About
The story and my ethics
My passion has been to make natural and innovative artisanal soaps, aromatherapy bath products and creams for active skin care all of my adult life, developing my recipes and perfecting my manufacturing process in order to produce everything ethically. I actually started in my kitchen when I couldn’t find anything to help me with my sensitive skin that was prone to acne. My skin soon improved using my 100% natural creations and my family and friends were very supportive and also enjoyed using my products. My little cottage industry soon expanded and before I left Wales for France in 2015 I was employing five people and had clients worldwide. With my latest range of products, I return to my humble beginnings and I have sourced top quality ingredients from my homeland, Wales to offer a small, unique and original soap range. My company name “Soaprano” comes from my other passion, music and singing. I have won many competitions and awards with my voice and my soap and therefore wanted to combine the two. Soprano became SoAprano and therefore my final adventure (and most exciting) in the world of soap begins.
I also have never used palm oil due to its environmental negative impact. And except for washing my utensils, hardly any electricity is needed in the manufacturing process. No preservatives either and no plastic bottles that seriously pollute our planet.
The company Soaprano
Photo credit to Chris at Seedlings, Aberaeron www.seedlingstreatsandholidays.com
Handmade natural artisanal soap
SOAPRANO (originally conceived as Naturania) is a company that has been making natural, handmade soaps since 1983 by myself, the creator and owner, Nia Jenkins. I also established a very successful company in the south west of France, and for the past 19 years have been living and manufacturing there but now very glad and proud to be back in Wales. My range of ten soaps are completely new and natural products which are made for your pleasure, are visually pleasing and certified according to current European regulations. Soap of this quality is not found everywhere and I am confident that my extensive experience in natural handmade soap making and aromatherapy offers you the best available on the market today.
Cold Process Soap
I am very proud of my beautiful organic soap, made using the traditional cold process method, meaning I don't heat or cook anything at all. Thus all the precious and beneficial properties of the ingredients remain intact in the finished products. During manufacturing, vegetable glycerin (a humectant) is produced naturally to offer you all the moisturising qualities of a glycerin rich soap thanks to our cold process saponification.
What is saponification? The simple explanation….
Saponification literally means "soap making". It is used to refer to the soap-forming reaction of an alkaline (NaOH) with an acid (oils and fats). Sodium hydroxide is mixed with water to make what is called a “lye solution” and added to our oils and carefully blended together. The sodium hydroxide solution magically transforms the oils into soap, this is a natural chemical reaction. It is crucial to measure the caustic material very carefully and I go one step further by calculating a superfat of 6% into my recipe.
What is a superfat?
A superfat is an excess of oils or fats in a finished bar of soap that have not been saponified and turned into soap. This means that a percentage of the oils stay to give the soap a lovely conditioning quality and ensures that the soap lather is mild and gentle.
Natural ingredients
We only use unrefined and natural materials, cold process, organic ingredients. As a qualified aromatherapist, my main skill is to blend synergies of the highest quality essential oils to create intoxicating aromas which clearly trace the personality of the different soaps I create. Not only do my natural perfume blends smell divine, but their benefits for the skin is substantial. The soaps are also enhanced by adding fresh fruits; plants, herbs, flowers, spices, wine, vegan chocolate and milk with plant pigments and pure micas to give interesting and visually pleasing textures. Your skin’s appearance will take on a new healthy glow when you use natural, handmade soap rather than products made with chemicals, synthetic fragrances and detergents.
My basic recipe is composed of virgin high oleic sunflower and rapeseed oils produced in Wales, virgin coconut oil and castor bean oil. These four oils create a perfect balance of natural fatty acids (Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9).
Welsh sea salt from Anglesey www.halenmon.com is also added to give the soap a hard, long lasting quality by making soapy molecules adhere to one another, forming an insoluble mass. It helps draw out impurities, toxins and excess oils from the skin, leaving it clean and refreshed.
The DGCCRF points out that animal testing on cosmetic products is prohibited by European regulations. Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009 of November 30, 2009 relating to cosmetic products defines the statements and information that must appear on the labeling of cosmetic products. It was supplemented by Regulation (EU) No. 655/2013 of July 10, 2013 establishing the common criteria to which claims relating to cosmetic products must meet in order to be used. Article 18 of Regulation No. 1223/2009 specifies that animal testing is prohibited for all finished cosmetic products placed on the European market.
