Our Story

I have been making all natural cold process soaps to be free from all chemicals that the commercial soaps have. Also I’ve noticed many of my family and friends are suffering from skin problems like eczema, psoriasis and acne so I was looking into what natural ingredients I can put into my soaps to help relieve some of these issues. I know that many Chinese herbalists prescribed herbs to their patients to make soups, teas, ointments, balms or salves to improve their internal & external health, and then I thought to myself “Why not put those herbs into soaps? “ Therefore, I started reading books, researching online and was fascinated with different healing properties of herbs that can be used in soaps. I was intrigued when I read Bencao Gangmu (本草綱目). It has a comprehensive list of herbs that would treat the most common sickness. The book contains 1,892 distinct herbs and there are 11,096 side prescriptions to treat common illness. For every herb there are entries on their names, a detailed description of their appearance and odor, nature, medical function, side effects, recipes etc. It has changed my way of making my soaps ever since reading. The inspiration behind Běncǎo Herbalist was creating all natural products that are based on the Chinese herbology volume written by Li Shizhen during the Ming dynasty - Bencao Gangmu . 

Just like a herbalist, I want to help others and that’s why I established Bencao Herbalist.  Běncǎo 本草 [pronounced Ben-choh] meaning in Chinese “roots and herbs; based on herbs, pharmacopeia, materia medica”. That’s how the company name Běncǎo Herbalist came about.

Běncǎo Herbalist uses the finest quality ingredients to make our soap.  We are Phthalates free, Parabens free and Sulfates free. We also refrain from using ingredients like palm oil, because of its devastating effect on the environment.

All our handcrafted artisan soaps are made in small batches to ensure quality and standards. All our handcrafted artisan soaps are made in cold process, which mean each batch needs to be cured in 4-6 weeks. Each batch has to passed our pH test in order to be sold to the public.