Where we are...
The Black Cat Soap House is hidden down a little lane in Kirriemuir, a quirky little town in the heart of the Angus countryside in the East of Scotland. It's situated at the base of the Angus glens and is surrounded by stunning scenery.
What we do...
Inspired by the power of plants, we make high quality soaps, shampoo bars and creams which look, smell and feel beautiful. Fragranced with pure essential oils, made from natural and organic ingredients and containing no chemicals at all, we are proud to offer you eco-friendly skincare products which will leave you feeling gorgeous.
Everything you will find in our products, except for the organic clays and pumice stone in some of our soaps, comes directly from plants and everything we use is there because it is beneficial to you in some way.
Our products are great for sensitive skins. There are only a few exceptions, such as the Gardener's Soap because it contains pumice powder to help get rid of the garden grime! As well as many other powerful ingredients, all our products contain Organic Unrefined Shea Butter because of its amazing skin healing and moisturising properties.
Our products are great for sensitive skins. There are only a few exceptions, such as the Gardener's Soap because it contains pumice powder to help get rid of the garden grime! As well as many other powerful ingredients, all our products contain Organic Unrefined Shea Butter because of its amazing skin healing and moisturising properties.
Who we are...
We are a small family business. Meet Haluk - soap maker extraordinaire! He makes all of our products himself and when he's not weighing, mixing, pouring and cutting you'll find him selling his soaps at markets and events. You might also see me - Nicola, the other half of the business - at markets too. I have another job but in my spare (?) time I help out behind the scenes and do most of the social media posts, leaflets, website etc. Our boys help out too, mostly with loading and unloading the car on market days and sometimes helping on the stall. My parents are also involved. They used to have a soap business themselves and so we have learnt so much from them. In fact, working for them was where Haluk first developed his soap making skills. Now they act mostly as business consultants and aromatherapy advisors but they also help out with the stalls from time to time and giving lifts a lot of the time! The whole family are involved with testing the products ....it's a tough job but someone has to do it!!
As a vegan company, and vegan ourselves, our products and processes have always been 100% vegan and cruelty free.
Our gorgeous Black Cat with the wonky whiskers was drawn by our eldest son, Robin.
As a vegan company, and vegan ourselves, our products and processes have always been 100% vegan and cruelty free.
Our gorgeous Black Cat with the wonky whiskers was drawn by our eldest son, Robin.
Why the Black Cat?
Our cats weren't black and sadly are no longer with us, but they were a big part of our lives for a long time. To us, the black cat image is elegant, stylish, beautiful and full of spirit. We believe it suits our products perfectly!
Reduce...Reuse...Recycle...
At the Black Cat Soap House, we have made a commitment to create as little waste as we can. As a family and as a business we're not totally waste free, unfortunately, but we are taking steps to do what we can. We sell most of our soaps and shampoo bars as “naked” slices at our events and online and we have a reduced price for bars which are bought in this way.
However, we understand that you may sometimes want to buy bars which are wrapped, particularly for gifts and so they are also available wrapped by Haluk in beautiful handmade paper with recycled paper label bands. Our soaps and shampoo bars stocked in shops are also wrapped in this way to ensure that they stay fresh and clean. Our creams are sold in glass jars with aluminium lids, our information leaflets are printed on recycled paper, all the wrapping / packaging can be composted and/or recycled and our electricity is from 100% renewable sources.
In our business re-using and recycling is standard practice and pre-loved and upcycled gift boxes are our new thing! I have great fun being creative with old gift boxes and then filling them with selections of our gorgeous products.
If you are ordering online, your soaps will be wrapped in a piece of paper to keep them fresh and your order will probably arrive in a re-used box or padded envelope - we hope you will be pleased about this! We're pleased to say that the amount of plastic packaging we receive from suppliers is getting less and less but we still do occasionally get bubble wrap or jiffy bags in our parcels and we will re-use this too. If you would prefer us not to use this for your order, please let us know.
Safety and Certifications
All our products adhere to cosmetics products safety legislation set out in EU Regulation 1223/2009 (Cosmetics Regulation). This means they have all been safety assessed by a chartered chemist and that we hold a Cosmetic Product Safety Report for each one. For you, this means peace of mind that everything you buy from us is safe to use.
We are a member of the Guild of Craft Soap and Toiletry Makers. The Guild is a peer support network whose function is to raise awareness of and provide information and guidelines about the legislative standards that are in place.
