Icelandic natural soaps on Nature's Market

The Nature-market here on Nature.is now offers two products, Heiðasæla - Wild Thyme Soap and  Sveitasæla - Icelandic Barley, Milk and Honey Soap, from a new company “Sælusápur – Sensual soaps“ which is located in Kelduhverfi in North-Western Iceland. The company produces and sells handmade Icelandic quality soaps made entirely from natural ingredients. The recipies are all designed by the pioneer Guðríður Baldvinsdóttir which is an active sheep farmer and a forrester by education.
Ingredients are collected mainly from the local area and there is great emphasis on using icelandic raw materials such as tólg (sheep´s fat) and wild herbs. Icelandic barley, honey and milk from cows in the beautiful municipality of Þingeyjasþsla. See the location and more about the company Sælusápur here on the Green pages.

See Heiðasæla - Wild Thyme Soap and Sveitasæla - Icelandic Barley, Milk and Honey Soap on the Nature-market. If you are shopping for the first tim at the Nature-market, please get informed here. The complete Nature-market is in the process of being translated. Please bear with us. If you need help in any way, please call or write to us.

About the making of soaps:
Soap in it´s simplest form is made from fat/oil, water and an alcaline substance (e.g. kye) When these ingredients are mixed together,a chemical reaction called saponification occurs, the result of which is a totally new material: soap.

The recipes used by Sensual Soaps are superfatted with oils to ensure that they are mild, containing additional oils as further protection for the skin.

“Old fashioned” soaps, like those made by Sensual Soaps, are a return to the “good old days” with regard to methods of production and choice of ingredients. However, a modern range of quality oils is also used to ensure that the soaps are gentle on the skin.

After the Sensual Soaps have reached the end of the production process, they are allowed to mature for 3-4 weeks. This makes certain that the customer always receives a top quality product.

A comparison of the ingredients of Sælusápur - Sensual Soaps and more “traditional” soaps:
There is a great difference between the ingredients of traditional mass produced soaps which can be found in grocery stores and handmade soaps. Here below is a list of ingredients for Blóðbergssápa from Sælusápur and from another common soap brand which can be bought in the supermarket.

Heiðasæla from Sensual soaps: Olive- and coconut oil, sheep´s fat, water, natriumhydroxide, dried thyme and thymeoil.

Common soap from the supermarket:
Sodium tallowate, sodium palm kernelate, sodium palmate, aqua, parfum, sodium cloride, glycerin, prunus dulcis, sine adipe lac, pentaerythrityl tetra-di-t-butyl, hydroxyhydrocinnamate, pentasodium pentetate, citric acid, alpha-methyl ilonone, butylphenyl methylpropional, citronellol, coumarin,eugenol, hexyl cinnamal, hydroxyisohexil 3-cyclohexene,carboxaldehyde, linalool, CL 77891.

The photo below shows Gugga the pioneer herself finishing the packaging of the soaps. The photo on top shows the two soaps which now are awailable here at the Nature-market.

Graphic designer of Sælusápur´s appearance is Hulda Ólafsdóttir.