IN SHORT, THE LONG HISTORY OF SOAP
A simple bar is the perfect solution to daily dirt, writes Vicky Sanderson.
There is wonder to be found in the smallest moments around the house. Take, for example, the small pleasure of washing your hands with soap and water. The reason they get clean is simple, clever, and rooted in age-old science.
The earliest soaps are thought to have been made around 2800 BC by Babylonian Arabs, who must have figured out that it could be produced by mixing fat or oil with an alkali. An alkali is a chemical that dissolves in water, and which can be as basic as potash, or fire ash. In fact, the word alkali derives from the Arabic phrase for calcined ashes.
Together, these ingredients combine to create hydrophilic molecules that attract grease and dirt, and hydrophobic molecules, which repel water. Very crudely put, the suds gather up all the nasty bits and make it easy to wash them away in water.
There are many fats employed in soapmaking, but one of the most ancient, olive oil, is still used in lines made by Sitti, a Canadian company committed to self-reliance for refugees and displaced communities through stable employment, skills development, and an inclusive global economy.
The all-natural soap relies on a traditional cold-press method passed down from generations of Palestinian women, using olive oil from farms in Jerash, Jordan, which produce a high-quality, nutrient-rich, delicious oil from ancient trees.
Soaps are handmade by artisans inside the Jerash Refugee Camp, which opened as an emergency camp in 1968 for 11,500 Palestinian refugees and displaced persons from the Gaza Strip.
The olive oil soaps benefit all skin types, including those with acne or eczema. Some have ingredients that exfoliate, like Nigella seeds, the use of which can be traced back as far as King Tut.
In the name of research, I have been opening little Sitti boxes and sniffing them all weeklong. Some have a slightly bracing fragrance — hello, charcoal! — but what I overwhelmingly pick up is a clean scent of harvest-fresh, deeply green olives. The bars feel very creamy on the skin but the texture makes me think they'll last well.
Small bars are good for everyday use, travel, and powder rooms. A larger bar works for body and handwashing. I would also give either as token gifts, or pick-me-ups for friends who need a self-care boost.
Go to www.sittisoap.com to order or learn more, including about a partnership with a true giant in the soap world — L'occitane Middle East, which launched a gift-with-purchase campaign with Sitti for the 2023 Ramadan season.
Sitti also sells olive oil soap flakes. Hypoallergenic and biodegradable, these can be used throughout the house for face and body soap, as well as a gentle but effective laundry, dish, and floor or wall detergent.
Adding particular ingredients to soap can help certain skin types and conditions. Oats, for example, have a combination of amino and fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamin E that reduces inflammation and moisturizes skin.
It's the star ingredient in a new Sensitive Natural line from another Canadian soap manufacturer, Attitude Living, which has added oats to shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and hand soap. Eco refills are available, as they are for a new Super Leaves line, made with grapeseed oil and olive leaf extract, which has been shown to inhibit UVB skin damage, and speed healing.
How long, you may well ask, has the olive leaf extract recipe been around? I don't know that, but I do know olive tree cultivation goes back at least 7,000 years. Which tells me that on the long and dusty road humanity has travelled, we've yet to find a more perfect solution to daily dirt than a simple bar of soap. Here's to the good stuff.