6 Handmade Soaps Made From Food and Booze

By Food & Wine
Updated August 31, 2015
© Stacy Allee
Not all soap is created equal. For many of us, the most complicated consideration involved in buying soap is whether or not it’s on sale at the drugstore. But a new batch of handmade soaps are worthy of some deeper thoughts. Makers are using edible ingredients that enhance the benefits of their bars. “Handmade soap will make your skin happy; especially compared to store-bought soap, which is often detergent-based,” says Anne-Marie Faiola, founder and CEO of Bramble Berry, one of the largest suppliers of soap-making supplies. And some of Faiola’s best customers are making food-filled soaps that blow away the chemically enhanced competition. Here, six that will have your skin thanking you.
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Cabernet Wine Soap

© Dallas Soap Company

“Soap can be made with milk and beer, so I thought, why not wine?” says Pamela Mallow of Dallas Soap Company. Wine has naturally occurring sugar, which, like beer, boosts the lather of soap. This fragrant bar has notes of grapes, rich berries, cherry and oak, and is dusted with gold mica for a lavish look. ( $7, 4.5-oz. bar)

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Totally Pumpkin

© Rocky Top Soap Shop

Pumpkin lovers unite! The soap contains pumpkin oil, pumpkin butter and organic pumpkin puree, making it the ultimate pumpkin soap. “I was feeling a bit challenged to make something that said ‘pumpkin' and ‘fall' without including scent. So, I decided to go the literal route and include as many pumpkin ingredients as I could find in the recipe,” says Rock Top Soap Shop owner Tony Laudicina of his “Totally Pumpkin” soap. ($7, 4.5–5 oz. bar)

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Oatmeal Stout Beer Soap

© Tracy Fritze

This oatmeal beer stout soap by Faith, Soaps & Love is made with Lake Superior Oatmeal Stout brewed in owner Tracy Fritze's home state of Minnesota. Beer adds great lather to soap, making this bar extra luscious. ( $6, 4.75–5-oz. bar)

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Fresh New Jersey Strawberry Soap

© Jessica Bagley

South Jersey strawberries are the star of Happy Goats Soap Co.’s Fresh New Jersey Strawberry Soap. The dehydrated strawberries serve as a light exfoliant, and the strawberry fragrance will have you smelling like summer. The soap also contains goat’s milk, whose enzymes make it extra soothing. ( $5, 3.5-oz. bar)

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Avocado and Cucumber Handmade Soap with Aloe Juice

© Jessica M. Guptill

Avocado is great for moisturizing, as cucumber and aloe soothe. This triple threat from Clean Line Soap Company is truly food for your skin. ( $6, 4.5-oz. bar)

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Lemon Poppy Seed Soap

© Stacy Allee

Inspired by lemon poppy seed muffins, this soap from Big Sky Soap Shop contains dried lemon peel and poppy seeds for extra exfoliation, which is perfect for cleanup in the kitchen, especially after handling foods such as garlic and onions. ($6, 4-oz. bar)Interested in trying your own hand at soap making? Soap Queen, Bramble Berry’s tutorial website, has free resources for beginners.

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