Darby’s: Lavender Mint, Wine, Beer
A nod to old-fashioned soapmaking
I like resourceful soapmakers. Darby’s entreprenuring founder, Patricia, even renders her own lard from the hapless Pig—from snout to squeal, nothing goes to waste.
Why lard? you might think. Lard makes a very mild and luxurious conditioning soap that gives a creamy lather with tiny bubbles and leaves your skin feeling clean and moisturized. Not greasy, moisturized! Softer and smoother. A lot of people swear by it, some even argue it’s superior. It’s incredibly healing for the human skin, it’s natural, traditional and sustainable. I also think that we should use every part of any animal that is killed. — Patricia Cruz
Lard, although off-putting to vegans and those who shy away from purportedly “icky” stuff, is a common ingredient for soap. In fact, you’d be surprised to know that Dove uses tallow (beef fat euphemized through the label ‘sodium tallowate’) for their beauty bars.
I personally like the use of lard and tallow in soaps, especially since it’s such a cheap source of fat. The animals they come from stay dead, regardless, and using this waste product in such an efficient manner goes a long way towards sustainability (more so than the dreaded palm oil).
Lard makes a very mild, conditioning soap that is great for your skin. It doesn’t ‘bubble’ well, though the lather is very creamy. Darby’s soaps are hard bars, which means they will last you a long time with daily showering (here in the Philippines, one ought to shower at least once a day if you plan on staying halfway fragrant).
The lavender mint chamomile is a total darling. It smells like one too, although the fragrance tends towards sharp floral notes. No wonder, because it’s made with chamomile tea, lavender essential oil, peppermint essential oil, and topped with lavender buds and chamomile flowers.
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It’s almost a shame to use it, but once you do it feels very … fancy (for the lack of a better word). I’ve been using this soap for over half a month and it’s still almost as thick as when I’ve first used it. It’s not sudsy, but this shouldn’t be a metric of what a good soap ought to be.
The cocoa butter beer bars run a little small (‘travel-sized’, as labelled). These are made with dark lager, unrefined cocoa butter, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, lard, and peppermint essential oil. The coconut sugar sprinkle line adds a welcome touch of exfoliation. However, after several uses, the bar tends to break at the sprinkle line. Honestly not a big fan of the scent, but this is a personal nitpick (big fan of beer though, hah!) The peppermint EO is hardly recognizable—unfortunately, some essential oils don’t ‘behave’ during the curing process. I’m thinking maybe this warrants a switch to another fragrance, like sandalwood perhaps?
Darby’s Wine Not? is an interesting piece—made with red wine, shea butter, virgin coconut oil, grape seed oil, lard, geranium essential oil, and tea tree essential oil. Fun fact: geranium essential oil is a common replacement and extender in rose scents, so its aroma is very much like rosewater’s. I would very much love to have this bar in a bigger cut. In fact, I can easily see this soap being a #shelfie staple.
About ours, it’s customized — I decide what’s in it, and I even render the lard myself. It’s real soap, made with oil, water, lye and a few other natural additives: chamomile flowers infused in the distilled water, a blend of lavender and peppermint essential oils, chamomile flowers and lavender buds.
Verdict: 👍🏼 I love lard soaps. Bacon grease might be my favorite soap ingredient yet.
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