Castille Soap

Our Castille soap is a very simple recipe that is made solely out of olive oil. It is a very moisture rich soap that is excellent to use in the winter time in our dry winter climate. It is great for those with dry skin. Keep in mind when purchasing our Castille soap that it doesn't lather and create as many bubbles as regular soap, because of its moisturizing properties. We suggest using a shower puff to maximize bubble volume.

Traditionally castile soap was made from pure olive oil and lye. Castile soap dates back to the 12th century and it gets its name from where it is believed to originate, Castile Spain

In modern days most castile soaps are made from olive oil and other fats such as coconut oil, hemp oils etc. These other oils are often added to help improve the properties of castile soap such as bubbles, hardness and cleansing properties. At Rustic Pines, we do not add other fats.Our castile soap is still made solely from olive oil like the way it was back in the 12th century. Let us explain why.

Soap made from only olive oil does not have high cleansing properties. On the other hand, it has extremely high moisturizing properties. By adding other types of fats you can bring up the cleansing properties of castile soap, but you sacrifice on the moisturizing properties of the soap. At Rustic Pines, we are happy to produce an extremely moisturizing bar if it means we sacrifice slightly on its cleansing properties.

Castile soap is very soft when it initially comes out of the soap mold and therefore takes a very long time to harden to be useful as a soap. Adding other types of fats helps harden the bar faster so it does not need as long of a cure time. This means the bars can be ready to be sold faster. At Rustic Pines, we are happy to play the waiting game if it means producing a better quality soap! We do not add other fats to our castile soap to speed up the hardening process and therefore sacrifice its moisturizing properties!