Yes, it's actually soap...

You cannot believe how many times I have found myself saying that to people looking at my felted soaps. Since there seems to be so much confusion, awe and wonder when it comes to these "handmade felted soaps"... let me fill you in on whats really going on there:

1. I make the soap. I'm too scared to actually work with the lye myself (I have had a couple containers of it for about 3 years now... still too scared). So instead, I go to Hobby Lobby and buy the glycerin soap base. Perfect. Painful Fight Club incident successfully diverted :-)

This is everything that goes into the soap itself-

We have all of the oils that our skin needs and wants so badly!

 We also have our fragrances! I use some of these fragrance oils, but sometimes also use essential oils such as tea tree, peppermint, and lavender to scent the soaps. 

And here is a picture of the pre-melted glycerin, all chopped up and ready to be melted and mixed with the oils and scents!

I used to melt the glycerin and everything my microwaving, but Now I prefer to do it on the stovetop in an old sauce pan.

After everything is melted together, I let it cool a bit and then pour the soap into the molds....

(also... If I'm making Guinness soap, I add flat Guinness to the soap along with the oils and fragrances) I usually let the soap harden over night in the molds and then pop em out so that I can get felting!

Ok- this is the part that I don't have pictures for unfortunately. :-( Alllthougghhh.... This video shows you pretty much exactly what I do!

And there you have it! Handmade felted soap! I'm totally smitten with them- I love the process and idea of a washcloth and soap in one! So yes, it really is soap! And yes, you really can use it! And yes, it really is that awesome!