Welcome to Larkrise Natural Handmade Soaps -
a treat for your skin and your senses.  

What a wonderful surprise is in store for  you when you first use Larkrise Natural Handmade Soaps.  You’ll be amazed at the difference between our soaps and industrially produced soaps. 

It’s like the difference between a crispy home baked loaf of bread and a sliced white loaf!

Because Larkrise Handmade Soaps  do not contain synthetic ingredients used in commercial soaps, they are  mild, and moisturising for the skin.  
They're also delightfully different to look at, smell wonderful,  
and are lots of fun.

Our soaps are luxuriously lathering, deliciously perfumed with
pure essential oils,  mild, gentle and long-lasting.

Larkrise Natural Handmade Soaps contain 
no synthetic fragrances or preservatives.  

We make them entirely by hand on our farm
in Prom Country, Victoria , Australia

Each bar is superfatted with shea butter,cocoa butter, wheat germ oil or avocado oil to pamper your skin and enhance your pleasure.

The handmade process naturally retains moisturising glycerin to further soften and condition your skin. 

Our soaps are left to cure for at least four weeks, then stamped, wrapped and labelled by hand.
 
Our logo and artwork consist of images from 15th century woodcuts.  We use these firstly because they are beautiful, and secondly because they remind us of the close connection which humans have had with plants in their everyday lives throughout the centuries.

Each bar weighs at least 100g.  Lots of them weigh more.

We hope you'll enjoy them.  We do!

About our soaps:

These are the benefits you’ll notice immediately:

The perfume:

Larkrise Natural Handmade Soaps are perfumed only with real essential oils.  These precious oils are much more costly than the ‘fragrance’ oils used in industrially produced soaps, (and in many other so-called ‘natural’ soaps), but they are truly natural – the essence of the plant.  Aromatherapists believe that essential oils contribute beneficial properties such as inducing sleep, calming or stimulating the mind.  We don’t scrimp on the amount of essential oils in each soap, and have developed gorgeous blends for you to enjoy. 

The colour:

Our soaps are coloured only with natural plant-based materials, or ultramarines, so they are muted and subtle in colour, similar to the the colours in very old paintings.  The colours range from soft pale greens to pinks, blues and antique rose colours.  Swirls and patterns add an extra element of pleasure and fun to your hand-made soaps.  The soap colours often vary from batch to batch because of the nature of the herbal ingredients.  We think this adds to the charm of our soaps, and reminds us that these are the products of nature!

The lather:

Perhaps the most important difference between Larkrise Natural Handmade soaps and commercially produced soaps is the quality of the lather.  Each soap variety is formulated to produce a lush, creamy lather which is extremely kind to your skin.   Many people find that using commercial soaps results in dry skin or allergic conditions.  Because all the oils in Larkrise Natural Handmade Soaps are natural plant-based substances, our soap is mild and gentle.     We make no apologies for using the most luxurious natural ingredients in order to make the best soaps possible.  Our soaps contain no animal fats, no synthetic fragrances,and no preservatives, and they are made in small batches, to ensure their freshness.

Why would we prefer ‘natural’ ingredients?

We started experimenting with natural handmade soaps because we felt dissatisfied and worried about the number of artificial chemicals we encounter in our lives and take into our bodies – flavours, perfumes, and preservatives, which people of previous generations were never exposed to.  Friends and family members with asthma, allergies and nasty illnesses have given us cause us to wonder whether these chemicals are causing insidious harm.

In the commercial soaps, "fragrance" means a chemically designed, synthetic scent. In other words, the scent has been concocted in a laboratory. There’s no such thing in nature as “banana”, “baked apple”, or “tutti frutti” essential oils.  Because they are mass-produced, these fragrances are cheaper and have a much stronger, longer lasting scent than essential oils (which are the actual perfumes distilled from plants and herbs). This is why many manufacturers use them in their soaps.   Once you begin using products with natural essential oils, however, you will easily be able to discern the difference between a synthetic fragrance and a natural perfume. 

Even soaps which claim to be ‘natural’ often contain these ingredients.  You need to read the label: if it says "fragrance" or "fragrance oils", it’s almost certainly synthetic.    Synthetic fragrances, animal fats and petroleum products are much cheaper ingredients than the food grade vegetable oils, and the costly  essential oils which we use in our soaps. 

Preservatives:

Larkrise soaps are fresh products, which contain no preservatives.   They are made regularly, in small batches, and although they will keep their freshness for several months, they are best used within   six months of purchase.  Commercial soaps contain an astonishing list of chemicals to preserve, dry and harden and to extend the shelf life. This is an advantage for the manufacturer and the supermarket, but we believe it is not so wonderful  for the human body.

We recommend you keep your handmade soaps in a cool, dry, dark place until you are ready to use them.  Do not expose them to hot sunlight, which will degrade the perfume and the natural colours.  After using your soap, make sure is sits in a soap rack or on a dry sponge.  Never leave it sitting in a puddle of water.  Your Larkrise soap doesn’t contain chemicals to harden it.  If you keep it dry between uses, it will continue to give pleasure for a long time.