Since I became editor of Mumsnet Chelmsford I have been amazed at the number of small businesses that are being run in Chelmsford and it's surrounding areas. The Maldon Soap Company is just one of these businesses and owner (and soap maker!), Sue McKenna, very kindly agreed to send some samples for me to review.
Trying new skin products can sometimes be a bit risky for me. I caught chicken pox for the second time in my late teens (it's not an urban myth - you really can get it twice!) and ever since then I have had extremely sensitive skin. Anything 'Because you're worth it' is a no go for me and even expensive skin care brands can sometimes bring me out in a rash. I have spent a lot of time trying to determine if it is a specific ingredient that I am allergic to but the lists on the backs of these products are so long and so confusing I've given up and just avoided anything new.
But the products from the Maldon Soap Company had surprisingly short ingredients lists. All products are made by hand and in small batches to ensure freshness, with items often being made to order. All of the soaps, shampoos and cosmetic products are made using only the finest ingredients, locally sourced wherever possible. I thought this was really exciting as it is not often you get to use a product with ingredients that have been made practically on your doorstep! Maldon Honey, Maldon sea salt, goats milk, rapeseed oil, oats and beeswax all come from local farms, and there are even ingredients fresh from Sue's back garden including carrots, calendula, herbs and nettles - they even use local beer!
Sue says "We use pure aromatherapy quality essential oils so you can be sure that each product will be beneficial for your skin, hair and wellbeing. We do not use palm oil, parabens, SLS or other nasties, nor do we add extra foaming agent to our cold process soaps, they are pure and quite foamy enough. We use vegetable glycerine from palm free sources and nothing we use has ever been tested on animals."
.jpg "Maldon Soap Company Review") |
| My Samples! |
The first soap I tried was the Pure Almond Soap (not shown in the photo as I was so excited to try one of them!). Made almost completely from almonds (whole ones, almond milk, almond oil and almond extract are all included) it smells just like marzipan and the smell lasts for ages on your skin.
A very obvious difference between the Maldon Soap Company soaps and more commercial soaps is that there is very little foam when you use them. As Sue points out they don’t add any extra foaming agent that is so often associated with using a bar of soap but this is also what causes your skin to feel dry. The Pure Almond Soap (and all the other soaps that I tried) did not try my skin out at all and even my sample sized soaps lasted for ages.
Along with the Pure Almond Soap I was also sent Coconut and Oat, True Patchouli, Strawberry and Cream, Purely Local Orange and Oat and True Litsea Cubeba Soaps. They all smelt exactly as you expect they would and, because they are made using essential oils, they don’t have a ‘chemical’ smell that some soaps do. The Purely Local Orange and Oat soap was a hit with my children too as it has the look and feel of fudge! It is slightly squidgy and has an amazing orange fragrance.
The Maldon Soap Company makes more than just soap and I also had some hand creams and foot gel to try. The Minty Scrubby Foot Gel arrived just in time as I really needed to do something to make my feet more presentable for summer. After a long winter hidden away in tights and boots, the gel has made my feet a lot smoother and I’m much happier in flip-flops!
But my overall favourite product had to be The Avocado and Shea Hand and Body Cream. I love the smell of it, a little bit of product went a long way and my skin didn’t feel greasy after I used it. My sister-in-law, who has a major hand cream obsession, also tried it and loved it too. I will definitely be ordering myself a full sized tub of this! (Oh and I had no negative skin reactions to any of the products I used.)
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