About Albaverde handmade soaps

I moved out to Andalucia from England in the early 1990s, to live on a small holding in the Alconocales Natural Park, where I had my three children which kept me pretty busy! Being surrounded by incredible wild nature, I started to learn about the local plants; especially the abundant aromatics that were collected by my Spanish neighbours, both for their culinary and medicinal use.

As my children grew up and I had a little more time on my hands, I joined forces with a local woman known for her knowledge of medicinal plants, who showed me how and when to collect various herbs to distil, in order to obtain wonderful essential oils. I also made my first soaps with her - soap making still being a widely practised skill among the older generation, mainly to make laundry soaps for hand washing.

I became fascinated by the soap making process both for its inherent simplicity and possibilities for creativity: use of natural colorants, exfoliants, and essential oils. I researched widely and experimented extensively with the aim to produce a totally pure, natural, palm oil free soap with a good lather, smooth texture and fine grain.

All the soaps I make are hand stirred in small 3 kilo batches. They are coloured with plant extracts and scented with pure essential oils guaranteeing a true handmade, chemical free product.

Where possible I try to use locally produced ingredients: the principal oils used are locally produced extra virgin olive oil and organic coconut oil. I also add ingredients produced on my farm: honey, citrus peel, goats milk and herbal infusions. All the formulas have been tested and approved by an independent laboratory and comply with the Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations 2004 9(1)(d).

Being committed to environmental issues, all the soaps are totally palm oil free due to the environmental unsustainability of this oil. Even though recently there is more sustainably produced palm oil, I still don't use it as I have managed to produce a bar rich in olive oil that still stays hard when used. All the packaging is 100% recycled. The soaps themselves come wrapped in recycled textured paper.

I can offer small scale courses to learn how to make natural olive oil based soaps. Please contact on 952 87 22 42 for further details.

For any other help or information, do not hesitate to contact me.