Natural Ingredients

Organic Virgin Shea Butter ~~ Latin: butyrspermum parkii (butyro = butter, spermum = seed). Africa's Golden Gift.

Wildcrafted shea butter, organically grown and fairly traded with producers in Togo, West Africa. Rich in Vitamins A, E & F, shea butter keeps the skin soft and supple. Traditional uses of shea butter include: skin conditions such as eczema, treating hard and dry skin, blemishes, skin discoloration, scars and wrinkles.

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Hemp Seed Oil ~~ Latin: cannabis sativa. Hempseed is the fruit of the cannabis sativa plant, best known as the marijuana plant. The cannabis or hemp plant is grown throughout Europe,RussiaIndiaandChina or industrial purposes. Hemp Seed is not the only part of the hemp plant used industrially.

Throughout history Hemp has been used all over the world for its nutritional and medical properties. The 'useful fiber' was brought to Britainby the Romans approximately 2000 years ago.

Hemp seed contains essential fatty acids (EFAs), linoleic acid (LA), linolenic acid (LNA) as well as containing gamma linolenic acid (GLA). Hemp seed can be taken internally. Recent research has led to the rediscovery of some of the 25,000 ancient uses of Hemp including paper, clothing, cosmetics and building materials.

Organic hemp oil is extracted using traditional 'cold pressing,' this ensures that the powerful compounds - Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's) remain 100% in tact.

Hemp may help to keep the immune system in good working order, help with conditions associated with Multiple Sclerosis. It's well known through the ages for its painkilling and anti nausea effects. It may alleviate symptoms caused by eczema and psoriasis. For much more information about Hemp, see Hemp.co.uk

Technically not an oil, but a wax, and is pronounced "ho-ho-ba". Jojoba became an important oil in the 70's when whaling was banned as it has almost the same properties as the oil obtained from the sperm whale. It makes a superb skin conditioner.  

Soybean Oil ~~ Latin: glycine soja. Soybean Oil is extracted from the soy bean. This light yellowish oil is a natural source, high in linoleic acid, contains proteins and vitamin C, A, E, and K.

Soybean Oil is easily absorbed into the skin leaving the skin soft, smooth and supple.

Organic Virgin Cocoa butter ~~ Latin: theobroma cacao. Our African virgin cocoa butter naturally smells wonderful! This cocoa butter is community traded with producers in Uganda. Cocoa butter is used extensively by African women to keep their skin in healthy & smooth condition.

A pale yellow fat obtained from dried and naturally fermented cocoa beans. The beans grow on a small, spreading, evergreen tree, which grows up to 8 m (26 feet) tall. Originally from the South and Central American rain forests, it is now cultivated principally in Ghana Nigeria, and Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). Fifty to sixty per cent of the cocoa bean consists of cocoa butter, which is used as a base for chocolate manufacture. The residue, after extraction of the butter, is used to make cocoa powder. In cosmetics, it is used as an ointment base, emollient, skin softener and protectant. It is moisturizing; it lays down a protective layer that holds moisture to the skin, making it a good skin softener. It has a slight scent of chocolate.

Adopt a Cocoa Tree - this is a great little project which we want to promote.

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Essential oils have long enjoyed a reputation for imparting the healing essences of plants to the creams, oils, powders and balms to which they are often added.

Essential oils are commonly created through a simple process that involves steaming the vegetable material (such as flower petals). The steam draws forth the various oils and other liquids that are contained in the flower (its "essence"). That steam is then captured and cooled back down into water, and the oil is separated from it. The resulting oil is "essential oil" and the water that results is called "floral water". (See illustration.)

For some plants (such as daffodils) it can take massive amounts of flowers to obtain a single drop of essential oil, which can make it so costly as to be beyond practical reach. Even at the wholesale level, daffodil (narcissus) essential oil was recently priced at about £600.00 per ounce, which is about £1 per drop! Lavender essential oil, on the other hand, is relatively abundant and quite affordable.

Some scents, such as vanilla and jasmine, simply cannot be obtained through the steaming process, so there are no vanilla or jasmine essential oils, although it is possible to obtain atars or extracts (which are derived from the plants without steaming them). Technically, to make an essential oil you must use the steam process.

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Essential Oils found in Fresh Handmade Soaps

Fresh Handmade Soaps use no synthetic fragrances, artificial preservatives or colourings. We use essential oils derived only by steam distillation, expression, or extraction from actual plants.