Review: Yuan handmade natural soaps
I’ve always love using soaps when it comes to bathing. So my interest was piqued when I saw Yuan Soap (阿原肥皂) in Living Pharmacy at AMK Hub. However, I found them a tad expensive especially in view that they are made in Taiwan. It didn’t help that I haven’t heard nor read about them and so was naturally uncompelled to spend like S$9.90 – $12.90 on a piece of soap.
Then Paris Beaverbanks of My Women Stuff who has reviewed the soaps sent me the Sishen Chinese Herb and Organic Oats soaps for testing. I started using the Sishen Chinese Herb and found it mild and gentle enough even for my 5-year-old son. So I contacted the distributor here who sent me a few more of their samples for more testing and review.
Specially selected ingredients, herbs & water
The reason why Yuan Soaps are costlier than most commercial soaps is because they contain 100% natural ingredient, with some made with more than 13 Chinese herbs using 12 complex processes. I was very touched when I read the story of Yuan Soap especially how these soaps are “made with the heart.” The founder of Yuan Soap has a lifelong interest in Chinese medicine and I understand through an article on Taipei Times that the ingredients are specially selected for their supposedly curative effects and the key raw material is fat made from edible oils renowned for their therapeutic powers. Even the water used to produce the soaps were specially selected from Wanli because those would produce the finest soap.
A great variety of soaps in various series
According to information from their website, the soaps are favored by more than a million users in Taiwan and exported to Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong in the two years they have been in existence. They have quite a huge variety of soaps – broken down into the recovery series, the special series, spirit series, cleansing series, protection series and moisture series. I saw 23 soaps depicted in their brochure but based on their website, there seems to be more. There is even a Laundry Soap for undergarments!
Very strong herbal smell
All in all, I tried 7 varieties. Because the sample sizes were small enough, it was possible to try them all out in a matter of weeks. The soaps come in a variety of colors. Some are darker, grainer and harder than others. Because they are made from herbs, all of them come with herbal smell but some like the Women’s Yuan Soap is a lot stronger in scent than others.
Each soap comes with specific healing properties
Each variety of soap is formulated differently and comes with specific healing properties. Some are good for acne and some are even good for ezcema or atopic dermatitis. I can’t say for sure that these soaps really deliver what they promise since I’ve only used them for a couple of weeks but of the lot I tried, the difference was most noticeable with Houttuynia Cordata Soap (éšè…¥è‰). I have some red itchy spots on my body the size of coins and I noticed that the redness faded a fair bit when I started using this. I also like Women’s Soap a good deal because it cleanse really well and is said to be good for detoxification. I actually like the strong herbal smell. Heh!
Great for cleansing of the body & mild enough for the face
Personally, I would say Yuan Soaps are great for the body because they really cleanse well and don’t leave the skin dry. Most of them also appear to work on the facial skin too and I read that the best are Organic Mung Bean & Job’s Tears Soap, Purpose Gromwell & Roselle Soap and Organic Lemon Soap. Besides the Organic Lemon Soap, I did not get to try the other two. However, I don’t like using soap on my face. I’ve tried Yuan Soaps on my face and although they don’t leave my skin dry or taut, I dislike the overly squeaky feeling on my nose.
Darker and harder soaps last longer
All the soaps I’ve tried under Yuan Soap lathered very well. In terms of lasting power, I think Yuan Soap fare averagely which is actually a good thing. One thing I learnt during my DIY skin care workshop is, it may not be a good thing if your soap last forever because the soap base used may not be all that natural. So far, the Sishen Herb Soap is still around so I estimate that a full bar can last about a month if you use it once or twice a day. Anyway, the darker and harder ones definitely last longer than those fairer and smoother counterparts.
Top 10 bestsellers of Yuan Soap
Okay, here are the top ten bestsellers according to the Yuan Soap online store. Note that they are not listed according to any order.
Oats Soap (燕麥皂)
Pine Tree Soap (檜木皂)
Wild Sage Soap (馬櫻丹皂)
Women’s Soap (清肌玉膚皂)
Organic Lemon Soap (檸檬皂)
Licorice Hair Soap (甘è‰æ´—é çš‚)
Wild Mugwort Soap (野生艾è‰çš‚)
Wild Patchouli Soap (左手香潔膚皂)
Purple Gromwell & Rosell Soap (ç´«è‰æ´›ç¥žçš‚)
Organic Mungbean & Job’s tears soap (ç¶ è±†è–ä»çš‚)
Where to buy Yuan Soap
In Singapore, you can find the Yuan Soap at Living Pharmacy and various organic stores. I’ve even seen it sold at some of those mobile carts. Details of where they are sold here in addition to locations in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia are listed on their website. Based on what I’ve seen at the shops, you should be able to find a detailed product description of the soaps as well as their healing properties in both English and Chinese. So no worries about wondering which to get if you are interested.
Would I recommend buying Yuan Soap?
