PENGUIN

A penguin with a black head, a yellow beak and a red scarf melting down its belly — a soap that gets kids to the sink without a chase. The black is not a storybook colour but activated charcoal; the scarf and beak come from mineral colourants. At 90 grams, it sits just right in a child's hand.

Where does the lye go?

The question every parent asks about a kids' soap. The answer: it is no longer in the finished bar. During production the oils react with sodium hydroxide to become soap and glycerine — this is called saponification, and we explain it in detail in our article on saponification. The glycerine that forms stays in the soap.

The recipe is built on saponified coconut and olive oil, sunflower oil and shea butter. The scent is gentle and citrus-floral — grapefruit, bergamot, sage and ylang-ylang, all pure essential oils, no fragrance blends. The soap is vegan and made by the cold process, and every bar is finished by hand, so no two penguins are alike to the millimetre. We admit it on purpose — with a kids' soap, that is half the fun.

After washing, the penguin belongs on a dish that lets the water drain away — a soap that dries out lasts longer, even in busy little hands. You will find shapes and patterns among our soap dishes.

If you want to turn hand-washing into a whole ritual, the penguin is usually part of the For the Littlest Ones gift set — together with soap pencils and a ceramic ladybird.