Introducing Allotmint Soap
Family-run garden centre Garsons Titchfield is now the exclusive stockist of a unique environmentally-friendly soap made by pupils of Wicor Primary School and local company, Southsea Bathing Hut. Called Allotmint, the bars of soap have just gone on the shelves in time for Christmas and contain black peppermint grown and harvested by the children.
Eco-friendly soap
The beautifully packaged product, which is vegan-friendly and contains no palm oil, has been 18 months in the making, explains Louise Morton, Wicor Primary School’s horticultural and community lead. “The children came up with the idea of producing a botanical soap using mint grown in the school grounds as they wanted an alternative to using liquid soap in plastic bottles,” she says. “They have grown and nurtured the mint and have been fully involved in the soap making process.” The children even chose the natural oils and butters which are used to make the soap.
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.jpg "Introducing Allotmint Soap | Garsons Titchfield")
Samantha Worsey, owner of Southsea Bathing Hut, a natural skincare company based in Portsmouth, explains: “I met the pupils for a workshop about soap-making and they got to smell and try lots of different oils and butters, but chose cocoa butter as one of the main ingredients - which is no surprise as it smells like chocolate! “This is the first time I have worked with a school and hope to do more in the future. Young people are so interested in the environment which is really exciting.”
How the soap was created
The children were also taught how to harvest and dry some of the mint and then shred it to create the speckled appearance of the soap. The rest of the herb was washed, packed into jars, filled with glycerine, which draws water to the skin and locks in moisture. This solution was turned daily by the pupils to create a mint infusion. These ingredients were collected by Southsea Bathing Hut and then made into soap using a traditional cold process which takes four weeks from start to finish.
Full circle
“We are very excited to be the only stockist for this amazing eco-friendly soap made by one of our lovely local schools and a local soap maker,” says Garsons gift buyer Sarah Crees. “For us, the Allotmint Soap has even more of a link, as the mint plants were originally supplied by Garsons and have now come full circle, returning as a gorgeous soap. Not only does it tick all the environmental credentials, it also smells and feels luxurious and will make the perfect stocking filler.”
