Q: Where are your products made?
Sapon products are made right here in Australia. We have been making soap and bath bombs for over 6 years in our Melbourne workshop.
Our traditional handcrafted 'Low-Temperature Cold Process' ensures that your skin gets all the benefits of our nourishing and healing natural ingredients.
Q: So what’s so different about Sapon Soap?
At the heart of all Sapon Soaps are five key ingredients:
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100% Pure Essential Oil
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Natural Glycerin
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Australian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
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Australian Goat’s Milk
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Australian Mineral Clay
Q: Why do you use Essential Oils and not Fragrance Oils?
We only use 100% Pure Essential Oils because they are natural plant extracts. Fragrance oils are synthetic compounds that dry and irritate your skin.
Essential oils have long been revered for their ability to soothe the body and harmonise the mind.
What many people do not realise is that essential oils can kill bacteria, fungi, and viruses. They can fight infection, treat skin conditions, and eliminate harmful microbes.
Q: Why does Sapon Soap have Glycerin when other soaps don’t seem to have it?
When soap is made from vegetable oils, the result is a base or crude soap and glycerin. Many commercial soap makers then remove the glycerin from their soaps and sell it at a higher price to companies for use in moisturising products. We leave the glycerin in our soaps to give you its full moisturising qualities.
According to one study in the British Journal Of Dermatology, glycerin can:
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hydrate the outer layer of the skin
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improve skin barrier function and skin mechanical properties
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provide protection against skin irritants
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accelerate wound-healing processes.
Q: Which base oils do you use in your soap?
1. We use Extra Virgin Olive Oil for four good reasons:
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Olive oil is an antioxidant that can protect your skin from free radicals, which are chemicals that can potentially damage the cells of your skin.
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It contains fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, powerful antioxidants that help soothe, repair and nourish your skin.
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Olive oil has been shown to have antibacterial properties and can assist to treat bacterial infections of the skin.
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Olive oil is a popular natural moisturiser that is often used to soften both skin and hair.
2. We are also one of the few soap makers in Australia that use certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO). Palm Oil is essential in soap to make it firm and long-lasting (and not turn to mush). However, many soap makers still use palm oil that is not certified sustainable. It’s vital that we all support CSPO for a healthy and sustainable environment.
Learn more about Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) from The Jane Goodall Institute Australia.
Q: Why do you put Goat’s Milk in your soap?
Goat’s milk boasts high amounts of fats, particularly caprylic acid, allowing for gentle removal of dirt and debris without removing the skin’s natural fatty acids. Furthermore, Goat’s milk is a good source of vitamin A, a fat-soluble vitamin shown to have anti-aging properties. It is also a good source of selemium, a mineral shown to support a healthy skin membrane.
Goat’s milk can maintain your skin’s natural microbiome (natural lipids and healthy bacteria) by improving the skin’s barrier against pathogens, potentially preventing various skin disorders like acne and eczema.
Q: What is Clay and why do you put it in your soap?
Clay is the bi-product of the weathering of rocks and soil over time. This process also consumes fossilised organic matter from plants and animals. The result is a clay full of beneficial properties for your skin.
Foremost, It has a cationic exchange capacity which allows it to remove dirt and toxins from your skin, and replace them with essential minerals such as magnesium, calcium, potassium, zinc and selenium.
The minerals in the clay can help to rebalance oil flow, strengthen skin, and act as an aid for repairing scars.
Q: Can I really use Sapon Soap on my sensitive skin?
Most skin sensitivities are aggravated by the synthetic ingredients, without these harmful ingredients, there is virtually nothing left to irritate your skin.
Q: What if I have eczema, psoriasis, or dermatitis?
Our customers with these skin conditions report that they can use our soap with success. Our healing essential oils, moisturising olive oil, detoxifying clay, nourishing goat’s milk and hydrating glycerin all contribute to a soothing and cleansing experience for people with sensitive skin. That’s why we have many soap users with eczema, psoriasis or dermatitis, and they all say the same thing: "Thank you!"
COMMONSENSE PRECAUTIONS
As with any product that touches our skin, please discontinue use if irritation develops. Any product, even when made with the most natural, gentle ingredients can cause allergic reactions for certain individuals.
Q: How do you colour your soap?
We do NOT use any artificial colouring or food colouring in our soaps. Sapon soaps are coloured with natural mineral clays, ground herbs and botanicals. Our pure essential oils also contribute to colour.
Q: Can I use sapon soap as shampoo?
Shampoo contains detergent, much like you would find in laundry detergent or bath gel. These often include Sulfates, Ammoniums, Glycols, Parabens, Silicones, Formaldehydes, Alcohols & Synthetic Colours and Fragrances.
In most cases, our chemical-free and nutrient-rich soap will clean your hair just as well – without all the nasties. That’s why thousands of people across Australia shampoo their hair with Sapon soap.
Q: Do you use GMO Ingredients?
No. As part of our commitment to making all-natural and nourishing soap, all SAPON soaps are GMO-free.
Q: Do I need to wash my hands with an alcohol-based sanitiser?
The Short Answer...No!
The science of soap – here’s how it kills the coronavirus.
Excerpt by Pall Thordarson, The Guardian, Thu 12 Mar 2020.
"Viruses can be active outside the body for hours, even days. Disinfectants, liquids, wipes, gels and creams containing alcohol are all useful at getting rid of them – but they are not quite as good as normal soap...
...Soap contains fat-like substances known as amphiphiles, some of which are structurally very similar to the lipids in the virus membrane. The soap molecules 'compete' with the lipids in the virus membrane. This is more or less how soap also removes normal dirt from the skin. The soap not only loosens the 'glue' between the virus and the skin but also the Velcro-like interactions that hold the proteins, lipids and RNA in the virus together.
Alcohol-based products, which pretty much includes all 'disinfectant' products, contain a high-percentage alcohol solution (typically 60-80% ethanol) and kill viruses in a similar fashion. But soap is better because you only need a fairly small amount of soapy water, which, with rubbing, covers your entire hand easily. Whereas you need to literally soak the virus in ethanol for a brief moment, and wipes or rubbing a gel on the hands does not guarantee that you soak every corner of the skin on your hands effectively enough.
So, soap is the best, but do please use alcohol-based sanitiser when soap is not handy or practical."
Pall Thordarson is a professor of chemistry at the University of New South Wales, Sydney
Q: Is there a proper way to wash your hands?
As coronavirus spreads, what you need to know about handwashing and the power of simple soap and water.
Excerpt by Olivia Willis, ABC Health & Wellbeing, 15 March 2020.
"In addition to washing your hands more often, you also need to make sure you wash them thoroughly. To get properly germ-free hands, you need to lather them up with soap, and scrub for at least 20 seconds (about the time it takes to sing "Happy Birthday" twice) under clean, running water.
"Get your hands wet, lather up, and keep lathering all the surfaces of your hands, particularly your fingertips and around your nails, then rinse off," said Mary-Louise McLaws, an infection control expert from the University of New South Wales.
Drying matters
Drying your hands properly is also important, Professor McLaws said. "The friction of a hand towel, whether it's paper or cloth... removes germs if you haven't removed them with the soap and water," she said."
In public bathrooms, a paper towel is your best bet. When that's not an option, using a hand dryer or letting them air dry is OK, so long as you allow your hands to properly dry.
At home, if you're using hand towels in the bathroom, it's important to wash them regularly. If someone at home is sick, it's best they use their own towel.
Why soap is best, then sanitizer
SARS-CoV-2 is what's known as an "envelope virus", which means it's relatively easy to kill compared to some other viruses, Professor McLaws said. Coronavirus particles are surrounded by a fatty outer later (made of lipid molecules) called an envelope, which falls apart on contact with soap.
MICROPLASTIC FREE
means that (unlike most soap manufacturers)
we do not use any titanium dioxide or microplastics that lead to the toxic contamination of our Marine Environment.
NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS means that we do not use any ingredients in our soap and bath bombs that are associated with animal cruelty through habitat destruction or pre-market testing.
SUSTAINABLY HANDCRAFTED
means that our hand made manufacturing process minimizes fossil fuel consumption, and supports sustainable, environmentally friendly industry
ALL NATURAL INGREDIENTS means ...
no parabens, no sodium lauryl or laureth sulfate, no petrochemical fragrances, no glycol, no cocamide, no edta, no artificial colour and no detergents.
AUSTRALIAN MADE
means
our products are made right here in Australia,
and
AUSTRALIAN OWNED
means profits and jobs stay right here in Australia.