This gray speckled soap is one of my latest handmade soap made with Dead Sea mud and salt.

Ingredients: Organic extra virgin coconut oil, palm oil, soybean oil, rice bran oil, water, sodium hydroxide, Dead sea mud & salt, Neroli essential oil.

It’s one of the newest soap I’ve been wanting to make and try for the longest time. Because of the Dead Sea mud and salt, this bar would be great for those with skin disorders such as psoriasis, eczema or acne. Great as a facial or body bar.

It still requires a few more weeks to cure, but still OK to use at only 2 weeks. It’s a nice hard bar with tiny bubbles. Unfortunately the Neroli essential oil scent disappeared after a few days of curing. So it doesn’t have much of a scent. But the best part is that it leaves skin super soft and clean.

I only made a small batch and with many of my handmade soaps, they all seem to last a long time.

There is silver yarn, now there’s silver soap… actually made with Colloidal Silver. CS is great stuff, mostly known for it’s immune strengthening abilities. I usually have a bottle of CS around and take a couple of tsp a day when I feel a cold coming. I also like to apply some CS on cuts and noticed how fast my skin heals.

So adding CS to soap is a fantastic idea! There are many skin care brands out there with their version of CS soap.

Cor’s standard size soap (120 gram, about 4 oz) sells for $120…yes that is correct. Before you lay down all that cash for soap, they also have trial size bar you can try for $15.

This is what COR states about their soap, ” It has been shown to even out the skin tone, reduce the appearance of sun spots and pore size, maintain the skin’s natural moisture factor, visibly reduce the signs of aging, and protect against the hazardous effects of the sun.” If it’s true then it sounds like amazing stuff.

Like any other beauty product out there, it depends on the person’s particular skin type, so results may vary.  Overall, many Amazon’s reviewers believe it’s really helped their skin.

Other makers of CS soap include The Heritage Store’s CS soap at a more reasonable and affordable price of $3.97 for 3.5 oz bar.

Besides CS soap, I’m thinking another great way to add CS to skincare is to just spray the solution onto skin after washing it. A simple and great way to prevent break-outs. Much like a skin toner, but made with CS.

Even when I haven’t made new soap lately, I am still always happy to hear about new soaps along with all their skin healing benefits.  If I were to make CS soap anytime in the future, I would make one with Dead Sea mud or maybe activated charcoal and peppermint essential oil for a refreshing scent.

My latest handmade soap just off the curing rack is “Bergamot goat milk soap” which also includes Seabuckthorn oil and Himalayan salt. I especially like to use this as facial cleansing soap.

Bergamot is definitely one of my favorite scents. Bergamot is usually added to Earl Grey tea and gives it a natural citrus flavor & scent. I also like that the scent is very uplifting without being too overpowering.

The salt is what gives it the white speckles. The salt blended in well as it’s not at all scratchy on the skin.

The goat milk also makes it a very creamy and moisturizing bar of soap. So a perfect bar for winter dry skin. And I had to add Seabuckthorn oil, as it’s one of the best natural oils for skincare.

Ingredients: all veggie oil, including Seabuckthorn oil, goat milk, distilled water, lye, bergamont essential oil, Himalayan salt.

Note: This bar of soap didn’t come out perfectly on the sides… but it’s a larger bar than I normally make. It still makes a nice bar of soap.

My latest batch of handmade soaps include many natural ingredients.

The first bar is my favorite, made with Sea Buckthorn oil. The oil of this berry is full of vitamins A (derived from -carotene), vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and vitamin E (-tocopherol). So a perfect ingredient for soaps and skin creams.

There’s also turmeric powder in this batch too. Turmeric is commonly used for natural skincare in parts of Asia. Many of it’s benefits include getting rid of blemishes to dark spots.

Turmeric root is anti-bacterial and has been used in herbal medicine to treat skin infections and burns.

When using turmeric powder you have to be careful not to stain your clothing. As it’s very yellow and won’t come off easily. So adding some of the turmeric root powder to this batch of soap is a better idea.

For a natural scent, I’ve added grapefruit essential oil. It has a light and uplifting scent to it.

The soaps are still curing in my crate. So it won’t be ready to use for another three to four weeks. I put the soap crate on the top shelf of the coat closet. Allowing it to cure in peace. It makes the closet smell very nice too.

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Prices of vegetable oils have been going up and prices of organic oils are a bit higher too. Luckily I was able to save on shipping by getting my organic oils from a local source. Not a huge savings since I still have to drive to the next city over to get them.

I am proud to be making my soaps with these new organic oils. Especially love that the palm oil is from a sustainable farm and no orangutans or humans were harm while gathering them.

This is Organic Neem & Kelp soap. The kelp is the top portion with swirls. According to skincare experts, this slipperiness is from the gel like quality of kelp which helps to protect and restore hair and skin. It’s very hydrating and healing ingredient in skincare.

Made with all organic oils (coconut, olive, and palm), organic neem and kelp. Neem oil has a strong smell so I had to add sweet orange essential oil to make it more usable. Once you realize how good is it for your skin, you’ll just think of it as the smell of healing and good health.

Handmade soaps are gentle on your skin. They contain no parabens, sulfates, or artificial color. All my soaps are Eco-friendly and bio-degradable. All the suds going down the drain are harmless, so even the fishes are happy too.

More soaps available at Cambree Naturals Etsy Shop. Enjoy!

I started to make some more soaps recently. And I also made a new wooden soap mold too. This one is attached together and folds up to form the mold. The only thing I didn’t add to this picture is the wooden lid.

This size suits me best since I make very small batches. The small size also makes it easier to store and pack away.