Yes, but only if you’re into herbs because some of the scent can be rather overpowering. If you’re someone who prefers soaps with aromatic fragrance, then these are not for you. However, based on what I’ve used so far, I’ll say these soaps are very promising based on their healing properites as they don’t just cleanse. I would definitely be buying the Oats Soap for my son again and probably continue with the Houttuynia Cordata Soap for my body. And I may even want to try the Organic Mungbean & Job’s tears soap later.
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Hey there,
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Great Blog!! I personally loved your pics …. Must admit you have a great sense of style. Keep up the good work.
PS: I have initiated an idea to create a fashion and style blogroll where bloggers from the jewelry, fashion, style and beauty could participate.
All you need to do is to add my blog link to your blog and i’ll do the same.
That way, we could have a mutual partnership and we could refer visitors to each other’s blog.
Please let me know if you would be interested.
Thanks!
Barbara and Ellen
The Gals at SoHo
Barbara: Thanks for your comments. I’ll check up your blog later.
mmm i have not seen any herbal soap in malls or pharmacies here before, but i have seen other handmade scented soap bars around. i can never stick to using soap because i find it extremely hard to manage them. uh..
prettybeautiful: You mean it slips out of your hands easily? ?
My mum loves the Hottuynia as well, do you know this herb was brewed for all the doctors and nurses in the hospitals while they were fighting SARS in Taiwan?
Reese: Oh, I didn’t know that. It’s so interesting! I’m going to try find info on Hottuynia. But the Chinese name is so odd. Hee…
Hi there.. I recently went down to get myself the Sishen chinese soap to try. I really really like herbal stuff.. #k8SjZc9Dxk#k8SjZc9Dxk and was really glad that there is herbal body soap available.. I am hoping that in a few weeks it can get the redness of my skin to calm down and turn over.. i ENJOY the smell of the soap when I bath… it makes you feel really relaxed.. Now I try to really appreciate bath times.. haha
Valerie: The smell is not fragrant but it’s okay really. I love their soaps…probably going to try the Mugwort too for my patchy back.
i’ve finishing my third bar of Patchouli soap. truly, when used twice a day, the patchouli lasts for about 3weeks to at most slightly more than a month. i was using it for my acne on the back. while i wouldnt say that the results were immediate upon the first bar, i have noticed that there the redness had reduced and the occurances of new pimples had also significantly reduced. im starting to use it on my face too! will be moving on to the pinetree and mungbean soaps.
yiting: I’ve started using the mungbean on my face now. It’s not bad as in it doesn’t dry up my face. Hoping to see some reduction in my pigmentation.
Hello Sesame,
Cool site…discovered you while searching for info on Yuan soap…
Just finished reading an article about the soap…how does it work on black skin and can it be purchased in the US
Iris: Hey, this is interesting. How did you discover Yuan Soap because from what I know, they’re currently only available in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore within Asia. I’m not sure how the soap works for black skin but I believe it works the same way for problems like eczema, acne etc. However, bear in mind that this range of soaps were developed by a Taiwanese Chinese and hence, most of the experiments would have been done on Chinese skin types.
The Taiwan Panorama located in a Columbia, SC/USA Library. Will you send me some samples so I can experiment on my skin? In return, I will send you results…possible import/export contact.
Iris: I’m just a consumer like you and this is just a review of the product after I’ve used it. I suggest you get in touch with Yuan directly and see if they would send you samples in exchange for your possible contacts. The link to their website is given in my entry.
hello, i just want to know if the mung bean soap good for the skin? i’m just afraid that the soap would strip away the moisture from my face…pls advice beacuse i’m just gonna pop into the shop after this as i just found out that the shop is just directly opposite my house. hehe
Gabrielle: If your skin type is dry, I won’t recommend it. It’s okay for oily and combination skin. I have combination skin and I use it about once or sometimes twice a day. It doesn’t leave my skin tight and taut but I don’t really like the squeaky clean feel so am not so sure if my natural oils are being stripped off. But I’m not secreting more oil so maybe that’s a good sign plus it helps with acne and definitely whitens my face! If you think it’ll work for you, maybe you can get it and use it once a day first.
IM USING YUAN SOAP ‘Wild Mugwort Soap (野生艾è‰çš‚)’ ITS HELP FOR MY BACKNE SKIN….I TRY BEFORE ALOT SOAP AND PRODUCT ALSO NOT USE..AFTER I SAW A ADVERITSED ON NEWSPAPER ABT YUAN SOAP FRM TAIWAN…THEN I BOUGHT IT TO TRY ….I JUST USE FOR FEW WEEKS..THE HERBAL SMELL IS ABIT STRONG BUT I LIKE IT…AND WASH THE WHOLE BODY VERY CLEAN….IMPORTANT IS ITS HELP TO CLEAR MY BACKNE .
Jen: That’s good! Glad it worked for you.
Oh…very interesting. Got such type of soap. Ah Yuan soap….hehe…then I can put Ah Leong soap if i want to make some myself..hehe.
Can these soaps be used on baby with very dry and sensitive skin??
The oat and shisen ones are suitable.