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If you're looking for a new way to express your creativity, be sure to try making your own natural soap. It can be as easy as "melt and pour," or try more advanced methods of mixing fat, lye and water. You are sure to enjoy experimenting with fragrances, essential oils, herbs and colors.

Melt and pour is easy, and safe enough for kids. Some of the soap bases you can try are goat milk, honey, glycerin, olive & aloe, oatmeal or shea butter. There are some others as well, and each of the bases has different qualities. Try a few to choose the ones you like best.

To make a bar soap just melt the soap base completely, stirring frequently and add the fragrances, colors, or essential oils that you like. Then pour the soap into the molds and allow it to cool. If for some reason the soap bar does not come out the way you like it, just re-melt and try it again.

Feeling adventurous? Try the more advanced method using fat, water, and lye. You will need a little more equipment, time, knowledge and caution. Lye is a caustic agent that requires special handling. Use eye protection and rubber gloves, and keep it off your skin and clothes. Also, lye will damage aluminum and Formica so avoid contact with table tops and counters. For details, recipes and more ideas, type "make natural soap" into a search engine.

Many people choose to make bar soap for different reasons. Some people do it to save money. Those fancy soaps that look and smell pretty as well as soften your skin get to be rather expensive. Others make a business out of it.

Making natural soap at home is environmentally friendly compared to the production of commercial products. Prior to World War I, people used to make soap at home from leftover cooking fats, using purchased cans of lye. Before that, people made lye from wood ashes.

The move toward sustainable living also has some healthy side effects. Skin is the largest organ of your body and taking care of it is important. By making your own soap, you know exactly what's going on your skin. If you are allergic to one ingredient, simply substitute another. You can make vegetarian soap using vegetable fats instead of than animal fats.

Fun, flexible and creative, not to mention healthy and economical -- that's what making your own soap is all about. With so many easy soap-making recipes available, you're sure to find a way to make your own unique soap. Anyone can do it.

Jen Hopkins has worked in the skin care industry for years. She maintains websites about make soap at home, and organic soap making. If you want to contact her, you can use the contact form at one of her sites.