The Hugging Bubbles Way
-That's what sets up apart!
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At Hugging Bubbles, every bar begins with knowledge—rooted in years of study and hands-on practice in herbal medicine, aromatherapy, and traditional skincare. We use only cold-pressed, extra virgin unrefined oils and butters to preserve their full nutrients and therapeutic qualities. Our ingredients are always organic and food-grade, chosen not just for safety, but for their vitality. We care deeply about origin, sourcing from places where each plant naturally thrives—or growing them ourselves in Montana’s clean mountain air. Because in every bubble, what’s inside matters.
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Why Cold-Processed Soap?
Cold-processed soap isn’t just handmade — it’s crafted with patience and purpose. Because we use no external heat, our ingredients stay closer to nature. Oils, butters, herbs, and hydrosols retain their full nourishing power, creating bars that are as gentle as they are effective.
Unlike melt-and-pour or hot-processed methods, cold processing lets us include delicate ingredients like fresh aloe, raw honey, and infused teas — without compromising their benefits.
But this method takes time. Each bar must rest and cure for weeks, slowly transforming into a hard, long-lasting bar rich in natural glycerin that hydrates and soothes the skin.
And that’s why our soaps don’t just lather beautifully — they stand the test of time. Through seasons, shelves, and showers, they prove their worth with every use.
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Why Organic & Food-Grade?
We believe your skin deserves the same care as what goes on your plate. That’s why we choose organic, food-grade oils and butters—pure enough to eat, gentle enough to nourish.
Organic farming avoids synthetic pesticides and harsh chemicals, protecting both your skin and the earth. Food-grade means our ingredients meet stricter safety standards, retaining their natural vitamins, enzymes, and antioxidants.
This level of purity ensures that every soap bar is as clean in origin as it is in purpose—made to truly support healthy, balanced skin.
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Why Cold-Pressed & Unrefined?
At Hugging Bubbles, we use only cold-pressed oils and unrefined butters to honor the skin and the plants they come from. Cold-pressing avoids heat and chemicals, preserving each oil’s natural nutrients, antioxidants, and aroma.
Unrefined butters—like shea and murumuru—keep their vitamins and healing properties intact, offering deep nourishment without processing or bleaching.
These pure ingredients create a rich, creamy lather, lock in moisture, and bring the full vitality of herbs and seeds to your skin.
No shortcuts, no compromises—just ingredients in their most potent, natural form.
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The Integrity of OUR Recipes
We never use foaming agents, bleaches, or surfactants to fake cleansing power. There are no shortcuts hidden in our bars—only the quiet, steady work of plants and oils doing what they were meant to do.
You’ll never find sulfates, fluorides, chlorinated compounds, or trace heavy metals in our recipes. We formulate without them not just by choice, but by principle. The only chemical you'll find in our ingredients is lye—essential for the natural process of saponification. Once the reaction is complete, no lye remains—just gentle, nourishing soap.
That’s also why our cold-processed soaps take time. After pouring, each bar is cured for at least four weeks to allow water to evaporate and the soap to harden naturally. This patient process ensures a longer-lasting bar with a creamy, skin-loving lather—no synthetic hardeners needed.
We adjust each recipe to achieve balance—so the soap doesn’t melt too quickly, isn’t too hard, and feels deeply moisturizing. Every oil and butter is selected not by price, but by purpose. We don’t choose the cheapest substitute for any nutrient—we choose the right one.
Even our intricate swirls and landscape designs are made way much harder by the way we formulate. And still, we choose that path. We’ve failed, refined, and failed again to find the point where beauty meets performance—without compromising either.
These choices, especially in our oils and butters, naturally lead to higher costs. We hope you feel the care in every bar—and thank you for understanding the value of what goes into it.
Because to us, a recipe is not just a method. It is integrity, in every drop.
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Why Origin Matters
Where an ingredient comes from tells a story—of climate, soil, harvest traditions, and care. At Hugging Bubbles, we source our herbs, oils, and butters from regions where they naturally thrive, because that’s where they’re most potent and pure.
A shea butter wild-harvested in West Africa, a lavender oil distilled in Provence, or neem from India's heartland—all carry the unique energy of their homeland. These origins shape the strength of their aroma, the richness of their nutrients, and their natural harmony with the skin.
We also grow and craft many of our ingredients by hand, right here in the Bitterroot Valley, where the air is clean and the soil is rich.
Choosing by origin isn’t just about quality—it’s about respecting nature’s design, and honoring the hands and lands behind every drop.
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Coconut-Free by Choice
It was a deliberate decision—and not an easy one. We chose to leave out coconut oil, including all of our sensitive bars, shampoo bars, and most of our body bars.
True, coconut oil makes soap-making faster, cheaper, and simpler. It hardens bars quickly, creates big bubbles, and keeps costs low. — which is why most handmade soaps on the market rely heavily on coconut oil. But it also has a downside.
