Some of you might remember my foray into Ah Yuan Organic Handmade Soaps from a couple of years ago. One of my complaints was how quickly it melted, although I really liked the soaps.
Recently, during the visit by Mr. Ah Yuan or to give him his actual name Mr. Chiang Jung Yuan to Kuala Lumpur, he was asked just how long a bar of his soaps can last. His answer was about a month. A MONTH! I was shocked because my soap slips away quite quickly – 2 weeks at best.
Note: Do not store your handmade soaps like this. Store it on its side so it lasts longer.
Ah Yuan’s advise is to store your soaps away from water and on its side. This allows the air to circulate properly around a larger surface area of the soap thereby allowing it to dry out and last longer. So, now you know! 😀
Ah Yuan was in town to tell us about his new handmade flower soaps – soaps made with flower extracts for different needs.
There are 4 new flower based soaps at this point in time – Mulberry & Chrysanthemum (mild on the skin and helps with skin regeneration), Honeysuckle (rejuvenate and calm the skin), Alpina Speciosa (Shellflower – rejuvenate dull skin, moisturise dry skin and tighten pores) and Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower – all skintypes to lighten age spots, prevent wrinkles and improve dry skin conditions).
Ah Yuan says that the flowers used are pesticide free and contain ingredients which are 100% natural and organic. Even the water used is from a local spring known for its pure and clear water. Founded in Taiwan by Ah Yuan in 2006 with just a small range of soaps to start, the range of handmade soaps and personal care products have since expanded to include shampoos, body washes and coming soon, toothpaste (!!) and skincare. A friend has tried the toothpaste and tells me that its a little strange – its unlike the usual minty flavours we are used to but it keeps the teeth clean and the mouth feeling very fresh. Interesting!
These handmade soaps are gentle on the skin and can be used on the body or on the face as a face wash. I personally don’t use it for the latter, but I do use them on the body now and then. I reckon I might consider going back to using these soaps to avoid the problem I have with many commercial body washes drying out the skin on my hands. Mayhap these will work better for me 🙂
Oh and if you don’t like strong herbal scents like some of the other Ah Yuan soaps, then the flower series might be better for you because the scents are lighter on the nose. Quite pleasant in fact. But then, I’m partial to herbal scents anyway 🙂
Do you enjoy using soaps in the shower? I do, but I stopped because I had that problem with my soaps melting faster than I liked. But now, I might give these another shot and store them on their side so they don’t finish up so quickly.
Paris B
Ah Yuan Organic Handmade Flower Series Soaps retail at RM35.90 each for a 100g bar. They are available at www.yuansoap.com.my and at various retailers nationwide.
Ah Yuan soaps! Love the scent, but the one that I was introduced to didn’t really suit my eczema skin – I had a rather strong reaction to it. 🙁 Reading about it makes me want to give the new variants another go tho… 😛
Eeps! Sorry to hear about the reaction to the soaps 🙁 They have suited me fine thus far except I found them melting too quickly. Will have to give Ah Yuan’s method a try and see if it lasts longer 🙂
I dunno why but I get the impression that soaps aren’t very hygienic to use….
LOL But they are hygienic! I love handmade soaps – they always feel lovely on the skin and are usually less drying than commercial ones.
I will highlight this to dad who only ever uses soap for his body! none of those shower gel nonsense for him, haha!
hehe… but is he a Lux soap man or a handmade soap one? that’s the question! 😉
That’s a good one! I think he’s pretty much a Lux soap man but I will convert him haha! I actually brought some Lush soaps home for him and he really liked them =p
Psst! Maybe he didn’t know how much it cost! 😉
HAHAHA I somehow have a feeling you MUST know my father personally! We have to uhm… beat about the bush when it comes to telling dad about the true cost of things. =p I recently bought him a few work shirts and I had to tell him ‘oh daddy it’s really cheap only £15 when it actually cost a little more than that’ =p The things I do to my dad.. tsk tsk
i love yuen soaps! im on my second bar. it’s gentle on my eczema skin and it helps to keep back acne at bay! i can’t use commercial body wash cause it gives me back acne. but with yuen soap, i don’t have this problem anymore. i even use that as a cleanser for my face and it’s really not drying at all! i have eczema on face too and it doesn’t irritate it.
my first bar was the wild mugwort and im using lemon bar now.
tips: buy a facial foaming net from daiso, or any place, cut a hole (about or bigger than the soap’s size) and put the soap into the foaming net. hang it anywhere in your bathroom. this way your soap can last longer and foams up easily! my first bar lasted me for 4 months!
Thanks for your tip to use a daiso net! Its a great idea – gotta get me down to a Daiso soon 🙂
I cut up the soap into halves. Afterwhich, I always air out the soap outside the bathroom after use as the bathroom tends to be too damp. And on the next day, I will use the second half of the soap. Given that the soap thoroughly dry up, they can last me about a month and a half or so at least. One of my favorite soap is also the laundry soap. Can’t go without it.
I tried some laundry soap too! Or wait, was it hair soap? 😛 I forget. But I know it was interesting either way. Do you use your laundry soap on a regular basis? And alternating the soap halves make a lot of sense – thanks for sharing.
Yes, I use the laundry soap for hand-washing intimates clothes. Used to be prone to urinary tract infection probably due to lack of sunning out my clothes but ever since I started using this soap, this problem has ceased. It’s very effective for removing stains during menses etc as well. As for the hair soap, if one persist and don’t let the dryness bother you, after about a month or so, one might observe that the hair is actually in good condition (non oily yet shiny) and scalp is healthier. My colleague introduced this to me some years back and I tried it for a couple of months and it works. However, the commercial shampoos etc soon had me tempted with various promising offerings.
Awesome to know about the laundry soap! It’ll be very useful for travel I think 😀 And as for the hair one, I tried one of their shampoos too but I didn’t persevere. I might have to. I’m undergoing a spell of dropping hair !
I never use soaps because my skin is very dry but I’ve decided to try the Verbena soap by L’Occitane and it’s is nice. But I always have to moisturize after it.
I do find that some soaps are very drying too. I haven’t tried the L’Occitane one but if you have the chance, you could try these which I dont’ find drying at all 🙂
I love Yuen’ soaps. After felling for the first one, i have bought like nearly his entire collection in one go, even its shampoo and shower gel, and oh yes, some of his essential oil. The lingering smell of soap on the body even hours after shower is the thing that drawn me to it and the fact that they are not that drying is also the plus point. I just love the clean feeling that the soap left on. As for other products in his range, they are just so so only.
I haven’t tried their shower gel, but I plan to 🙂 The shampoo does take a bit of getting used to though. There is apparently also mouth wash and toothpaste you know. Intriguing right? 😀
There is a sanitizing hand spray as well. I love yuan products. They smell and feel more natural than any other soaps I’ve used. Hope they might one day come up with body moisturizers too. Hmmm…
Ah Yuan said they are working on skincare. I would be keen on some body lotions too!
haven’t tried these, but they sound interesting! i actually prefer soap to body wash – i soap first, then scrub while the suds are on – prefer doing that, to fiddling around with a bath gauze sponge. give me a loofah any time! to make your soap last longer, try resting it on a regular sponge after use – (a regular sponge, not a bath gauze sponge)!