Glycerin Rivers

Glycerin Rivers Coursing Through the Soap

I didn't mean to get a 'tiger' pattern in this soap, but I really like it.  You see, this pattern was created by rivers of glycerin forming in my soap during the saponification process.  Glycerin occurs naturally in cold processed soap and is part of the reason that soaps made in this manner tend to be very moisturising and nourishing for your body. So why did this occur?  During the saponification and curing process, my soap got very hot and basically, little rivers of glycerin formed in between other oils which had started to solidify.  It is still fine to use; the translucent parts just happen to be a little bit softer.

In fact, often when people comment that soap is very drying to the skin and that their skin is left feeling tight, what they are referring to is commercially produced soap. Large-scale commercial production of soap often deliberately remove the glycerin and add it to moisturising products such as lotions marketing the lotion or cream as a moisturiser to combat the 'dried leather' feel associated with soap.

Poor soap, it gets such a bad wrap at times all because people are led to believe soap has to be drying.

If you regularly use cold processed soap full of moisturising oils, you will find over time the need to use moisturisers diminishes.

You can see in this photo how the parts of soap with
Glycerin Rivers are more translucent