There’s a really nice 5-oz patchouli bar soap made in Milwaukie, Oregon that greets you on its belly band wrapper with the words “Hello flower child.”

It’s a phrase that applies specifically to the patchouli soap blend, but it speaks to a larger audience as well. Not just to current flower children, but to those who should be. And in the world of soap – where synthetics prove themselves daily to be incompatible with our bodies and the environment and herbal soaps prove just the opposite – we should all be flower children.

The More We Know

Here’s the thing about skincare. Soap shouldn’t be an irritant. When the lye soap made in frontier kettles burned the skin, soapmakers got better at fat-to-lye rations. There’s a lesson there.

Synthetic soap is the modern version of lye soap that burns the skin. At its heart it’s a detergent, requiring a surfactant for lather, preservatives to weather months in a warehouse, and several synthetic moisturizers to prevent the detergent from stripping the skin.

The Opposite of What Should Happen

The simple truth is, skin aggravations aren’t initiated by the body. They’re reactions to substances the skin comes in contact with. And most of those substances, with repeated uses, are skincare products.

In a more sensible world, skincare products would be made not to irritate the skin. Manufacturers would put in the time to perfect their foundations and add only what skin can accept. But in this less sensible world, where flash and surface sell best, most of the products we use to care for our skin – lotions, creams, make-up, and soap – actually contribute to skin conditions and aggravate them over time.

Stop the Madness

The key to avoiding the circular madness of commercial skincare is using soap – real soap – that doesn’t contain aggravating synthetic ingredients. For customers with eczema who’ve had success with our soap, it’s not because our soap is medicine. It doesn’t heal eczema. It simply doesn’t contain the ingredients that inflame, irritate, or cause eczema to begin with. It minimizes both the redness and itching these customers have always associated with using soap.

More and more, synthetic, mass-produced products – food, clothing, skincare – are being challenged by better alternatives. The emphasis in food is real. In clothing and skincare, it’s compatibility. Both are reflections of the same desire to be more in sync with what we put in and on our bodies.

For our customers with eczema who’ve had success with our soap, the proof is simple. Using our soap doesn’t irritate and cause flare-ups. It’s because our soap is compatible with their skin. Which is what we should all be looking for.