low.
Use palm oil to add conditioning and hardness but balance your soap with other oils chosen for specific benefits.
According to PORIM (Palm Oil research Institute of Malaysia), "Palm oil and palm oil products are naturally occurring sources of the antioxidant vitamin E constituents, tocopherols and tocotrienols. These natural antioxidants act as scavengers of damaging oxygen free radicals and are hypothesized to play a protective role in cellular aging..." Palm oil is a source of antioxidant vitamin E.
Sunflower Oil (Helianthus Annus)
Good for all skin types used for beauty and skin care. Derived from the sunflower seed it is a light-textured, golden yellow oil with a slightly nutty aroma. Both softening and moisturizing, Sunflower oil can be used for facial treatments and body massage. This is the ideal oil to use if you have any concerns about nut-allergy reactions since it is extracted from the seeds of the flower. Sunflower Seed oil is an inexpensive substitute for olive oil. High in vitamin E, it is moisturizing and deposits a protective layer that holds in moisture. High in vitamins A, B,D, E, minerals, lecithin, and essential fatty acids.
Tussah Silk
Humane silk, gathered after the moth has emerged from the cocoon. Adds silkiness to soap.
Vitamin E (Tocopherol)
Natural emolient and antioxidant
Olive Oil
High in Oleic acid, olive oil has good conditioning and moisturizing properties. It doesn't interfere with necessary skin functions, allowing the skin to breathe and shed. The lather produces small bubbles. Use in combination with other oils for a harder bar as well as to increase the lather while allowing the olive oil to provide it's own special benefits to the soap.
Castile soap used to mean a soap of 100 percent olive oil but this is no longer the case, the percentage can be as low as half of that. Ideally oils are balanced for overall benefits and hardness. Olive oil is noted for being considered mild for sensitive skin.
A Bit of History
Olive oil was likely cultivated by Semitic people circa 3500 BC in its native region of the eastern Mediterranean. It is among the oldest known cultivated trees. The spanish missionaries in 1560 brought the trees to Mexico and later the Franciscan missionaries, led by Father Junipero Serra, brought the trees to the the land which later became part of the state of California. In 1769 the plants were established at the Mission San Diego. 99% of the olives produced in the United States comes from California.
These trees grow from 25 to 60 feet in height and produce a fruit which is rendered palatable by special processing which includes the use of both salt brine and sodium hydroxide (lye). Both the ripe as well as the green olives are harvested as food and oil is pressed from the fruit as well. The wood of the olive tree is very hard with a fine grain.
In mythology, Zeus had promised to give Attica to the god or goddess who made the most useful invention. The Goddess Athena brought the olive to Greece as a gift and won out over the Poseidon's horse, a powerful war instrument. The olive was used for more peaceful and useful means: light, heat, food, medicine, thus, the olive branch is a symbol of peace to this day.