What is Celestial Soap?

Celestial Soap is a cottage industry nestled on the banks of Snow Lake in Fremont, Indiana. It's owned and operated by me, Erika Celeste. Like many women, I enjoy the rich array of scents and oils associated with many beauty products. But I didn't like the artificial dyes and chemicals, not to mention the cost. I figured there had to be a better way.

As a journalist, novelist, and editor of 20 years I turned to what I new best, research. Sure enough there was a better way, a much better way--an all natural way! Best of all, much of the answer was grown in my own garden, or found near our lake. If not, it was certainly accessible in my home state of Indiana.

It turns out soap, when done right, is one of the most natural things out there! The problem is most commercial brands have gotten away from what's good for consumers and turned more to profits. In fact, most commercial soaps are not soap at all. They're skin detergents. (If you've ever had allergies to commercial soaps, like my husband, it's often because of the variety of chemicals used.) Most commercial soaps are a group of water soluble agents that don't use fats or oils and aren't activated by hard water. In other words, they're chemically based cleaning solutions.

Why might you want to use oils when cleaning yourself? For starters it's natural. But more specifically, oils bond with dirt and help carry it away from skin, while keeping skin moisturized and healthy. Detergents often dry the skin or in some cases, such as shampoo, even encourage us to use more. Shampoos often use additional polymers, which bond to hair to make it smooth, shiny etc. While that's great in the short term, it causes problems over time when the gunk that creates those desired effects builds up. The more that's applied to hair the more build up occurs. Hair is left dull and lifeless. The only solution seems to be to apply more shampoo. Unfortunately, shampoos are deliberately made to continue the cycle.

Using a natural shampoo bar will eliminate this situation. But it doesn't come without a price. It often takes a few cleansings (sometimes as much as a week, depending on build up) to rid hair of the commercial gunky build up.  If hair gets too sticky, try mixing a solution of 1 part apple vinegar to 1 part water and rinsing after using a natural shampoo bar. If you simply can't stand the smell of vinegar, try adding a few drops of wintergreen witch hazel. Be careful to only add a few drops as alcohol will dry out hair!

Over the coming blogs, I'll explore the exciting and natural world of soap making, a few favorite recipes, and any other living well ditties I come across:)