How is it made?
Step 1
Add the base ingredients into the lye and water solution
Step 2
Mix to accelerate the reaction to transform oils into soap
Step 3
Add the active ingredients such as more oil, clay, ayurvedic powder, essential oils..
Step 4
Mix to obtain a creamy consistency
Step 5
Put it in the mold
Make the design on the top
Step 6
Patience .. It's ready in 5 weeks
Cold Saponification Process
Cholez Soaps are made in small batches with high-quality ingredients. Most of our ingredients are certified organic because we care about you and the planet.
Knowledge is power, so we give you the power to choose wisely.
Cold Saponification is an ancient French technique that turns oils into soap. It takes 4 to 6 weeks for the soap to dry.
How does it work?
Natural soap is the product of a chemical reaction between a fat (vegetable oil, vegetable butter, etc) and a strong base (lye or potash).
The majority of oils and butter are made up of fatty acid triglycerides (it’s a type of fatty acid similar to the one your body makes). When adding the strong base (the lye), these are transformed into soap according to the reaction below (R represents the carbon chain of the fatty acid, a long chain of 12 to 22 carbon atoms for the most common fatty acids in vegetable oils):
Soaps produced by cold saponification are naturally rich in glycerine produced during the saponification reaction. The glycerine is made out of the oils used and we do not use soy.
Glycerin, also known as glycerol, is a natural compound derived from vegetable oils and created through the saponification process. According to a 2016 study, glycerin is “the most effective humectant”, a type of moisturizing agent that hydrates the skin. According to a 2008 study glycerin hydrates the outer layer of the skin, improve the skin barrier, provide protection against skin irritants and accelerate wound-healing processes.
Moreover, some portion of each of the oil remains after the cold saponification process, which means we get to keep the beneficial properties of the vitamins and minerals inside such as antioxidants, nourishing, emollient, softening, soothing and protective effects.
This is why Cholez Soaps are made out of different oils - to bring different properties to the skin.
The manufacturing process for industrial soaps, on the contrary, will often have denatured or even eliminated the unsaponifiable fraction of oils or sometimes contain sulfates (nasty chemicals).
Superfatting? Excuse my French
Saponification is a total reaction, and so the soap is ready when “ALL” of the lye has been chemically transformed. To ensure that there is no more lye in the finished soap, there must be an excess of oils. The saponification will then stop when all the soda is consumed and there will be some unsaponified oil left in the final soap. The soap will be said to be "surgras". Surgras is a French word that means “excess fat”. This "superfatting" will bring greater softness, nourishing, and soothing properties to the soap.
One of the methods we use to “superfatting” the soap is to add vegetable oil or vegetable butter at the end of preparation.
This oil will remain largely (or even totally) unsaponified. This is particularly advantageous with oils and butter whose properties we wish to take advantage of in particular.
Slow cosmetics
Saponification is a fairly slow reaction at room temperature. In cold saponification, the soap must undergo a "cure" (drying time) of at least 4 weeks after manufacture, to give the saponification time to complete and the soap to fully dry.
