New Shower Blocks Soap Bars

Hi, I’m Neil. The founder of Shower Blocks and more recently Shower Blocks handcrafted soap bars!

In mid-2023 I took a step back and looked at everything I’d learned about manufacturing solid personal care products. I realised I was in a great position to make a high quality, great feeling (and smelling) natural soap bar.

Particularly empowered by the cost of living crisis, I wanted to make a price busting premium, artisan soap bar that felt silky on the skin.  

The journey

The journey to get to that point had been fraught with mistakes aplenty. Sadly this included some waste, including products I would use only once as they weren’t particularly nice.

The process did yield some wonderful knowledge on the benefits all sorts of oils. I began understanding more about their fatty acid benefits and how they might be good for the skin in different ways.

Choosing which ingredients to use

There’s a lot of expensive oils out there but for simple cleansing and moisturising you might find a cheaper oil is as effective. It doesn’t all have to be hemp and jojoba oils with the only difference being a much heftier price tag.

Learning all I could took some time but I settled on a four oil blend consisting of coconut oil, olive oil, shea butter and sunflower oil. I found this combination offered a fantastic balance of cleansing, moisturising and nourishment.

Each of these ingredients has great benefits when used in a soap:

Coconut oil is great for bubbles. It’s known for its antibacterial and anti-fungal properties and helps keep your hands clean and refreshed.

Olive oil is conditioning and moisturising. It’s a hydration hero, locking in moisture and leaving your hands feeling soft and silky.

Shea butter is derived from the nuts of the shea tree and is both soothing and moisturising.

Sunflower oil is nourishing and contains vitamin E. It’s a great source of antioxidants, giving your hands a defence against environmental stressors.

The only other ingredients in there are a little bit of colouring and fragrance oils. If you’ve ordered a 100% natural Essential Oil collection version, then there’s no colouring and essential oils are used for the fragrances only. 

Our soap bars are as simple as can be while also being vegan friendly, palm oil free, SLS, SLES and paraben free. Depending on the product version, they’re also between 98 and 100% natural.

By the consumer for the consumer

The most important factor in the product development was the help I got from tester stores. They gave feedback on all aspects of the product, from skin feel to scent and even packaging design. I wanted to make the soap bars weren’t just made for the consumer, they were made by the consumer too.

Have you tried one yet? I’d love to hear how you got on!

Learn about how I started Shower Blocks in my last blog post for Ethical Superstore.

Thanks for reading. 

Neil Whippey,

Founder/Maker, Shower & Hand Blocks