What’s the difference between your artisanal, signature line, and mainstream soaps?
Mainstream soaps usually come with a lot of needless chemicals, sulfates, preservatives, and synthetic fragrances. You will often find “fillers” that are extremely harmful to your health (they can affect your reproductive and neurological health) and the environment. Mainstream soaps have usually the lowest quality for the price you’re paying.
My signature soaps always follow the same recipe - they always turn out “pretty much the same” in terms of scent, color, and lathering. If you find a favorite among these, you can trust that when you re-order, you will have the same experience.
The artisanal soaps are made in a more traditional, non mechanical, more creative way. The recipes change, the ingredients change. These are very small batches of not more than 10-15 soaps and the batches are unique. This is my true art because as an artisan soap maker, I put all my creativity in creating different scents, textures, and properties for the soaps. The quality remains the same!
What’s the shelf life of your products?
You can store soaps in a closed, air tight container preferably away from heat, for at least two years. After that, the soap doesn’t really go bad but you will notice a reduction of the scent, which is normal because I only use essential oils and no perfume or synthetic fragrances. When you start using the soap, the scent will appear again as you start washing away the outer layers.
For lip balms, Reiki rollers, and serums, I recommend using them within one year of purchase but I have had products last me for over 2 years. Because I don’t use any chemical preservatives, I can’t guarantee the products to be lasting longer than one year. Also, the conditions for storing, influence the shelf life. Heat and exposure to UV light (even indirect) reduces the lifespan of any product, especially natural ones!
What is lye and is that a harsh chemical?
Lye is an alkaline chemical and important ingredient to make soap. It’s also used in food, for example to make olives less bitter, or if you love pretzels, they are dipped in a lye solution before being baked. It is not considered a harsh chemical and additionally, once lye mixes with the oils and butters, it saponifies. After the saponification, to trace of lye remains.
I don’t want to invent the wheel and instead invite you to read this brief Blog post where it’s all explained.
How do you make your soap?
I use the cold process soap method, where I combine the water-lye solution with the oils and butters and mix them until the trace period. Once the soap traces, I add the essential oils and any other additives like herbs or dried flowers, pink salt or pumice, and colorants (herbal powder or mineral mica).
Yes, I do! If you are interested in a specific soap (your favorite scent, a specific property like acne treatment, color, or shape), contact me at bodhileafsoaps@gmail.com and we can figure out what is possible. As a heads-up: There are certain things I can’t accommodate, for example, scents that are not possible with essential oils, like Coconut or Strawberry scent. These can only be achieved by using synthetic fragrances and I don’t do that.
I’d be honored to make soaps as favors for your wedding, anniversary, baby shower, or any other party. They would be all infused with Reiki energy!
Do you make custom orders, wedding, or other party favors?
Absolutely! I would love to sell my products through your business and am happy to find the best way to partner up. Please reach out to bodhileafsoaps@gmail.com for any inquiry. My products sell best in stores that promote a healthy lifestyle, natural stores, Yoga studios, acupuncture practices, spiritual stores, and anywhere else where you have customers interested in energy healing, positive lifestyle, etc.
Do you sell wholesale or commission-based?
Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by "laying on hands" and is based on the idea that an unseen "life force energy" flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one's "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy. Learn more at reiki.org.
In the same way that radio waves exist without us seeing them or hearing them, unless we have a transmitter and receptor - the healing energy can be send from the practitioner (transmitter) to another person (the receptor or receiver). Just because we don’t see energy just floating around, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, just because we can’t hear radio waves, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. In the same way, I say, just because you can’t see the Reiki energy, it doesn’t mean it’s not there. As a matter of fact, there are studies that have shown that when Reiki is being applied, the frequency and heat emitted from the practitioner’s hands, increase.
What is Reiki?
Not at all! Reiki energy is universal and doesn’t belong to any specific culture or religion. As a matter of fact, Reiki practitioners believe that we all have innate healing abilities but modern society, medical lobbies, and pharmaceutical industries, have been selling us the “reality” that only western drugs and surgeries can heal.
HOWEVER: Reiki will never replace a doctor’s visit nor a proper treatment for a disease!!! If you have a serious illness or injury, you must go to your doctor! You can use Reiki as an additional aid to balance your energy field, your emotions, and increase overall wellbeing in addition to any treatment your doctor recommends.