This is how soap works

A lot of kids think there's no need to thoroughly wash their hands and that it's enough to simply rinse their hands under the tap, even though they soon realize that some dirt can't be washed off by just using clean water. It might sound strange, but the only way you can really get rid of the mixture of dirt and sebum produced by your skin is by using a different, modified oil.

Some of you have wondered whether coconut and cocoa oils are suitable for facial cleansing since I didn't recommend them for the daily treatment of greasy facial skin. Naturally, the answer is yes.

Not only does soap have a different consistency and look than the oil from which it was made, it also behaves differently when coming into contact with water and your skin.

If you turn a transparent, liquid oil into soap by cooking it and adding lye, it undergoes a significant change, not just in the way it looks, but also in its characteristics: it results in a solid material which, depending on the type of fat used for the soap, will only be partially absorbed by your skin, but - as opposed to raw oils - is capable of joining to water molecules as well as the sebum on the surface of your skin.

Natural soap is a more effective cleaning agent than the oil it was made from because one end of the soap fat molecule only reacts with fats and thus clings to the stains mixed with sebum on your skin. The other end of the chain only forms links with water molecules, allowing you to wash your skin with water and rinse off the oily dirt and dust accumulated on your skin during the day.

As you apply soap on your skin, the soap molecules mixed with water seem to surround the dirt and connect with their fat soluble end to the dirt so you could rinse it off. In the meantime, the oils contained in the soap which preserve their original characteristics are absorbed into, and gently nurture the skin.