You're my only soap!

January 26, 2023 5:43 PM

Lush discontinued my favorite soap, Respect Your Elders, a couple years ago, and the stash that I bought to keep me from discontinuation heartbreak is at an end. I keep trying to find a dupe of this soap, or something in the black currant/elderberry area, but I haven't had any luck. Soap me?

I am just going through a time of it right now and trying to self-soothe by finding a decent black currant scented or elderberry infused soap is making me angry cry even harder. The search results I get are absolute shit. I've never been able to find a dupe of it on like Etsy, the way I often have with Lush things that have been discontinued.

Lush was one of the few places that ever seem to even use black currant as a scent; it's especially rare here in the US. I loved its vibrant purple color and the translucent mixed with opaque look; it never got soupy and it was lovely and smooth and had that fantastic scent. So have you ever come across a black currant scented soap you'd recommend or know of a business making soap with currant or elderberry?

I'd prefer an actual bar soap, but if I can only get a body wash, I'll consider it. I've never been super fond of places like Bath & Body Works because their stuff smells so artificial and way too intense, but again, if that's all I can get... I'm willing to buy from the UK or Canada if they ship to the US.

posted by kitten kaboodle to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (13 answers total)

have you tried Dr Teal's ? I am not a blackcurrent fan per se but I find it a pleasant scent.
posted by The otter lady at 5:45 PM on January 26, 2023

Best answer: I don't know what blackcurrant smells like; elderberry smells similar to blackberry to me, and I really like Sappo Hill's Oregon Berry soap (I like a lot of their soaps, but this is one I always buy when it's available). I also have an aversion to strong scents, and this is pleasant up close but doesn't overpower me.
posted by curious nu at 6:45 PM on January 26, 2023

Best answer: One ingredient the Lush soap included was bergamot. Just did a quick search for black currant and bergamot soap and found this, which appears to be a dupe of the Lush bar. It's out of stock, but the maker does custom orders, so maybe worth a shot?
posted by prewar lemonade at 7:04 PM on January 26, 2023 [4 favorites]

Here's what I'd do.

1. Visit hardware store, get lye. One container will make you a lifetime supply of soap.
2. Visit grocery store, get oil.
3. Visit food co-op, get dried elderberries from the bulk spices, herbs, and medicinals section.
4. Go home, paw through recycle bin. Find cheap plastic containers.
5. Make bar soap, have more elderberry bar soap than I'll ever use.

It's been a long time since I've made bar soap. But from what I remember it's extremely quick and easy, and the internet and library are more than happy to give you the details. Basically you mix the lye and the oil and any bonus ingredients and then you let it harden for a few weeks. It makes a LOT of soap. So maybe check with metafilter first about elderberry soap details.

Voila! Infinite elderberry soap!
posted by aniola at 7:22 PM on January 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

PS if you do this, it looks like they also used frankincense oil which you can buy online. I can't see their ingredients list, but if you have the packaging that can be a source of inspiration for your recipe.

I don't remember if soap requires water or not, but if it does, that's probably where you'd add color with an elderberry or blackberry infusion.
posted by aniola at 7:35 PM on January 26, 2023

Best answer: When looking for black currant scent, you can also search for cassis.

I have tried this Pomegranate and Black Currant soap. It was very nice but pomegranate was the predominant scent to my nose.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 8:04 PM on January 26, 2023

I relate a lot to needing comfort scents. Something I would recommend as a start is going to CandleScience and buying some 1 oz samples of all the blackcurrant scents and seeing if any of them fit your needs. Then you can get the soapmaking kits and make yourself the perfect soap forever, or asking a crafty friend to do it for you.

Otherwise, you can probably commission Lush dupes, I am sure any soapcrafter would be happy to do it for you.
posted by yueliang at 9:01 PM on January 26, 2023

My next-door neighbor makes soap.

It would be more accurate to say that there is some kind of soap muse that will not leave her alone. Her living room has a section that's just a big table covered in shelves of soap. She doesn't go to that many events to sell it, so I think it's accumulating a bit. I went to her lunar new year's party a couple of days ago and noticed a _lot_ of soap just hanging out in the living room because _there's nowhere else to put it_ (or maybe it was sitting out to dry, I don't know).

Her real gift is the nuanced, nature-based, gorgeous scents she puts in them (I am always posting looking for unscented products, or recommending unscented products, so for me to say I love these scents is high and rare praise). It's been a joy to walk past her kitchen fan out-vent.

I *think* she has elderberry or elder flower essential oils, but _she can help_, I'm sure. If you're open to something else that she'd recommend for an elderberry fan, let me know.

Also, she mainly makes soap because I think she's sort of compelled to? As an art form? She does do soap in molds, but really the ones where she makes a big peaky loaf with different flavored layers and slices it are my favorites.

Send me a photo of the shape you want, and let me know where to send it.

MeMail me! I want to send you soap!
posted by amtho at 12:15 AM on January 27, 2023 [11 favorites]

Following up on another answer with a caveat - making your own soap can be easy, but jumping right in with making it from scratch with lye is a bit of a jumping-in-the-deep-end approach. There are a lot of guides, yes - but working with lye and making soap that way can be a little fiddly (there are exact temperatures you need things to reach for it to work).

Not that I think it's impossible. Just that it may not be QUITE as simple as some may think. And if amtho's neighbor is a Soap Fairy that may be the way to go instead.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:25 AM on January 27, 2023 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Ugh you have my sympathy. They discontinued my beloved Flying Fox shower gel a few years ago and then brought it back in a tiny size only available as part of a limited edition gift set. I bought four gift sets just so I could get the 4 TINY bottles of gel. So ridiculous but clearly I am a sucker.

This is a common problem (the discontinued products and people left bereft) so there are a few companies making good dupes but not of that particular soap (that I can find).

However, there is a fairly large subreddit for Lush fans with regular buy/sell/trade threads. If you want to try finding more Respect Your Elders it looks like at least one person was able to score some in this current North America buy/sell/trade thread.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 7:51 AM on January 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Pacha currently has an elderberry soap. It may be a seasonal deal, but they tend to keep things around for a while. I haven't tried that particular soap, but I'm a big fan of Pacha in general -- they've replaced Lush as my go-to for this sort of thing.
posted by edencosmic at 8:02 AM on January 27, 2023

Response by poster: Thanks so much for the ideas, everyone. I doubt I’ll be making soap on my own, since I can barely cook food for myself because my arthritis is so bad and I’m in a really difficult health crisis right now.

But I’ll keep everything in my back pocket for desperate times! I will get in touch amtho about your neighbor. And the Dr Teals sounds good but I am kind of unable to take baths right now, but I’ll poke around and see what else I can find there.

I’ve sworn I’d never join Reddit, but I may break my vow! Desperate Lush times call for desperate measures.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 10:40 AM on January 27, 2023

i just ran across this Flowering Currant soap (currant, cassis, Turkish rose) and thought I would pop back in so you can have it for your list. :)

I haven't tried it, but I am thinking of ordering a bar.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 12:35 PM on February 1, 2023