Notch ya ordinary bathing bar.

◊ By Nitya Kaushik

 Visit ORGANIC SHOP by Pure & Eco India

Packaged in a delicate violet-hued box with beautiful floral and avian motifs, Naija elevates the humble bath soap to a sophisticated artisanal gem, infusing it with the wellness of natural ingredients, while liberating it from chemicals, synthetic colours, artificial fragrances, and plastic wrapping.

The Organic Lavender Soap by Naija has a soothing fragrance and possesses the goodness of lavender essential oil. Use it before bedtime and it will relax your nerves and promote restful sleep. Indeed, the product description on Naija’s website states that the Linalool and Linalyl acetate present in the lavender essential oil enhance dopamine – known as the ‘Hormone of Wellbeing’ – by acting on the central nervous system.

This organic-certified soap also contains glycerin, Vitamin E, olive oil, and fresh/dried organic lavender flowers. While glycerin is a natural cleanser and toner, Vitamin E is a known antioxidant that combats skin damage and protects skin from ultraviolet radiation.

Naija’s lavender soap boasts several therapeutic properties, from healing sores and eczema to protecting skin from oxidative damage. It also claims to detoxify and exfoliate, moisturise and reduce scars, spots and acne.

Naija is a brand of Prakruti Products Pvt Ltd and its soaps are Ecocert/COSMOS organic certified. This means all ingredients used in its soaps are organic and chemical free.

Being organic, this soap is free of sulfates and parabens, artificial colours and fragrances, animal fats, genetically modified organisms, alcohol, silicone, petrochemicals and mineral oils.

A basic Google search of the parent company, Prakruti Products, tells me its core activity is supplying organic certified herbals extracts and powders to both domestic and international markets.

This is confidence-inspiring information to me as a consumer, for it makes me feel secure that Naija uses its own premium organic ingredients in its soaps, which are anyway lying around its premises in bulk quantities.

Other soap makers would typically need to procure these ingredients from someone like Prakruti Products first. That is not to say that only soap makers who also generate their own materials can make superior products. I would imagine most wouldn’t (grow their own raw materials). But this is just a little fun fact that I dug up and found interesting.

Naija’s lavender soap sells at MRP Rs 555 for a 100g pack (on Amazon). On its native site, www.naijaorganic.com, the same product is available at a discounted price of Rs 361.

In contrast, two similar products – Soulflower’s Skin Lavender Soap and Nyassa’s French Lavender Handmade Soap are available at MRP Rs 300 (Amazon: Rs 269) and MRP Rs 425 (Amazon: Rs 383) for 150g packs each, respectively.

But they are not certified organic like Naija.

Pro Tip: Don’t dispose of the pretty box this soap comes in – use it, instead, as a bedside jewellery case to store your little trinkets in.