Coconut oil is also an essential component of Garland Goat Soap. Coconut oil is obtained from copra, which is dried coconut meat. It provides many benefits to a natural bar soap!

Coconut oil creates a hard bar of soap with fluffy lather.

When used in the right proportion, coconut oil creates a good, hard bar of soap that won’t just “melt away” in your soap dish. It also contributes generous, fluffy lather for a squeaky clean feeling. More than that, though, coconut oil is an ideal skin-care oil! Because coconut oil’s molecules are small, they are easily absorbed into skin, making it the perfect moisturizer for dry or rough skin.

It helps protect your skin from the aging effects of free radicals.  It can help to keep the skin from developing liver spots, and other blemishes caused by aging and over exposure to sunlight.  When coconut oil is absorbed into the skin and connective tissues, it helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by working to keep connective tissues strong and supple. The oil is absorbed into cell structure of the skins connective tissues, limiting the damage excessive sun exposure can cause. Coconut oil will aid in exfoliating the outer layer of dead skin cells, making the skin smoother.

Coconut oil helps prevent aging in your skin!

Antiseptic fatty acids in coconut oil help to prevent fungal and bacterial infections in the skin to a certain extent when it is used in skin-care. Because of these qualities, coconut oil also helps in treating various skin problems including psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema and other skin infections. I consider it indispensable in my soap recipes!

There are all sorts of oils available for soapmakers to use. Some are commonplace, some exotic. Olive oil is one of the key oils I use in Garland Goat Soap. True, it’s rather expensive to use in large quantities, but it is extremely valuable for skin care. It helps promote a sooth, radiant completion, maintain the elasticity of the skin, heal dry, brittle nails, and soften cuticles. Olive oil performs these many functions due, in part, to the fact that it is a very good moisturizer because it attracts external moisture, holds that moisture close to the skin, and forms a breathable film to prevent the loss of the skin’s internal moisture.

Olive oil creates a superiour soap!

Unlike so many other substances used for this purpose, olive oil does not block the natural functions of the skin while performing this task. The skin is able to continue sweating, releasing sebum, and shedding dead skin cells, all necessary functions for maintaining healthy, vibrant skin. Olive oil is high in antioxidants, including vitamin E. Antioxidants are nutritional powerhouses that protect against age-accelerating free radicals. Thus, including olive oil in soap helps to protect against those damaging free radicals, as well as helping to slow aging signs such as fine lines and wrinkles. In soap, olive oil is a gentle and thorough cleanser. You might say that, as a natural soapmaking ingredient, olive oil is “worth its weight in gold!”

There are many aspects to keeping healthy, vibrant, smooth skin. Your skin needs to be moisturized, it needs to be exfoliated - the dead skin cells broken down and removed-, it needs protection against harmful bacteria, and it needs good, healthy nourishment and rejuvenation.

Two constituents in goat milk, alpha-hydroxy acid and caprylic acid, both play a crucial role in rejuvenating your skin, adding vital elements of skin-care to our soap. For instance, over time your skin looses its ability to get rid of old cells fast enough. Therefore this outermost skin layer thickens, which reduces your skin’s elasticity and fresh look. Here’s where the alpha-hydoxy acids come into play, breaking down the glue holding your dead skin cells together, and thereby providing the way for your skin to easily shed those unwanted, dead layers. This results in less wrinkles and age spots, less acne, and less dry skin. Alpha-hydroxy acids also help to plump the skin and smooth fine lines. Additionally, these acids neutralize free radicals, slowing the aging process and refreshing the skin.

Caprylic acid is a fatty acid contained in goat milk that reduces alkalinity, giving goat milk soap a pH level very close to that of the skin. This enables our soap to cleanse without stripping the skin of its protective barrier of natural, neccesary oils. Caprylic acid also soothes the surface tension of the skin, allowing it to be moisturized and to absorb the other healthy nutrients of the soap. In addition to alpha-hydroxy acid and caprylic acid, there are other fatty acids present in goat milk that are natural antimicrobials and antifungals.

It is a well know fact that in ancient times, Cleopatra, renowned for her beauty, took milk baths. Now we know why it worked so well for her!!

We mentioned in a recent post Is Goat Milk Good in Soap, the goodness of goat milk in natural soap bars. If you’re like me, though, you’ll be curious to find out more specifically just how the different vitamins and nutrients work for your skin! After all, it’s nice to know, for instance, that goat milk has vitamin A in it…but what does that do for your skin? To begin with, it may encourage youthful skin!

Vitamin A acts as an antioxidant to neutralize harmful elements in our skin, helping to prevent wrinkles, resist infection and keep your skin youthful! It also slows down the effects of aging, as manifested in your skin, and helps prevent both dryness and brown spots on your skin.

Vitamin B12, also found in goat milk, is essential for a variety of synthetic processes in the cells, including skin cells, and an absence of it can be detrimental for skin health.

Vitamin E is another of the vitamins contained in goat milk that protects skin cells from free radical damage (in other words, keeps them from aging).

Consider another component of goat milk, zinc. For some of you, zinc may bring to mind a type of metal, but in reality, zinc is an essential mineral that is a component of more than thirty enzymes. Zinc contributes to the reconstruction of collagen fibers, resulting in firmer, smoother skin (collagen fibers are responsible for your skin’s strength and elasticity, and its degradation leads to wrinkles that accompany aging). Zinc also encourages moisture retention and assists in maintaining your skin’s elasticity. Is the value of goat milk as a wonderful, natural skin-care product beginning to make more sense? There’s more yet…we’ll continue to look at more of the components of goat milk in another post!