Who Are We?
Chalke Valley Soaps is a small family run business offering 100% natural handmade soaps, bath salts and eco-friendly accessories. We are dedicated to crafting beautiful high-quality products that our clients will love to use again and again. We are passionate about looking after our beautiful planet and take pride in creating sustainable, zero-waste products, delivered in simple, natural and plastic-free packagings. Our home workshop is located in the most beautiful countryside of South West England, also known as the Chalke Valley.
OUR PRODUCTS
Our range includes 12 different soaps, 3 varieties of bath salts and 2 types of dog shampoo bars. We also sell eco-friendly accessories that go perfectly with our skin-loving products. Our beautiful natural gift sets make fabulous thoughtful presents to anyone for any occasion.
Our Formula
Our unique recipes are brimming with a gorgeous blend of vegan butters and oils such as Shea butter, Coconut oil, Olive oil, Sunflower oil, Sweet Almond oil and Castor oil. This formula gives our soaps their luxuriously rich lather leaving your skin feeling nourished and moisturised. Our products are scented with pure essential oils and coloured with natural clays, homegrown herbs and hand-processed organic fruit peels. You can feel confident that you are purchasing a safe and quality assured product. We hold CPSR (Cosmetic Safety Report) for all our recipes which means they have been safety assessed by a chartered chemist to ensure our formulas are mild and safe. With only one exception of the Honey soap, all our products are suitable for Vegans.
No nasties, just simply all-natural!
Our products contain absolutely NO palm oil, NO toxins, NO harmful chemicals, NO synthetic fragrances/colourants and NO preservatives!
About Lye
Aka Caustic Soda or Sodium Hydroxide is an essential ingredient in soap making. Our Lye is made from common table salt that is dissolved in water and electrodes introduce electricity into the mix, creating chloride, hydrogen, and lye. This material has been used for centuries in natural soap making, and when used correctly, it can help create safe all-natural products. However (according to the European Cosmetic Laws), you won’t find Sodium Hydroxide on our labels as it is not present in the final products.
The Process
Our soaps are handmade in small batches using the traditional cold process method with some modern, planet-friendly twists. This technique requires a lot of preparation and a minimum of 4-6 weeks curing time to ensure the highest quality and preserve the therapeutic benefits of our botanical ingredients.
Bath Salts
Using some truly wonderful ingredients that mother nature offers, we create the most aromatic and relaxing botanical bath salts that you will absolutely love! Coming soon!
Descriptions
All our product descriptions have been written by Sophia, a registered clinical herbalist from Canada.
Our Story
My beloved Grannie used to make her own soaps using natural lye and different animal fats. She told me that my great-grandmother even made her own lye out of hardwood ash! As a child, I remember her soaps were massive and smelt beautiful, she would use them for bathing, hand washing, and even the laundry. She planted the seed in my head and started a life long love of natural soaps!
My first attempt at cold process soap making was in 2010 with the help of my dad. We created cinnamon soap which turned out as a disaster…. they came out brown, sticky and just about hard enough to use. I didn’t like the texture, but I loved the smell. Not deterred I decided to keep with it but instead opted for the melt & pour process which was a safer method to use around my young family and made simple soaps for personal use and gifts.
I was working my dream job as a professional photographer for years when I had an almost fatal accident in September 2019 during our family holiday in Greece. I broke my leg and hip that kicked me off for some time. As soon as I recovered and was able to work again, the virus came…
When we experienced soap shortages during the pandemic, I knew that I could help those around me. With the support of my family, we started making melt & pour bars using soap bases I had left in the cupboard from previous projects, but quickly swapped to “real” method as I wanted to create soap bars from scratch and have 100% control over the ingredients used. This was my opportunity to not only create a completely natural soap but to also ensure that all aspects of my products are kind on our environment by being zero-waste.
We have worked hard on mastering the cold process method and after a few fails, lots of practice, a large dose of patience, we believe we have created a unique formula that not only looks and smells amazing but is also kind to your skin and our planet.
During the pandemic we left small soap bars outside our house daily with a suggested small donation to help cover the costs, word soon got around and our little soap kitchen became very popular. Overwhelmed by local feedback and donations we were able to produce larger soap bars and we started to make contributions to our local NHS trust.
A lot has happened since March and now I’m working as a full-time “soaper” proudly using my photography skills too. We are so pleased to bring you our gorgeous range of soaps and other products. We want to continue to show our support and will donate £1 from every Variety Sample Box sold. Over the coming months we will be launching charity soaps to support both local and national causes. If you wish to hear about our latest releases and promotions then please subscribe to our mail list in the footer!
Warmly,
Helga & Family
