cold processed soap

August 4, 2025

New Soap Collection

There are lots of new items that will be hitting the website soon. While I spent the majority of my sabbatical doing research, I also managed to stretch my creative legs a bit. Lately, I have been inspired by the soapmaking process and have gone through numerous written and verbal recipes for cold-processed lard-based soap. I made a series of soaps for the shop, which are modified versions of a soap recipe from my great-grandmother. She used lard from freshly butchered pigs and made enough soap to last a family of eighteen an entire year.

The soap bars currently available are still made with lard. However, I also added nourishing oils like avocado and sweet almond. They have no artificial dyes or harsh chemicals. Instead, these bars are fragranced with either essential oils or ethically sourced fragrance oils. Some are colored with turmeric, clove, and cocoa powder. As a result, the look and smell profiles of these bars are subtle, creamy, and (in my opinion) profound. These bars have been curing since early May, which has resulted in a hard yet incredibly moisturizing bar. I use these bars for bathing and washing my Type 4C hair.

Right now, there are only eight scents. This may change soon as I see which bars people tend to favor. As with most things in the shop, the scents are inspired by my life growing up in Mississippi and include rural Deep South profiles such as watermelon, honeysuckle, chocolate, peach, fig, clove, and coffee. My absolute favorite bar is the clove bar. It is tremendous.

Learning to make soap was such a transformative experience. It requires incredible patience and trust in a process that seems to be so random at times. I have about 100 bars in stock, with plans to make another batch to be ready by early November. I am thinking of adding an unscented bar as well. I’m curious to know what you all think of them, so reach out and share your feedback.