KENNEWICK, Wash.- On National Women’s History and we’re highlighting a local woman-owned shop. Skymaiden Soaps sells hand-made products all from natural ingredients. Her products are environmentally friendly and made out of oils, clays, herbs, and botanicals. The owner, Kathy Driggers, sells products for pregnant women, babies, and even has a men’s facial care section. For women, she created a belly bar to help with stretch marks. She also has a baby soap made for sensitive skin made from buttermilk and...

For many of us, our preferred body wash is a sudsy gel squeezed out of a plastic bottle, but thanks to a recent rise in at-home self-care rituals and sustainability efforts, the basic bar of soap is making a big comeback.  The Comeback The bar soaps we recall being stuck to our shower niche as kids left much to be desired: harsh ingredients stripped skin bone-dry, they’d crumble into pieces or they’d all share the same “soap” smell. However, today’s...

“Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.” That’s what the CDC has advised all Americans to do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during this pandemic. It’s common-sense advice. The surfactants found in soap lift germs from the skin, and water then washes them away. Soap is inexpensive and ubiquitous; it’s a consumer product found in every household across the country. Yet few people know the long and dirty history of making soap, the product...

Time to raise the bar. It might have been a long time since you've picked up a bar of soap to wash anything but your hands. In fact, you've probably never actually put one near your face. Your mother told you not to, the beauty counter salesperson told you not to, we probably told you not to. But thanks to a new generation of cleansing soap bars, that's all changed. The soaps of old would strip your skin of dirt...

The Very Best Bar Soaps Feeling parched? Treat your complexion to this moisturizing facial bar. It boasts creamy avocado and shea butter, a.k.a. two nourishing powerhouses.Rocky Mountain Soap Co. Avocado Soap Facial Bar, $6, rockymountainsoap.com What do Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Jackie O have in common? This bar of soap. The legendary product swirls Dead Sea mud to clarify and glycerin to hydrate. Erno Laszlo Sea Mud Deep Cleansing Bar, $50, holtrenfrew.com The headlining ingredient here is soothing calamine...