It’s a really cool design that allows me to release the soaps easily. Even with one hand. This is for a 1 pound batch which yields about 6 bars.

Wood working is kind of like sewing with all the measure, cut, and assembly. But much more of a work out to saw most of the wood myself. Unlike fabrics which are really light and easy to work with. But I did have plenty help on the tricky parts.

Note: This is the formula to figure out how much oil (volume) you need for your mold.
V = L x W x H

I love drinking cold peppermint tea in the summer. Especially after being in the hot sun. I also love using peppermint handmade soap made with peppermint essential oil.  It’s a very cooling and refreshing scent!

These poppy peppermint guest soaps are ready to use. Actually I made it with the hot process method so it’s perfectly fine to us within a couple of days. But it didn’t turn out so nice early on - the bar was too soft.

But after a few more weeks they have harden up and make great guest or travel soap. Perfect as face soap too. The poppy seeds is good for exfoliation.

After I removed it from the heart shaped mold, it was still rough around the edges. Definitely not as smooth looking as cold process soap. Yet it’s still good soap made with all good stuff.

Ingredients: Oils of coconut, palm, soybean, rice bran, grape seed, and wheat germ. Distilled water, sodium hydroxide, French green clay, Peppermint essential oils, poppy seeds.

For my summer soap shop special, I’ll be adding 2 FREE poppy peppermint guest soap with each order. Something nice to stay extra COOL this summer!

Note: I got bite by the soapmaking bug this month… and have more new soaps on the curing rack. So stay tuned!

More than 15 years ago the dermatologist told me I have some form of psoriasis. Mainly effecting my fingers, where they crack and bleed. So it makes doing crafts (as well as typing) a bit painful.

The doctor gave me all kinds of lotions and creams but nothing worked. It’s some type of auto-immune condition, and thank goodness it’s not contagious. Since using handmade soap I’ve had less and less of a break out.

Once in a while, I’ll still get bother by dry spots on the scalps. The usual tar shampoo and other OTC prescription strength shampoo only did so much as the condition return.

Recently I found a new shampoo made with neem oil that’s really helping my scalp. It’s Thera Neem shampoo and conditioner made by Organix South, retails about $10. The conditioner also leaves your hair very soft too.  The only thing I don’t like about this shampoo or any neem product is the strong smell. But the fact that it has so many benefits to trouble skin has me being a big fan of all things neem.

Below are some highlights for why neem is so neat!

- Neem has been used for thousands of years in Ayurvedic treatments, applications which have been validated in more than 100 studies in universities and research centers around the world.

- Neem oil contains extraordinarily high levels of antioxidants, which help protect the skin from free radicals caused by over-exposure to sun, environmental toxins and other damaging elements.

- Neem oil also contains high levels of fatty acids that soak in quickly to soothe and nourish even chronically dry and itchy skin.

Photo & highlights from Organix South makers of Thera Neem.

I would recommend this shampoo to anyone that suffers from dry scalp. Not only does this company make great natural products, they are also a very eco-conscious company too.

Note: 100% neem oil handmade soap will be next on my to-do list!

Another soap just off the rack is this Gardener’s Honey soap. In addition to the honey, it also has organic oatmeal and organic yogurt. To keep it really natural, it’s not scented but still smells very pleasant.

Ingredients: olive oil, grapeseed oil, palm oil, soybean oil, coconut oil, illipe butter, wheat germ oil, distilled water, sodium hydroxide, organic oatmeal, honey, organic yogurt, calendula petals and geranium petals.

I chose all these ingredients because of their soothing and conditioning abilities. It’s the same ingredients found in a facial mask, but put into this great bar of soap. Not only is a great facial and body soap, but also ideal for gardeners or anyone with super dirty hands! As the bits of oatmeal is very exfoliating.

This is also the first time I’ve soaped with fresh yogurt and illipe butter. The yogurt did leave a soft bar while it was being cut. But after several weeks of curing, it’s perfectly hard and nice as my other soaps.

The soap is also topped with calendula petals and geranium petals harvested from last summer’s flower garden.

Benefits of Illipe butter from Mountain Rose Herbs:

• Moisturizing chronically dry skin
• Mature skin
• Sunburn
• Healing sores
• Damaged skin
• Rough skin (such as on feet)
• Mouth ulcers
• Dry or over processed hair

This is one of my new batches of handmade soap and is now ready for use. They’ve been curing happily for the past few weeks.

I call this the “Moroccan Spice Argan” soap because of all the spicy and herbal essential oils. But the real magic is from the argan oil which is really great for the skin.

Benefits of argan oil:

- Nourishes your skin with super rich in vitamin E, antioxidants and amino acids like Omega 3, 6 and 9
- Pure and natural skincare
- Reduce signs of aging and improve skin conditions like acne, eczema and psoriasis

Ingredients: rice bran oil, coconut oil, palm oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, hemp oil, distilled water, sodium hydroxide, Moroccan red clay, rosehip powder, acerola powder, sweet orange essential oil, anise essential oil, clove essential oil.

I also added acerola powder. The acerola fruit is also called Barbados cherry and is loaded with vitamin C, great for it’s skin brightening abilities.

Another magical ingredient in this bar is organic hemp seed oil. I’ve never used it in soapmaking before until now. And it is really great stuff for both the soap and the skin. Not only is it great for soapmaking, it’s also very healthy stuff. The oil is very green and mixed with yogurt it taste very nutty and delicious.

This bar is scented with only essential oils. Including sweet orange essential oil, which leaves a nice light citrus scent. The clove and anise also gives in a bit of spice. A perfectly great bar of soap that is safe and beneficial to any skin type.