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Soap FAQ

Veronica Foale Essentials. Palm Oil Free Soap, Handmade in Tasmania.

I know. I see you there, reading the ingredients list to make sure the soap is as handmade and gorgeous as I promise it is. I understand, I read all the ingredients too.

But what’s that? You’re interested to know why I put certain things in my soap? Look no further, I have a handy dandy FAQ just for you.

Tell me about your soap!

Fantastic! I love our soap, it’s all we use in the bath and shower and our skin is reaping the benefits. We make everything in small batches allowing us greater control over the final product.

As such, our soap is considered a custom product as it may vary slightly from batch to batch. So if your soap arrives looking slightly different to the photo shown on the website, fear not, it is probably even more amazing than before!

Tell me about the goat milk you use!

I’m lucky enough to have a local farm supplying me with farm fresh goat milk regularly. 100% Tasmanian, is it creamy, delicious, and so much fun to use in soap.

Goat milk soaps are beautiful to make, and even nicer to use.

Baby Goats

These are the babies who get first dibs on the milk I buy.

What oils do you use? Do you use palm oil?

NO. Our soap is completely palm oil free.

We use a range of different food grade oils including but not limited to olive oil, tallow, rice bran oil, coconut oil, castor oil, sunflower oil, apricot kernel oil, along with shea butter and cocoa butter.

I choose each oil carefully based on what properties I want my soaps to have.

Are your soaps vegan?

Some of my soaps are vegan, however most contain Tasmanian goat milk, from a local farm.

Some soaps have cruelty free wild Tussah silk. I have a category called “Vegan” if you’re only comfortable using a soap without any animal products.

My beeswax does come from very happy Tasmanian bees, but I’m not sure if all vegans are anti-beeswax. Everything seems to dissolve into shouting when I ask. If you’re vegan, feel free to let me know via email if beeswax is okay with you. I’ll compile the data and see what it says.

HELP. MY SOAP CONTAINS SODIUM HYDROXIDE!

First, calm down. No sodium hydroxide (lye) remains in the final soap, I promise.

All soap contains lye in the beginning. It’s the catalyst we use to turn our ingredients from oils and butters into the gorgeous useful product you see in front of you. Lye is important and useful, but by the time the soap is 48 hours old, all of the oils have saponified (turned into soap) and the lye has been converted into harmless salts.

My soap is well cured for maximum mildness and lather, and I can promise you there is no lye left.

There’s salt in my soap? What does that do?

Salt helps with hardness. Soap is, in and of itself, essentially a salt we use to wash ourselves. I add table salt to some recipes to harden the bar for easier unmoulding and a creamier look.

Sodium Lactate is used for the same reason.

You use fragrance oils? What if I’m allergic?

I like fragrance oils for the flexibility they give me, and I like essential oils for the same reason.

I use a mix of both fragrance oils and essential oils, depending on how I want the final soap to smell.

If you’re sensitive, and I know a lot of people are, please look through the Unscented category for soaps without any fragrance oils added. Those soaps have been made with all kinds of natural ingredients. All soaping equipment is washed well between uses to prevent cross contamination.

What colours do you use?

I use oxides, pigments and micas to colour soap. They’re all cosmetic grade, skin safe, and produce consistent results. All of our glitters are environmentally friendly – either we use BioGlitter or EnviroGlitters. No microplastics are used.

Do you offer custom soaps?

I absolutely do, and it is something I enjoy doing.

Custom soaps are great for people with allergies who need certain ingredients excluded, or who want a certain kind of soap.

Please email me to organise a custom soap batch. I ask for a 50% deposit up front, with the remainder paid on completion of the curing process. Orders will take 8 weeks between deposit paid and soap received.

Do you have wholesale soaps?

I do! MAGIC.

Email me about becoming a stockist for more information on our wholesale soaps.