Hello and welcome to today’s topic of discussion!
I sincerely do hope your day is going wonderful and wherever, whenever you’re reading this. I hope it is a relaxing atmosphere for our venture together into the world of health, beauty, and cleanliness.
I bring up cleanliness because, after all, we are on the discussion of soap! This is not just any soap, there is a reason you were brought to this article, this is kojic acid soap!
As you already know, kojic acid is a natural ingredient sourced from the fermented rice used in sake.
It’s an ingredient used to eliminate age spots, diminish sun damage, cleanse and lighten the area it is used upon.
But did you know that there are two types of kojic acid soap?
Cold-Processed and Melt-and-Pour
Kojic acid soap bar comes in two forms: cold-processed and melt-and-pour.
What is cold-processed soap?
Cold-processed soap is a type of soap made from scratch.
It’s a soap base made by using these three ingredients: water, sodium hydroxide (lye) and natural oil. When combined together, this produces a chemical reaction called saponification.
Saponification is how we create a natural bar soap.
I personally like cold-processed soap base because the natural ingredients like coconut oil, shea butter, and olive oil are preserved during the soap-making process.
Note that these ingredients can go rancid when heated too much.
Cold-processed soaps are cured for 4-6 weeks before it can be used.
What’s melt-and-pour?
Melt and pour has gone through the saponification process already. Therefore, it’s NOT made from “scratch.”
I consider melt-and-pour as “ready-made” soap base.
As the name suggests, it’s a type of soap base that needs to be melted and poured into a mold to make a soap.
This is the easiest way to make a soap because you only need to melt it and add other ingredients like fragrance, color, essential oils, etc.
Melt-and-pour soaps can be used immediately and doesn’t need a curing process.
Is your kojic soap cold-processed or melt-and-pour?
There are two key elements that determine whether you got a cold-processed or melt-and-pour kojic soap.
-
Ingredients
This is the first thing you have to look at.
A cold-processed kojic acid soap would always have these three ingredients listed first since ingredients must be listed in terms of hierarchy:
- Oil (mostly coconut oil)
- Water
- Sodium Hydroxide
- Some soap makers list these ingredients as “saponified coconut oil”
So, if your soap’s ingredients are listed like either one of these two, then it means that you got a cold-processed soap.
Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Water, Sodium Hydroxide (lye)
OR
Ingredients: Saponified Coconut Oil
Below is an example of a cold-processed kojic acid soap.
If your soap’s ingredients list does not have these three ingredients, then more than likely, you got a melt and pour soap.
Another way to find out if it’s a melt-and-pour soap is to check for these ingredients:
- Sodium Stearate
- Sodium Laurate
- Sodium Myristate
- Propylene Glycol
A cold-processed soap will never have these ingredients added if it’s made from scratch according to thesoapalchemist.
Below is an example of melt-and-pour kojic acid soap.
2. Pricing
Remember when we talked about the differences and cold-processed soap making versus melt-and-pour soap making processes?
Both are made differently so naturally, the pricing would be different as well.
Melt-and-pour is usually cheaper compared to cold-processed soap because the only thing you have to do is to melt the soap base and pour into a mold! It’s a super easy and time-efficient process.
Cold-processed soaps are a little more complicated and time-consuming. It has to cure for 4-6 weeks before it can be used.
Cold-processed kojic soaps are usually $15 on average and melt-and-pour is about $10.
But which one is more effective?
The main question is, which soap base is more effective when you add kojic acid the mix?
Let’s find out.
The very first thing that we have to look at is the solubility of kojic acid.
What is solubility?
Solubility is the ability of any liquid, solid or gas to dissolve in another solvent.
According to chemicalbook.com, kojic acid is soluble in water.
As I mentioned earlier, cold-processed soaps are natural soaps made from scratch using water, lye and oil.
When a cold-processed kojic acid soap is made, kojic acid is added during the saponification process.
However, in melt-and-pour, it’s dissolved in water and then added to the pre-made base. Note that there’s really nothing wrong with this but personally, I found cold-processed kojic acid soap to be more effective than melt-and-pour.
In addition, melt-and-pour soap makers usually add un-natural ingredients to the soap to stabilize and preserve it (just like the ingredients I mentioned above). Preservatives are a no-no for me since it irritate my skin.
I prefer a natural, cold-processed kojic acid soap.
Conclusion
Cold-processed soaps are a combination of natural ingredients like shea butter, coconut oil, olive oil that offer a smooth effect and texture to your skin. Whereas if you talk about melt-and-pour soap, they are more like ready made soap that have gone through the saponification process already. The best way to check whether your kojic acid is cold-processed or melt-and-pour is to identify its ingredients. Because of its solubility rate, cold-processed kojic acid is considered to be more effective than melt-and-pour to a great extent.
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