A few words about the ingredients...
Oils and butters
Shea butter
is extracted from nuts of African tree Butyrospermum parkii. It provides numerus benefits to the skin thanks to its high content of linoleic, oleic, stearic and palmitic acids as well as vitamins A and E. It’s nourishing, moisturizing, anti-inflammatory, helps boost collagen production and promote cell repair. Shea butter is solid in room temperature, has a beautiful ivory colour, and it's been used as cosmetic for centuries. In soap making shea butter contributes to highly nourishing, hard bars with lovely, stable lather.
Coconut
oil
softens and nourishes skin, has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, it’s great for battling acne and cleaning pores. It gives soap strong cleansing properties, fluffy bubbles and improves hardness of bars.
Cocoa
butter
is obtained by fermenting, drying, roasting, and then pressing cocoa beans. It’s wildly used in cosmetics thanks to its moisturizing and anti-oxidant properties. In soap making cocoa butter contributes to rich, stable lather, improves bars' hardness and nourishes your skin.
Olive oil
is a natural source of antioxidants, vitamins A and E. It helps soften skin by attracting external moisture. In soap making olive oil contributes to creamy lather, hardness, slippery feel, as well as moisturizes and nourishes.
Sweet
almond
oil
has very high content of fatty acids and vitamin E, which is a powerful liquid antioxidant and helps prevent signs of aging. On the top of that it contains B vitamins (riboflavin, niacin, and folate), vitamin K, magnesium, calcium, potassium, copper, phosphorous, manganese, zinc, and arginine. In skin care sweet almond oil helps maintain skin hydration, soothes dry, irritated or itchy skin, reduces inflammation and is very effective natural cleanser. It removes excess of oils and debris from skin without clogging pores. Almond oil gives soap stable lather as well as conditioning and moisturizing properties.
Avocado
oil
is rich in minerals, fatty acids and vitamins A, C, D, and E. It moisturizes skin, helps heal cuts and wounds, improve psoriasis, reduce wrinkles and repair skin.
In soap making avocado oil is mostly used for its conditioning and moisturizing properties. It gives bars medium creamy lather.
Castor
oil
is a multi-purpose vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the Ricinus communis plant. It's rich in ricinoleic acid which acts as humectant, retaining moisture by preventing water loss trough the outer layer of the skin, and it's wildly used in cosmetics to promote hydration. Castor oil helps with wounds healing by stimulating tissue growth and has anti-inflammatory properties. It gives soap fluffy and stable lather, conditions and moisturizes the skin.