soap — Musings — Linda Yin

I'm always thinking of ways to reduce my plastic usage, so I decided to make my shower routine completely plastic-free.

It took some time, of course. It was easy finding a bar of soap that I liked for my body. It was tougher finding soap bars for my face and hair.

I knew activated charcoal was the new trend in facial wash so at the Randolph Street Market in December, I bought a bar of soap with activated charcoal, hoping it would keep my skin clear. For the past six months, I've only used my bar of activated charcoal soap for my face and it's worked! My breakouts aren't nearly as bad as they used to be. The soap is gentle enough that it doesn't strip my face of all its natural oils, which means I haven't needed to use as much facial lotion. On top of all this, I can avoid buying bottles of face wash now.

The last thing I needed to complete my plastic-free shower routine was a bar of soap for my hair. After searching at farmers markets and street fairs, I finally stumbled upon a J.R. Liggett's shampoo bar at Whole Foods. I was skeptical at first but bought the bar to try anyway. Most all-natural shampoos I've bought in the past either didn't lather well at all or took twice the amount to lather. When I tried the J.R. Liggetts shampoo bar at home, I was amazed. I only needed a small amount of the soap to create a rich lather. It also didn't strip my hair of all its natural oils. The shampoo bar left my hair feeling soft, thick, and voluminous. Perfect for someone like me who's used to flat straight hair with zero body.

Gardenia soap from the Rocky Mountain Soap Market (I just love the smell of gardenias)

I've been trying to pick up a hobby. So naturally, I signed up for every class on Dabble.co. Okay, maybe not every class...just five. The first one I attended was a soap-making class that was conveniently located a few blocks from where I live.

Dabble classes are perfect for an introvert like me. The class size is tiny, which means it feels personal and intimate. Most of the people in the class are introverts, usually around my age, and looking for a creative outlet.

I didn't realize how easy it is to make soap. Essentially, we combine a few oils, add some scents, and mix in lye. Then, you wait four to six weeks for the soap to cure. The lye part is the toughest and what deters most people from making their own soap, since lye is scary and burns and I am terrified of toxic chemicals. Fortunately, the instructor (who could not have been nicer) reassured us that we weren't using a lot of lye and showed us how to carefully mix the lye with the oils. Of course, the most fun part of making soap is choosing the scents. I went with peppermint and lavender, and threw in some chamomile tea leaves for texture.

What are some of your hobbies?

My Plastic-free Shower Routine

Soap-making