Soap Artisan @ Publika

Soap Artisan at Publika may be a small shop but within its confines, you can find all shapes and sizes of quality hand-made soaps, bath and body treats using natural ingredients, soap moulds and ingredients for making your own soaps and even make-up.

Their passion is to introduce high-quality natural handmade bath & beauty products such as artisan soaps to middle-income Malaysians at affordable prices. All their products are proudly made in Malaysia for Malaysians with technical knowledge from their Taiwanese soap maker.

Decorative Soaps

Soap moulds

Although I have seen handmade soaps being sold at craft fairs or beauty exhibitions, I have not come across many artisan soap shops. Well, there was one I visited in Melaka but that was like a fleeting stop. Soap Artisan offers natural solutions to various skin problems such as eczema, acne and rashes which respond better to gentler soaps.

At Soap Artisan, you can find soaps in the shapes of alphabets, shoes, flowers, cupcakes and animals. These are all very cute and colourful, they’d make such wonderful wedding favours provided your budget allows for the cost. I couldn’t take my eyes off the cupcakes as they looked just like the real thing complete with icing and decorations. The cupcake soaps are made using natural ingredients such as goat’s milk. Colourings are either obtained from herb and clay powders or permitted food colourings. In fact, I thought they looked too nice to use.

Bar soaps

All their bar soaps are hand-made under low temperatures using the cold-process method and cured for a month before they are tested and made ready for distribution. The soaps are made with high quality ingredients, such as :

–Food-grade oils such as olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil and other high quality oils known to be beneficial to the skin such as macadamia nut oil, jojoba oil, shea butter and wheatgerm oil.

–Herbs, roots and flowers soaked in oils for 1 month prior to production.

–Beneficial liquids to substitute water such as organic goat’s milk, organic soya bean juice, flower juice and flower teas.

–Essential oils and flower extracts to fragrance our soap.

Some customers come into Soap Artisan looking for soaps for their allergies so for the normal ‘functional’ 100g bar soaps, they come  as either 100% or 98% (98% label means 98% natural ingredients, 2% comes from cosmetic fragrances). If it is not labelled as 98%, it means that it is 100% natural. About 90% of Soap Artisan’s soaps are all natural, and about 10% of their soaps are the 98% kind for customers who insist on having stronger fragrances with their soap bar.

Cupcake and cake soaps

In general, they don’t use synthetic fragrances. parabens , SLS, added chemicals or animal fats to make soaps, the exception being for their decorative looking soaps (the alphabet and cupcake soaps etc) which do contain a little bit of synthetic colours and fragrances. However, the decorative soaps don’t contain SLS or parabens.

They offer 3 series of cold-pressed soaps – fresh goat’s milk, soybean, herb & clay. I was fascinated with some of the soaps such as the Warm Ginger Soap which according to their product description, is good for new mothers, the elderly and people who need a bit of ‘warmth’. If you have very dry skin, check out their 30% Shea Butter Moisturizing Soap – 30% of oil content in this soap is from Shea Butter to help skin retain its moisture and elasticity. For those with skin problems, there’s the Gromwell & Olive Oil Soap which contains an infusion of purple gromwell root in olive oil that provides gentle healing for those with rashes, eczema and wounds.

Another soap for eczema (and pimples) is the 98% Pure Vanilla Licorice Soap which is made with jojoba oil, hazel nut oil and bran oil. For those with dry and mature skins, there’s the Shea Butter & Osmanthus Soap gentle enough for soap and body – osmanthus flowers are infused in olive oil to calm minor skin irritations and promote radiant skin.

Looking for dead sea salt soap? You can find it at Soap Artisan, this soap is for detoxification, rejuvenation and removal of dirt and pollutants from the skin. I like the idea of the Apricot Kernel & 5 Rice Grains Scrub Soap as this bar of soap lightly exfoliates while it moisturises with macadamia nut oil and shea butter. For those with itchy skin, there’s the Sandalwood Moisturizing Soap which has anti-itching properties. There’s even a laundry and dish wash soap!

There’s a soap formulated specifically for the face. The 100% Olive Oil Soap is as it says, made from 100% olive oil and superfatted by 5% rosehip and evening primrose oils. This soap is made for those who love Castille soaps and want a very gentle cleanser for their face.

Natural Wellbeing Massage Oils

Natural Wellbeing massage oils are available at Soap Artisan. These range from the Anti-Aging Massage Oil for skin softening, Detox Massage Oil  for all skin types to the Edema Massage Oil for massaging swollen hands and feet with water retention.

Organic Pink Clay Aroma Body Scrub Salt

There are aromatic body scrubs and organic yellow and pink Australian clay for softer skins. You can purchase mica powders here which are added to cosmetic concoctions. Want to try making your very own natural lip balm? Soap Artisan has a DIY kit instore complete with instructions.

Soap Artisan’s soaps range from RM20-28 for a 100g bar. They provide made-to-order soaps such as baby milk soaps for mothers, wedding favours and gifts for corporate functions. From time to time, they have workshops for making soaps or DIY cosmetics. Soap Artisan is located at Lot No. : UG – 82, Publika (tel : 03- 6205 5606). Check out their facebook page for more information.