Kakiebos is something we all know, it is a weed that grows prolifically all over South Africa, what you probably do not know is how it got here from the Americas, and why on earth we would use it in a soap! The common name of Tagetes minuta in English, khaki-weed, is derived from its supposed introduction by English khaki-clad soldiers during the Anglo Boer War (1899–1902). The weed was introduced with the imported fodder for the British Army’s horses. The earliest record in South Africa appears to be in 1905 at Vlakfontein. In 1909, it was recorded at Grahamstown as a troublesome weed. The first record for KwaZulu-Natal was noticed in Newcastle in 1910. By 1920 it was widespread in South Africa.
Leaves, stalks and flowers are picked when plants are in seed, mechanically chopped and the oil is then steam-distilled. Initially the oil has a wild unpleasant smell, but after 12 months of maturity, it achieves a pleasant sweet-fruity (mango-like) smell and attains a stable composition. During maturation, the oil thickens and the colour darkens. The aroma of the oil develops further in the following 5 years, after which the oil quality deteriorates. This essential oil blended with a few others presents itself as a somewhat 'familiar' fragrance as most of us knows the strong, pungent smell when breaking any bits off the growing plant. We added some woody-ness, some sweetness and some classic smelling Patchouli to create another basic, earthy, sweet fragrance.
The soft shaving soap is a combination of a tallow, ostrich and vegetable oils and butters making it quite unique, this marriage of ingredients works great. The softer soap makes for quicker and more luxurious loading on the brush, and it can easily be worked into any other container of your choice without the need for heating it or grating it down.
The harder version of the soap has a plant oil and glycerine base which is a new addition to our offerings. The soap is still soft enough te me pressed into the container quite easily by using ones thumbs, check out the photos to see how it looks and how it lathers. This soap was specifically developed as a combination soap for shaving, body, beard and hair washing, a high quality product that performs very well in any of these tasks. The result is a single bar of soap that can be used for those times when you cannot pack a lot, but still need to come out the other side looking and smelling a million bucks. As this soap is made from sustainably sourced palm oil it can also be classified as vegan. Since it is harder, it is also a bit more economical than the softy, and also comes in slightly cheaper in purchase price on account of less ingredients.
This range of products are well suited for folks looking for products that are all natural, as it has no synthetic oils in the formulation.
Ingredients soft soap; Distilled Water, Stearic Acid (Vegetable Based), Shea Butter (Unrefined, Organic), Ostrich Oil (Free Range), Caustic Potash, Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil (Unrefined), Olive Oil (Extra Virgin), Caustic Soda, Orange EO (folded), Rosemary EO, Cedarwood EO, Patchouli EO, Tagetes EO
Ingredients hard soap; Stearic Acid (Vegetable Based), Distilled Water, Palm Oil (Sustainably Sourced), Canola Oil (Non-GMO), Glycerine (Vegetable Based), Coconut Oil, Castor Oil, Caustic Potash, Caustic Soda, Orange EO (folded), Rosemary EO, Cedarwood EO, Patchouli EO, Tagetes EO
Ingredients after shave spray; Orange EO (folded), Rosemary EO, Cedarwood EO, Patchouli EO, Tagetes EO , Perfumers grade alcohol and Menthyl Lactate in the 'Summer' version.
Ingredients after shave balm; Orange EO (folded), Rosemary EO, Cedarwood EO, Patchouli EO, Tagetes EO