Our products are suitable for vegetarians and vegans and don’t contain any animal ingredients. Our natural soap can be used for bathing and showering, as a cleansing agent, for shaving and as a makeup remover, shampoo and toothpaste (choose Ice Quartz). As with all soap products, avoid direct contact with the eyes.
cold process
is a traditional soap-making method that uses room temperature ingredients to saponify oils with lye also meaning that the qualities of the essential oils selected for each soap are preserved and active.
moisturisers
thanks to emollient virgin sunflower, rapeseed and castor bean oils and glycerin (a natural result of the saponification process), these ingredients, have the property of capturing humidity from the air, keeping your skin soft and supple.
foaming
thanks to the virgin coconut oil, castor oil and sea salt which combined give a generous foam with big dense, creamy bubbles that never dry the skin.
scented
thanks to the essential oils that also give therapeutic, skin loving properties to the soaps. The synergies are blended by me, a qualified, professional aromatherapist with over 40 years experience.
colourful
with natural pigments and pure micas that with the creativity and imagination of an experienced artist, transform the soaps into works of art and a true pleasure to use.
fresh and natural
fresh fruit, flowers, aromatic plants, spices, plant milk and yogurt, wine, gin (!) and non dairy chocolate which nourish the skin as they nourish the body.
ecological
by the absence of all plastic and no chemical discharges into the water and by the absence of palm oil, produced in monoculture and which threatens the ecosystem and the habitat of the great apes.
FOUR MAIN INGREDIENTS
VIRGIN, COLD PRESSED, UNREFINED SUNFLOWER OIL Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil
Liquid gold produced by our supplier www.mountainproduce.co.uk. Chris sources the best quality sunflower seeds and then gently extracts the oil. It's bottled in small quantities on their farm in Minera, North Wales. The only producers of cold pressed sunflower oil in the UK and so unique that they won the Great Taste Award in 2023 also going straight to the top with a 3* award for the "Golden Fork" (Champion of Champions). All our soap contain at least 50% of this magical, high oleic oil that makes a fantastic end product that is mild and moisturising with an abundant lather.
High oleic sunflower oil is very high in oleic (monounsaturated) acid and defined as having a minimum 80% oleic acid, which is even higher than extra virgin olive oil.
High oleic sunflower oil also has good levels of vitamin E, which helps defend and protect the skin against free radical damage. It cannot be compared to the refined, heat processed sunflower oil (which is high linoleic) that you find in the supermarkets.
VIRGIN COCONUT OIL (Cocos Nucifera oil)
Coconut oil is an excellent ingredient for making high quality soap, especially since we do not use palm oil. It is imperative in our soap formula and gives large, fluffy bubbles. It is naturally rich in lauric acid, which protects your skin from micro-organisms and this natural defense continues in the finished soap. Coconut oil is known to help many diverse skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, blemishes, brittle nails, itching, irritation, excessive dryness, to name a few. Remember that the virgin, organic oil that we use is nothing like the refined oil that can be comedogenic (blocks the pores) and is processed with chemical solvents.
VIRGIN, COLD PRESSED, UNREFINED RAPESEED OIL (Brassica Campestris seed oil)
A beautiful oil known for its nourishing properties and produced by our supplier www.mountainproduce.co.uk in North Wales. Rapeseed oil is the best source of α-linolenic acid. Due to its fatty acid profile, this oil provides excellent moisturisation, regeneration and restructuring properties for the skin. It contains 19% linoleic acid, 62% oleic acid, 9% alpha-linoleic acid and 7% saturated fatty acids.
Rapeseed oil also contains vitamin E and vitamin K, with 18 mg of vitamin E and 71 mg of vitamin K per 100 g. It has a high omega-3 to omega-6 ratio, which is considered healthy.
CASTOR BEAN OIL (RICINUS COMMUNIS)
Castor bean oil is used in a low percentage but adequate enough to boost the lather produced by the inclusion of virgin coconut oil in all our soaps. It creates a creamy, rich and dense lather that contributes to the moisturising effect of the generous bubbles produced by our soap bars. It's known for it's mild and gentle properties as are all the ingredients carefully chosen in our inspired recipe
