Carrot Tree Soaps & Essentials
Our Story
Carrot Tree Soaps & Essentials was established in 1999. The idea for this started as an effort to find a cleansing soap that was less harsh and drying than commercially available soap.
Chris (the owner) was looking for something better to use for
her three young boys, who struggled with dry skin and mild eczema. After researching various methods for making her own soap, she developed an approach that she still uses today. The focus is to use natural products as much as possible such as essential oils and herbs. Vegetable oils are used instead of animal fat as the base. Goat's milk is also added. Rather than remove the naturally occurring glycerin, as is often the case with commercial soaps, the glycerin remains in our soap. It is handcrafted in small batches.
We opened Carrot Tree Coffee & Gifts in 2007 in order to establish a local presence and expand our other interests in the community of Pulaski.
Why Goats Milk?
Milk has been used for centuries as a skin cleanser. By adding goats milk to our soaps, we have lowered the soap's pH to a level more compatible with your skin. Customers have repeatedly commented on how our soap has helped with their eczema, rashes, or dry skin.
A Short History of Soap
Soap, in the true sense, is the result of a process called saponification. Saponification occurs when acidic oils are combined with an alkaline solution. The reaction neutralizes the alkali and produces soap and glycerin. In most commercially produced detergents (what we traditionally know as "soap") glycerin is removed and sold back to the public in other forms. In true soap, the glycerin is retained. As a result, handmade soap is less drying than commercially available detergent cleansers.
Earliest mention of soap has been traced back to 2500 BC, however popular myth tells us that soap, in the modern sense, originated in ancient Rome. Nearby Mount Sapo was the site of an altar, where animals were burned in sacrifice to the gods. As the rainwater washed the remaining ashes and animal fats down the mountain, a form of soap was created in the river below. Women from the city, washing their clothes in the river, noticed that their garments were made cleaner by the rocks where the soap solution had deposited.
Since that time, people have been crafting soap throughout the world, improving the process over time. During the early 17th century, soap was produced and sold commercially for the first time by Andrew Pears, an English hairdresser and salon owner. During the Victorian era, W. H. Lever further refined the marketing and mass-production of commercial soap. Soap was now available not only to the rich upper class, but to the working class as well.
Recently, there has been a trend away from the mass-produced, commercialized soap of the late 19th and 20th centuries. There is a greater awareness of the use of chemicals and synthetic ingredients in the products we buy. As a result, people are seeking a more natural alternative.