What is Soap?
Soap is an anionic surfactant used in conjunction with water for washing and cleaning, which historically comes either in solid bars or in the form of liquid. Soap consists of sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids and is obtained by reacting common oils or fats with a strong alkaline solution (the base, popularly referred to as lye) in a process known as saponification. The fats are hydrolyzed by the base, yielding alkali salts of fatty acids (crude soap) and glycerol. Today, soap is often replaced by other cleaning agents, such as synthetic detergents. 


I was shocked to learn that the common commercial soap is actually more of a detergent than a soap and not really good for your skin. Many soaps contain petroleum products, alcohols, preservatives and a lot of other things that you can’t pronounce that will often leave your skin feeling itchy, dry and tight. The natural occurring glycerin is usually stripped from the finished product and used to make moisturizing lotions and other products, which leaves a hard, drying bar of soap.