For many skin types — especially sensitive or dry ones — coconut oil can be overly cleansing—stripping away the skin's natural barrier and leaving it dry, tight, or unbalanced, sometimes even irritating.
So, we leave it out — where it matters.
Instead, we use a thoughtfully balanced blend of cold-pressed oils and butters—like babassu, cocoa butter, shea butter, tallow and sustainably sourced palm kernel—each selected for gentleness, nourishment, and how they interact with the skin. These ingredients cost more—sometimes double or triple—but they offer something worth far more: true care.
(We still use coconut oil in our dish and laundry bars, where its cleansing strength is just what’s needed.)
For custom orders: If you have a preference about coconut oil — whether to include it or avoid it — we’d really appreciate it if you let us know. We’re happy to tailor the bar to your needs.
We formulate for function, comfort, and integrity—not convenience. And your skin will feel the difference.
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Why We Rarely Use Goat Milk — and What We Choose Instead
Goat milk is celebrated for its creamy texture and nourishing qualities, and it certainly has its place in soapmaking. However, for the delicate skin we cater to, and the intricate, slow-crafted process we employ, it presents unique challenges.
The Honest Truth About Goat Milk in Our Craft:
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Potential for Irritation: Goat milk contains natural AHAs (lactic acid) which can be too exfoliating for sensitive skin with daily use. It also has proteins that some individuals find sensitizing.
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Heat Sensitivity & Design Integrity: Our soaps feature intricate designs and undergo 6-7 weeks of botanical infusion. Goat milk is highly heat-sensitive; overheating during saponification can degrade nutrients, darken colors, and develop undesirable scents. This directly conflicts with our commitment to vibrant, stable designs and pure aromas.
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Stability & Longevity: Its rich fat content, while luxurious, can make goat milk soaps more prone to rancidity over time if not perfectly balanced and stored. This is a significant consideration for our long-cured, high-quality bars.
Our Thoughtful Alternatives — A Symphony of Nature's Best:
Instead of goat milk, we meticulously select ingredients that align with our philosophy of gentleness, purity, and design integrity. Our formulations are enriched with:
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Homegrown Aloe Vera Puree: Fresh from our garden, offering soothing hydration.
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House-Brewed Organic Rice Milk: Valued for its lightness, calming effects, and compatibility with our extensive botanical infusions.
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Home-Distilled Hydrosols: Crafted from seasonal herbs and flowers, capturing their delicate essences.
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Farm-Fresh Vegetable & Fruit Purees and Juices: Infusing natural vitamins and vibrant character.
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A2 Cow Milk & Homemade Yogurt: When dairy is chosen, we opt for these for their gentle protein profiles and superior stability in our recipes.
These selections ensure every bar meets our exacting standards for gentleness, aesthetic integrity, and lasting quality. We don't just make soap; we craft an experience, rooted in nature's finest.
Crafted with purpose. Chosen with care.
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Why Hand-Blend?
Because rare things deserve reverence.
We hand‑blend by deliberate choice — not for speed, but to protect the fragile life in every ingredient. Our bars begin with homegrown aloe vera puree, house‑brewed organic rice milk, home‑distilled hydrosols from seasonal herbs and flowers, farm‑fresh vegetable and fruit purees and juices, and rare cold‑pressed oils (black seed, sea buckthorn, rosehip, tamanu). When we use dairy, we prefer local A2 cow milk and our homemade yogurt. These ingredients carry volatile antioxidants, enzymes, pigments, and aromas that heat and aggressive shear will diminish.
What hand‑blending protects
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Preserves bioactives and aroma — gentle stir‑times reduce heat and mechanical shear so antioxidants, volatile aromatics, and delicate phytonutrients remain intact.
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Keeps colors true — natural colorants and our 6–7 week botanical infusions (madder, calendula, gardenia, layered herbal extracts) are far less likely to brown, dull, or shift when not overheated.
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Avoids off‑notes and scorching — high‑speed or prolonged blending can raise internal temperature and sometimes trigger undesirable scent or color faults in milk‑ and plant‑rich batters.
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Allows artistry and control — a slower trace gives us the precious window to layer, pour, and sculpt landscape‑inspired bars cleanly and without unwanted air pockets.
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Improves longevity — reduced thermal stress and careful formulation lower the risk of rancidity or scent drift over cure and storage.
A mindful trade‑off
Hand‑blending is more time‑ and labor‑intensive and requires tuned recipes and temperatures so batches move reliably to trace. We accept that trade‑off because it protects potency, beauty, and stability — qualities that endure the test of time.
Crafted with purpose. Chosen with care.
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What Makes a Good Soap — and How We Deliver It
At Hugging Bubbles, we believe a bar of soap should do more than cleanse — it should care. Here’s how our bars compare to typical commercial soaps:
Every Hugging Bubbles bar is crafted slowly and purposefully, with skin-loving ingredients and real plant wisdom — the kind you can feel from the very first lather.