Full-size bar
$7
An oval that fills the hand. Made in a six-cavity mould, then cured until it is dense enough to hold its shape in the dish.
See colours and aromas
California Kelp, handmade in San Diego
Bar soap from the edge of the kelp forest.
Cold-process soap made with mango butter, shea butter, olive oil and giant kelp extract. Poured by hand in small batches and cured for six weeks.
The soap
Two sizes, one recipe.
Every bar comes from the same recipe and the same six-week cure. One fills the palm; the other fits a guest bath, a gym bag or a gift box.
Small round bar
$2.50 each
Poured fifteen to a tray and trimmed by hand. Sized for a guest bath, a gym bag or a table of favours, and boxed in sets of three or six.
- Gift box of 3$6
- Gift box of 6$10
Five colours, five aromas
Each colour has its own aroma. Choose one to see it in both shapes. Each tray is one colour, and shades vary a little from batch to batch.
Island Escape
A sweet, tropical blend of tamarind, mandarin, red currant, date and coconut milk.
Prefer no aroma? Unscented bars are also available, in a mix of colours from our test batches. Ask which ones we have.
What's in it
Seven oils and butters, and a little kelp.
Four ingredients set the character of the bar: mango butter, shea butter, meadowfoam oil and giant kelp. Each one is there for what it does to the bar: how hard it gets, how it lathers and how long it lasts.
Mangifera indica, India
Mango butter
Pressed from the seed kernel, not the fruit. Light and quick to melt in the hand, it gives the bar its firm body and a fine, close lather that feels silky rather than slippery.
Vitellaria paradoxa, West Africa
Shea butter
From the nut of a tree that grows wild across the savanna. It steadies the lather into something creamy and cushioned, with a rich, buttery slip.
Limnanthes alba, Pacific Northwest
Meadowfoam oil
From a small white wildflower. One of the most stable oils in nature, it extends the life of the bar and gives the lather its silk.
Macrocystis pyrifera, California
Kelp extract
Giant kelp from the California coast, the same plant that forms the kelp forests off our coast. It goes into every bar as an extract.
Also in the bar
Olive oil
The backbone of the recipe. It makes a mild bar with a soft, creamy lather.
Coconut oil
Big, bright bubbles and a hard bar that holds up in the shower.
Castor oil
A little goes a long way. It is what gives the lather its bubbles and its dense, glossy foam.
Rice bran oil
Light and silky. It keeps the lather from feeling heavy.
How it's made
Cold process, a tray at a time.
Cold-process soap is made by mixing oils and butters with lye and letting the reaction finish slowly. The soap forms within a day or two; the rest is patience.
- 01
Weigh the oils
Olive, coconut, castor, rice bran and meadowfoam oils are weighed to the gram, and the mango and shea butters are melted in.
- 02
Add the colour
Cosmetic mica is mixed straight into the oils so the colour runs evenly through the bar.
- 03
Bring in the lye
Sodium hydroxide solution goes into the oils and is blended to a light trace, when the mix thickens like thin custard. No sodium hydroxide remains in the cured bar.
- 04
Pour
The batter is poured into silicone moulds: fifteen small rounds to a tray, or six ovals.
- 05
Turn out and trim
The next day the bars come out of the mould by hand and the seam on each one is trimmed clean.
- 06
Cure six weeks
Bars rest on open racks in a dry room. We weigh them as they cure and they only leave once they're done.
Six weeks on the rack
Week 0Water leaves the bar for weeks after it sets. Curing makes it harder and longer-lasting in the dish. Every batch is dated and weighed through the cure.
Full ingredient list
Sodium Olivate, Aqua, Sodium Mangoseedate, Sodium Shea Butterate, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Castorate, Glycerin, Sodium Rice Branate, Sodium Meadowfoamate, Fragrance, Sodium Lactate, Sodium Sunflowerseedate, Macrocystis Pyrifera (Kelp) Extract, Mica.
Unscented bars: the same ingredients, without fragrance.
Gifts and events
Events, leagues and corporate gifts.
The small round bar was made for a table of favours. Tell us what you have in mind and we'll come back to you with what's possible.
- Golf leagues and club events
- Tee gifts and prizes, as single bars or boxed sets of three or six.
- Corporate and client gifts
- Boxed sets of three or six small bars.
- Weddings and showers
- Favours for the table.
- Colour
- Each tray of fifteen is poured in one colour, so a colour for your event is worth asking about.
- Lead time
- Allow at least eight weeks for anything poured to order. The six-week cure can't be rushed.
Questions
Questions, answered.
Where can I buy a bar?
At farmers' markets around San Diego. Dates are coming soon; leave your email below and we'll tell you where we'll be. For gifts and events, use the enquiry form above.
Is it real soap?
Yes. It's made the traditional way, by reacting plant oils and butters with sodium hydroxide (lye). The reaction uses up the lye, so none remains in the cured bar.
Why does it take six weeks?
The soap forms within a day or two, but water keeps leaving the bar for weeks. Curing lets it harden and last longer in the dish. We weigh every batch through the cure.
How do I make a bar last?
Keep it out of standing water and let it dry between uses. A dish with slats or ridges, so water can drain, makes the biggest difference.
Where does the colour come from?
From cosmetic mica, mixed into the oils before the lye goes in. Each colour is paired with its own aroma, and shades vary a little from batch to batch.
Stay in touch
Hear when a batch comes off the rack.
An occasional note when bars are cured and where we'll be selling them. Nothing else.