SOAP RANGE
A range of the best handmade soaps on the market. Designed for both male and female grooming, this soap is bad ass to the core, perfect for reducing plastic usage and leaving you looking and feeling like the best version of you. Showering just got a whole new lease of life, it just became the most exciting part of the day.
Handmade Soap?
Handmade soap, cool and boujee right? Well why does buying handmade make a difference? And not just so you can tell your friends that you fuck with some alternative company. The care and attention that is put into handmade products means that you only get the best finished product. When items of any description are mass produced, mistakes can be made, then overlooked, there is no desire to please, only to produce, sell, produce. We can promise you that if we aren't happy with what we have made, it doesn't get sold, or go to waste, we send all offcuts and seconds to our local food shelter to help those who need it most.
There are also environmental aspects to consider, the output of machinery has a baseline of carbon emissions, now these might be minimal, but they are still present. By removing the need for a machine to add ingredients, stir, cut and ready for dispatch, we can have a positive effect upon reducing carbon emissions. Handmade soap for bathing purposes means that no more single use plastic is getting fed into the environment from shower gel bottles. Recycling is cool, but the length of the process along with the movement of the materials and the process itself is still inputting CO2 into the environment. Why not just cut it out and use soap? It lasts longer, is more user friendly and means you can rub it in Karen's face that you are taking positive steps to help the environment when she probably drives her kids to school 800m down the road. Karen is a dumb bitch, don’t be like her. (No one called Karen was harmed in the writing of this)
Military Owned
If you are in the know, you’ll see that military/veteran owned companies seem to be vast and popping up at a rate of knots. Why? We aren’t sure, but personally being able to apply the discipline and thorough training that was delivered, to a company to benefit ‘civvies’ is a great foundation. The transition for members of the Armed Forces into civilian life can be challenging, and heartbreakingly too much for some. With more and more of these businesses owned by those who have served coming into the spotlight, it gives a great avenue for personnel to become their own bosses. This means that the hardest thing of all when leaving the forces is already overcome; working with those who do not have the same mindset as them and moving away from the brothers and sisters they knew as family for so long. With the growth of these businesses it allows more veterans to be employed, to be trained in a comfortable environment and by the grace of God, give them a better option than feeling alone and sometimes abandoned by the service they fought for. We can’t solve all issues, but giving a veteran an environment that is still based around the same mindset that they have known for so long, with the military humour, discipline and understanding of an “oppo” by their side, we can do something beneficial. So we don't care if it’s not us, but support those who signed up to protect the nation, and you, if they can supply you with what you’re looking for. We aim to provide training and job opportunities for our brothers and sisters just as soon as growth allows it, we are committed to supporting the Armed Forces and with the help of our customers, we can and we will.
Testing on animals? Neigh..
Who the fuck doesn't want their bathing and cosmetic products to be off the chain? Well would you still want that at the detriment of animals? Nah we don’t. Regardless of how bad ass we are, causing chemical reactions on animals for the sake of vanity is on par with being a top tier dick head. So many companies will preach the benefits of their products, they will tell you how good these things are for your skin and your hair, but are they good for your soul? Not always.
So many of the benefits that are offered can be achieved by using simple ingredients that haven’t been manufactured with the premise of medical research, tested and retested on animals to get the right chemical reaction. Somehow that allows them to market the products as a magical potion, glazing over how they got there, and how much cheaper it is to buy the mass produced animal tested ingredients than using the simple, natural alternative. Rant over? Nah, vanity should have a cost, pennies and pounds, not a life of imprisonment, fear, pain and discomfort, and if you disagree, well there's not much we can do, other than tell you that it is 100% true that you’re boring and your breath smells.
Male and Female grooming
What does a former Royal Marine know about female products and grooming? Well, quite a lot. The skills and education that was passed onto Luke were all delivered from his mum... A woman who is a fucking OG in the cosmetic game; having experience that surpasses 20 years, and we aren’t talking small time soap maker. Mother (as she is known around the workshop) is credited with the growth and expansion of the industry at the level we operate today. She has been formulating recipes and finessing the products that we sell since most of our customers were crying about scraped knees and watching Pokemon. The masculine finish of Dirty Soap is just Luke’s personality being imprinted on products that were predominantly designed for women. This means that Dirty Soaps range of female grooming products is a very well thought out and perfected group. With the majority of Dirty Soap employees being female means that the range for the finer species among us will grow exponentially and will include products that are not only desired by women, but actually essential for a lot of day to day self care. It is always a slow burner to create, test, correctly market and then get products on our shelves, this is because we aren’t in this for a fast buck. We aim for full customer satisfaction along with repeat business, so each product is worked over and over again. We are always keen to hear from customers on products they would like to see, as we are only a small team with a pretty huge demand upon us. Does this mean that Dirty Soap is going to become pink and fluffy? Fuck no. We aim to create a brand that can represent the customer that matches our style, it has never ever been a male/female focus. From day one it was about bringing the ‘Bad Ass’ style that so many people have in life, yet can't always have a good representation from cosmetic companies, we have never ever thought “this is for men or women” it is for the people like us, that like to listen to music loud, that don't want to find the perfect filter on Insta for that selfie, that want to just fucking live life at our tempo. Ladies, gents, you are represented by Dirty Soap and with your love and support, this will continue to grow.
Beating the drum on SLS free and Paraben free….why?
You’ll notice that Dirty Soap loves gobbing off about not having Parabens and SLS based in their products. Never heard of them? Understandable. We can explain what they are and why we dont fuck with them.
Parabens are created to help maintain a product for longer. A preservative. Other than the fact that it isn’t a natural compound, it doesn't sound bad right? Let's get 10 toes deep into why it is bad. Parabens have a whole host of potential side effects, believe it or not, the least of these is skin irritation. To see the whole list, along with a much deeper understanding of Parabens check out ewg who have done some brilliant research and explanation on this topic. Our main drive is to ensure that customers get the best product without it having an impact on their health, obvious? Nah check out some major cosmetic brands and you’ll see how many actually care.
Now, SLS (Sodium lauryl sulphate)is a foaming agent. People will demonise it and say it’s terrible, which it kinda is, but it's not the worst. To explain how it works, we will explain it the way it was explained to us by our chemist, SLS has tiny particles that rub together when you lather, and it oxidises (makes bubbles) the issue with this is, those particles are so small they can move into the pores of the skin and create irritation. This is a case by case basis, but an awful lot of people with sensitive skin react to SLS. So what is the alternative? SLSA, derived from coconut shell, this ingredient does the same job, but with particles much larger, it means that the epidermis (skin, we know, we’re super smart) can't get clogged with these tiny particles. Why doesn't everyone use it? Well the cost is far far higher for SLSA. Some companies (cough, company that ironically rhymes with ‘flush’ cough) will try to tell you that they are “leading research into SLS and SLSA” and that SLS is safe, they have studies to prove it! Yeah sure, independent studies by lead dermatologists say different, but at the end of the day, we say, why chance it for bigger profits?