As a maker of simple melt-and-pour glycerin soap, I am always interested in seeing soap shops, especially when I get to watch them make the stuff. I loved being able to watch them make cold process soap, something too complicated for me to ever think of trying myself. Cold process soap is made using a lye solution. Island Soap & Candle works using coconut, olive, palm, macadamia, and kukia nut oils to make their lye solutions, although it can be made using animal fat. What I found unique about the way they make their soap is that they leave the glycerin produced in the soap making process in the soap, which is something that is often taken out by the manufacturers of soap that you see on the grocery store shelf. The lye solution is mixed with potash, which is a synthetic that imitates wood ashes, and water. It is then poured into molds. After 24 hours the soap is removed from the molds and cures on a drying rack for 21 days before it is ready for use.

At the store you can watch them handpour the soaps and candles. They offer both products in a variety of scents. Some of the more Hawaiin soap scents are mango coconut, papaya oatmeal, and vanilla papaya. They also offer a line of coconut soaps that includes five types: coconut, mango guava coconut, pikake, plumeria, and passion fruit. I bought a gift pack of 4 of the coconut soap types $13, which I felt was a pretty good price for the soap as I only pay a little less than that for 8 oz. of cold process soap at our local street fair.

During my visit to this store, I was also fascinated by the different styles of candles they had. I was especially attracted to the candles that were poured into coconut bowls, although I ended up buying a strawberry quava scented candle in a wood bowl base ($10). A few of their candle scents are coconut, chai tea, mango, and pineapple.

Also, available as Island Soap & Candle Works are other bath and body products, such as lip balm (in tins and sticks), lotions, perfumes, shaving soaps, aromatic bath oils, and surfer's salve, which soothes sunburn, minor rashes, bug bites, chapped lips, and dry skin.