sopíFielle skin cleanser began long before its actual creation, more than 40 years ago, when I was introduced to the notion that soap exists in nature readily made.
During one of my childhood’s forest explorations with my grandmother and sister, we stopped by a creek to have lunch and to rest. My grandmother picked a few pinkish-white flowers off the side of the creek, placed one onto my palm, added a bit of water and instructed me to rub my hands together. To my surprise, the flower magically lathered onto my hands into a luxurious white foam as beautiful as the flower itself.
The pinkish-white flower was Saponaria officinalis, one of the plants known for its saponin abundance.
I could not source Saponaria officinalis flowers at the time I formulated sopíFielle, but I was able to obtain Sapindus mukorossi fruit. Known to be one of the most abundant and gentlest sources of saponin that exists naturally, it is also a sustainable resource.
The major constituents of Sapindus are saponins, sugars, and mucilage. Saponins are naturally occurring compounds with cleansing and foaming properties. They dissolve quickly in water and lather into a beautiful foam. Its sugars and mucilage content are responsible for its moisture retaining properties, making it an ideal skin cleanser. They are also great chelating agents that bind to impurities to eliminate them from the surface of the skin.
I extract the saponins from Sapindus fruit in my atelier, using the same traditional methods my ancestors used.
To complement the fruit saponins, I added brown seaweed inner leaf not only for its cleansing properties, but also for the gel-like texture that allows the cleanser to glide on the skin, limiting the friction exerted on the skin surface. Hand-harvested from its wild natural habitat, the seaweed is extracted via a meticulous traditional mechanical process to maintain its integrity.
Brown seaweed inner leaf is a complex source of polysaccharides, carotenoids, amino acids, enzymes, minerals, and vitamins. Its mucilage helps to maintain the skin’s natural moisture and protective barrier. Iodine, an organic, essential mineral, promotes a clear complexion through its cleansing and healing properties.
I completed the formula with my proprietary blend of fatty acids and bioactive compounds derived from mushrooms, mulberry leaves, calendula and chamomile flowers. The result?