About Us
Hi, I'm Ann! I'm the owner and creator behind The Soap is a Lye.
I decided to start The Soap is a Lye in January 2021 because I realized how much I loved making soap. Since making my Tea Tree and Charcoal Face Wash Bar I noticed the changes in my skin and wanted to share that with others. So I started to research why is it my face bar left my skin feeling cleaner then the face wash I found at the store. It turns out a majority of soaps and washes on the market are not soaps by FDA Standards. (Source)
According to the FDA a true soap is:
- Composed mainly of "alkali salts of fatty acids". Simply put, combining oils (ex. coconut, olive or caster oil) with lye.
- Those alkali salts of fatty acids must be the only material that results in the product's cleaning action.
I figured that it was maybe just the cheap stuff that I tended to buy on sale, but then I saw that Dove had "Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate" in it, ad that is a synthetic detergent cleaner and emulsifier. So Dove soap does not meet the FDA definition of a true soap.
The name The Soap is a Lye comes from two conversations. The video game Portal had graffiti saying "the cake is a lie" throughout the game. So when I heard there was online debate about soap that does not contain lye, it was clear to me "The Soap is a Lye."