About Us

At SOLAS Bath|Body|Home, we are passionate about creating high-quality, handcrafted soap and skincare products. As a local business, we take pride in supporting other local businesses here in Northern Ireland and using locally sourced ingredients. Our choice of local ingredients adds to our sustainably ethos and we are mindful of the packaging we use.  

Our products are made with natural oils and carefully selected ingredients that are beneficial for the skin. We believe in the power of nature and its ability to provide effective cleansing and nourishment for the body.

Our soap is made using the traditional cold process method. We scent our bars with essentials oils and use clays, herbs and other natural ingredients to colour our soap.

Tallow is a hero ingredient that we use in our soap and body products. Often demonised by the beauty industry, tallow actually provides lots of health benefits to our bodies both inside and out. It contains vitamins A, D, E and K and is similar in structure to sebum, the oily substance that lubricates the skin.

It has been used for hundreds of years for its benefits to skin, our modern lifestyle often forgets that sometimes the simpliest ingredients are actually the best. 

Tallow is the generic name given to animal fat, in our case we use beef fat. We consume a huge amount of beef here in the island of Ireland and to be truly sustainable we should be using all that the animal has to offer. 

We get our supply of tallow from a local processor in Belfast as well as some local butchers.

Our candles are made from soy wax. Soy wax is the by product of the soyabean plant. This plant produces a number of food varieties including tofu, soy milk, soy sauce, edamame which are enjoyed by millions of people all over the world.

Since moving back to Ireland we hope to switch to Rapeseed wax as we are a huge producer of this plant here in Ireland and the UK. This will align with our sustainably efforts. 

We choose not to use beeswax for our candles to be environmentally responsible as we can be. The reality is that there is not enough local beeswax to meet the demand of scented candles. Beeswax is the by product of honey, we will hopefully be able to offer a small selection of beeswax candles in the height of the honey season. 

The fragrance oils we use to scent our candles and home fragrance range are sourced from a small candle supply company based in Co. Down. 

We are committed to sourcing locally as we possibly can. 

Our Story

The story of SOLAS Bath|Body|Home goes back to 2016. When living in sunny Queensland Australia, I, Patricia, took an interest in making my own candles as I embarked on a maternity leave hobby. I ordered a soy wax candle kit and the flame has been lit ever since (pun intended!!).

A few of years later, I decided to look more into a solution to a post partum problem I was having...dry skin!! It seemed like every shower gel and body wash out there wasn't good enough any more.  A few google searches and several Pinterest boards later, I came across handmade soap. I had a really negative view on soap bars at this time but something just told me to give it a go, so I did....

After hours of researching what oils to use and many You Tube tutorials later, I eventually made my first batch of cold process soap in my Toowoomba kitchen in 2019. Goodbye dryness, hello soft, silky skin!

 

Local Honey & Oat Soap bar

 Fast forward another year, I decided it was time to make the move home to Derry, Northern Ireland. I packed up, donated all my household items, booked my tickets, and then, of course, COVID!!!!

As Australia closed its international boarders my flight was cancelled and the course of my next few years took a totally different direction. However, living in the 'Aussie Bush' we were lucky to escape the extremes of lockdown after lockdown. I decided that the unknowns of Covid wasn't going to deter me from the dream that I had, so I upped my soap production and took myself off to my local markets. SOLAS Bath|Body|Home was born!!

 My first market in Chinchilla, QLD

May 2023 came round and it was time to make that eventual trip home to Derry, Northern Ireland. SOLAS Bath|Body|Home had become such a successful side hustle that I decided to bring it home to Ireland with me! I contacted Invest Northern Ireland, rebranded and so the journey begins for us here in our hometown of Ballymaguigan, located on The Shores of Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland.

Experience the difference of our handcrafted products and discover the benefits of natural skincare with SOLAS Bath|Body|Home. 

What makes my hand crafted cold process soap bars so special?

Handmade soap bars retain the natural glycerine that is the by product of the saponification process (when the oils mix with lye to make soap). The glycerine is a humectant which is excellent at retaining moisture therefore leaving the skin hydrated and soft. Most commercial soap bars extract their glycerine and add it to other cosmetic products or sell it onto other cosmetic manufacturers.

For this reason it is our opinion that SOLAS Bath|Body|Home handcrafted soap bars are far superior to any others!

Our Name & Logo

Solas (Sol-as) - light, brightness, enlightenment 

Living in Australia as a proud Irish woman I knew that I had to incorporate my Irishness into my business name. Solas fitted perfectly with us being a candle based business. 

Our logo encapsulates the journey that I've had from Australia to home featuring both the Eucalyptus and Oak leaf's representing the beautiful Sunshine State of Queensland and my own native Oakleaf County Derry.  

 Safety First 

All our skincare products are assessed by cosmetic chemists and we hold the legally required Cosmetic Product Safety Reports (CPSR) for both the UK and EU markets. Our  home fragrance range complies with the UKs Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP).