Soap & Toiletry Ingredients

These bases and concentrates offer a fantastic backbone to any planned toiletries you'd like to make. Free from Parabens and MIT, you can make a ready to go product straight from purchase by just adding a small percentage of fragrance or essential oils.

Coloured clays and liquid colours can all be used to make your toiletries look beautiful! Fragrances and Essential Oils can be used mostly at a level of around 0.5-2%, but please check each product listing for confirmation.

Melt and Pour soap bases in many varieties as well as a selection of Ingredients that can be used to make your own Melt and Pour Soap.

With cosmetics, there are a whole range of different colours available that you can use to colours your creations. From mineral pigments all the way up to coated micas for bath bombs, the variety available is perfect for colouring your entire range. Colours include:

Zenicolor: Zenicolor is a branded colouring system specifically for Melt and Pour soaps. It's innovative properties mean that it does not bleed between layers, maintains complete transparency in clear soaps, is clean to use and you are able to mix virtually any colour using the 5 colours provided (4 colours in Professional range) with the help of the Zenicolor App.

Liquid Dyes: Water-soluble dyes in dilute liquid form. Simple to use in melt and pour soap. Maintain clarity. Can be mixed to achieve a wide selection of colours and shades. Dyes can bleed into adjacent layers.

Water Soluble Powdered and Granular Dyes: Water soluble powdered dyes for use in many cosmetic applications. Excellent to maintain clarity in transparent soaps. Not all suitable for CP soap. Dyes can bleed into adjacent layers.

Mineral and Organic Pigments: Pigments differ from dyes in that they add colour to a substance either by suspension or by 'coating' the structure of the substance. They will opacify a transparent soap base. Pigments will NOT bleed. Suitable for CP Soap. Not usually suitable for liquid products.

Water Dispersible Pigments: Non-bleed pigments suitable for many cosmetic and toiletry applications. They are versions of those usually only soluble in either oils or alcohol (solvent) but combined with a surfactant to render them dispersible in water, making them suitable for colouring aqueous products and in moderate quantity will maintain transparency in clear bases. Suitable for CP soaps.

Natural Dyes: Colours (dyes) derived from natural substances suitable for inclusion in many soaps and toiletries. Many are not alkali-tolerant so may not suit cold process soaps. Dyes can bleed into adjacent layers. Micas, Poly-Glitters and Jewels: Micas, Poly-Glitters and Jewels are widely used in make up products. Most mica pigments are also stable in CP soaps.

Bio Glitter®: Bio-glitter® can be widely used in most cosmetic products. They are made on a cellulose base which is completely biodegradable and as such have huge environmental advantage over standard cosmetic grade poly-glitters.

Ecosparks: Ecosparks are a glitter-like product made from Mica, a naturally occurring substance. Because they are Plastic-Free they are able to meet the requirements of the UK ban on micro plastics in rinse-off products.

Coated Micas: Specially coated mica pigments rendering them ideal for use in products such as Bath Bombs where they give rich, deep colour but will not cling to surfaces or to the skin.

Solvent Dyes: Powdered dyes suitable for colouring solvents and volatile oils including fragrance oils, essential oils and their diluents, which might include Denatured Ethanol (alcohol), Dowanol, IPM or DPG etc.. Ideal for use in Room Fragrance products such as reed diffusers.

Dried botanicals are a great way to decorate your soaps, giving them a great natural finishing touch or to add a luxury feel to your products. Along with adding decoration, many of our botanical powders can be used to give a natural colour to some soaps, and can also add cleansing and softening qualities to whatever they're in. These can be used in all sorts of products, from soaps and bath bombs all the way through to potpourri.

All the basic ingredients needed to make your own bath bombs, bath salts and other dry toiletries.

Ingredients to help with adding that softer touch to your products, or to help create your own room or body sprays.

Find the tools here to help you with your soap and cosmetic making. From measuring jugs and goggles, to wooden moulds for soap making, find what you need here.

Products to add texture to toiletries

Cosmetic floral waters made by solubilising essential oils into purified water with added preservative.

Powders and granules made from fruits or plants. Some are made by finely grinding the natural dry plant material and some are obtained by freeze-drying fruit or plant extracts.

Hydrosols, sometimes referred to as flower waters, are produced by distilling fresh plant materials (leaves, fruits, flowers, etc.). They have similar properties to essential oils, although are much less concentrated. Their scents are soft and subtle compared to their essential oil counterparts, but similar, although they can have a greener note which comes from the water soluble constituents in the plant material that are not present in essential oil.

Sodium Hydroxide, Potassium Hydroxide and Potassium Carbonate. Essential functional ingredients in natural soap making.

Plant extracts in carrier, usually a carrier oil although some may be aqueous.

Minerals and clays widely aimed at making mineral makeup etc. Many richly coloured clays can also be used to add colour to a wide variety of products such as soaps and toiletries but as they are not registered as pigments the resulting products are able to be labelled as being 'Colour-Free'.

Mixed packs. Botanicals, Dyes, Glitters

Various products from our range that are particularly useful when making your own Natural Cleaning and Room Fragrance products

Miscellaneous products from around our website as well as some Animal-Derived products

Preservatives are usually used in aqueous based products to prevent the unwanted growth of bacteria and moulds. Antioxidants are usually added in oil-based products to delay the onset of oxidisation and rancidity.

Many product in our extensive range are often used in Spa Treatments or Spa Environments, so we've tried to shortlist them here.

Active Ingredients and Specialist Additions

Natural Sponges and Loofahs

A surfactant is a surface-active ingredient; in products they break the surface tension between water and oils so that they come together easier. Surfactants are mainly used in shampoos and bodywashes as a functional ingredient. They solubilise dirt by lowering the surface tension of water, (making the molecules slipperier, becoming less likely to stick to themselves and more likely to cling to dirt) which is then washed off and removed from the hair. They can also be used as an additional ingredient for lotions by utilising their unique properties.

How To Choose A Surfactant

There are four main categories: Anionic; Non-ionic; Cationic & Amphoteric. Often more than one surfactant is used in a formulation, as they all have different properties. Depending on what properties you are trying to achieve your requirements will vary. 

For example, an anionic surfactant is often used as the ‘primary’ surfactant as they are very cleansing, and have good foaming capabilities, however, they can be known to irritate the skin. To lessen the irritation to skin additional ‘secondary/multifunctional’ surfactants are selected. An amphoteric (very mild) surfactant can be added to an anionic surfactant, and cationic surfactants are added when a conditioning element is desired.

Anionic surfactants are negatively charged and not compatible with cationic surfactants. They are effective foam boosters and strong cleaners (some can irritate skin). They can be sensitive to water hardness.  Anionic surfactants are often combined with secondary non-ionic and amphoteric surfactants to minimise the impact of using a strong anionic surfactant.

Cationic surfactants are positively charged and not compatible with anionic surfactants. They are commonly used in hair care products due to their conditioning & anti-static properties. 

Amphoteric surfactants can be positively charged or negatively charged; this is because their charge is controlled by the pH of the solution it is used in. They become negatively charged when used in an alkaline solution & they become positively charged when used in an acidic solution. These surfactants are very mild and have good dermatological and detergency properties. Amphoteric surfactants produce less foam than anionic surfactants, they have good compatibility with anionic surfactants and are not sensitive to water hardness.

Non-ionic surfactants are non-charged and very mild, often being used in products aimed at babies. They are therefore compatible with all other surfactant groups. Often not suitable as standalone surfactants, they blend well with an ionic and amphoteric surfactant. Non-ionic surfactants act more as an emulsifier or thickening and conditioning surfactant. Non-ionic surfactants are not sensitive to water hardness.