Dear reader,
Let me take you to the rediscovery of soap, its benefits and its secrets, as I did myself.
Everyone has got some but what do we know about soap except that it is used to "clean", possibly to make beautiful ephemeral bubbles ?
Just two years ago, I knew that soap sold everywhere, that it was used for toilet, laundry and cleaning. Whether it existed in liquid, solid, glitter, shavings, ... With or without perfume ... with or without additive. On sale in supermarkets, boutique, drugstore and pharmacy. And sometimes in certain markets.
And also at all prices, from the most economical to the most ... unaffordable !
In fact, to plagiarize Jean Gabin and his "I know that I know nothing", me, "I did not know that I knew nothing".
During a stay in a country cottage, a surprising discovery!
During a trip to France, we stopped at a guest house located in the Loire-Anjou-Touraine regional natural park. A superb and magnificent building in the shape of a horseshoe. An old farm whose barn had been transformed into a breakfast room, decorated with old agricultural tools and machines. The second part, combining the bedrooms and the dining room, was arranged with exquisite taste. And in the third part, probably in an old barn or sheepfold ... a workshop and trade of handmade soaps and a barber shop! Impossible to ignore the presence of this trade as the scents which escaped from it were intense, varied and surprising. Upon entering the store, I was dazzled and amazed by everything it offered (so to speak!!!).
There was soap everywhere, from floor to ceiling, in several kilo bars, bricks, soaps, courtesy soap, small cubes, large blocks, bags of shavings, misshapen pieces, ... and luxury boxes to offer.
And a strong, indefinable and penetrating smell, in addition to the countless fragrances and to which we are no longer used: that of real soap! Because in fact, the soap sold at Martin de Candre is made on site, literally "handcrafted".
A real Ali Baba cave! The forty thieves, almost all of them customers, came to seek (and find!) happiness among the hundreds of products offered to their senses.
Soap in all possible and imaginable forms !!! ... yes, but above all real soap, not ... detergent !
That day I started to be interested in this product of common appearance and yet so extraordinary.
But what is this product that we use throughout our lives and about which we know almost nothing? What is the difference between a real toilet soap and the ... industrial detergent sold for soap ?
I propose to tell you all about my discoveries in the next chapters, cold saponification, chemistry which transforms oils into soap under the effect of a caustic solution, the essential and very precise calculation method to use , the seven characteristics that define a soap, the amazing properties of certain oils for cosmetics, human and animal health, different types of "overgreasing", additives such as clays, honey, beeswax, sugar, salt, ... fragrances by essential oils, macerations, floral inclusions, spices, herbs, the use of milks, ... etc, etc, ... etc !!!
I told you so, this is an extraordinary product !
Soap is simply ...
Soap is like sewing: there is ready-to-wear and haute couture; as in cooking: the dish of the day and the gastronomic and festive meal; like writing: the shopping list and the Love letter; like ... yes, well, you got it.
But there is also the "good product" and its vague "distorted copy". And let's say it, a copy potentially dangerous to the health of the user. Because additives of all kinds, preservatives, dyes, synthetic fragrances, stabilizers with barbaric names, ... are legion and appear in the industry, each year always more numerous and so quickly that the organizations responsible for measuring its dangerousness can only examine a very small percentage. This is dramatically true! And it's completely irresponsible !!! You will see further.
For now, let's wipe everything clean and start from a good base, clear, precise and, well, simple: What is soap? How do you get it? What ingredients are really essential to its manufacture ?
See you soon for the rest...
Bruno, Artisan Soap Maker