Belfast's Suki Tea Makers teams up with soap crafter Bathe Botanicals in Craigavon to create its first soap from loose leaf tea

The highly acclaimed business, a successful producer and exporter of a wide range of teas, infusions and accessories, has launched a luxury soap made with its own Earl Grey premium tea blend with lavender and water sourced from the shores of Lough Neagh.

The small company, founded by business partners Oscar Woolley and Anne Irwin in 2005, has teamed up with specialist soap crafter Bathe Botanicals in Craigavon to create its first soap from loose leaf tea they have selected from the top tea gardens.

In India and Kenya. Qualified beauty therapist Christine McCaughey, who founded of Bathe Botanicals in 2020, has created an extensive range of handmade beauty products and natural deodorants from a range of quality ingredients that she produces in small batches to ensure consistent quality.

Oscar explains: “We are always keen to explore different ways to create products from our expertise especially in loose leaf teas for special occasions such as Valentine’s. Tea is rich in antioxidants and flavonoids. These and other benefits are nothing new and stretch back for hundreds of years. In addition, we are always ready to work with other local artisans such as Bathe Botanicals in Co Armagh.”

Research backs up his views on the benefits of tea. It shows that adding tea to soap and soap products helps to increase the skin’s healing and well-being. Tea can also provide a healthy glow and remove dead skin.

Tannins and caffeine in tea have been found to reduce blood vessels that can reduce puffiness around the eyes. Another study found that tea reduces inflammation and can help treat acne. It’s also said to be anti-bacterial and can prevent damage to the skin, particularly from exposure the sun. Antioxidants and caffeine in tea helps in the fight against damaging radicals. Tea, furthermore, is rich in vitamins B2, C, E, and minerals such as magnesium, potassium, and zinc.

The link up with Bathe also reflects Suki Tea’s longstanding focus on the environment, sustainability and elimination of waste and plastic packaging.

Bathe’s Christine continues: “My working background is in waste management, recycling and sustainability. To this end, I always wanted to incorporate this into the business. So we are waste-free. Everything that either comes to us or is made by us is used. I ensure that my packaging is compostable/biodegradable/free from plastic.”

Her decision to start Bathe Botanicals was influenced by the coronavirus lockdown in 2020: “Suddenly we were all washing our hands many times during the day.

“Chemicals in sanitisers and overly drying soaps left my hands chapped and sore. This led me to develop my own natural solution. The goal was to find a product that was natural, with no nasties that could be used by all the family. This resulted in the development of cold processed soap. I could use the finest butters and oils which were full of moisturising properties as well as add soothing and natural ingredients such as colloidal oatmeal or cleansing clays.

“I started to test recipes. Cold process soap takes 4-6 weeks to cure so I made batch after batch hoping that I would find the perfect base recipe. I spent months testing and tweaking recipes to get my bars of soap perfect.

“I create natural bathing products in my purpose-built studio at my home in county Armagh, using only the finest butters and oils in my products. I believe that there should be no compromises when it comes to the products we use on our skin. However, I wanted these products to be sustainable with as little damage to the planet as possible.”

Bathe Botanicals, Christine continues, is all about creating “a natural bathing experience by keeping things close to nature. But it’s also about luxury. I want customers to have a wonderful spa-like experience when bathing,” she adds.

All Bathe’s products are produced in small batches to maintain quality and freshness. I guaranteed that we do not make more than 10 in any batch to ensure the highest quality is maintained for customers.

All of the products have been tested and comply with the current EU Cosmetics Regulations. The company is a member of the Guild of Craft Soap and Toiletry Makers which requires every cosmetic product to be assessed by a chemist to ensure safety for customers.