Tuesday 06 / May / 2025
Have you ever wondered what makes handmade soaps so special? Apart from the exotic look and feel they have, it’s the use of natural ingredients that makes them such sought-after products. In Oman, handmade soaps are quite in trend and one young Omani soap maker, Amira Al Rawahi, is working up the lather by making particularly beautiful bars all by herself.
Amira’s handcrafted creations look deliciously tempting and the fragrances, made with all natural, often local, ingredients make them especially distinctive. Her passion for soap making goes back to her college days when she began collecting scented items. And it was this love of fragrances, coupled with her skills as an artist and painter, she was naturally attracted to the world of soap making. After spending countless hours watching YouTube videos on the process, she began to practice the intricate details of the production and design. After familiarising herself with the entire process she enrolled in an online course for formal training.
As her skills grew along with her stock of creations, Amira decided to try to take her hobby on an entrepreneurial route by starting her own line of products to sell online. Working from her one room workshop, she imported materials from the USA and Germany to create lovely pieces of usable art. She posted her products, and waited to see if there was a market for this kind of thing.
“I enjoy anything artistic and anything crafty, so when I find an artistic field, I try to master it,” she said, explaining her drive and inspiration. “Sometimes it’s just an idea, other times it’s a mistake, then I work around it. Making soaps has become my creative outlet, so I put my signature in it.”
Her artful soaps incorporate a variety of ingredients like flowers, spices, oils, fruits, and fragrance oils. Most interesting are her locally-inspired and funky soaps, like karak soap, a sweet and spicy mix of tea, vanilla, cinnamon, and cardamom. The masculine-scented masala chai bar is made of Indian-inspired spices such as mandarin leaf, agave nectar, cardamom, nutmeg, and peppercorn. Her most Omani product is the luban and bakhoor soap, an aromatic bar that combines frankincense with traditional Omani incense. The pieces of frankincense embedded in the bottom of the bar serve as body scrubbers. Other notable items in her extensive list are cheesecake, no-stain henna, sweet coconut, honey, mint, lavender, and fruit soaps.
From tiny cupcakes sprinkled with gold to lollipop-esque soaps-on-a-stick to lego designs to translucent neon soaps, the designs are as delicious as the scents.
Available for order through Instagram, Amira’s soaps can be purchased from her current stocks, or she can customise orders from selecting the ingredients to offering unique designs and packaging for the most luxurious lather in town. —[email protected]
Order Custom Bubbles:
Whatsapp +968 9651 8718
Instagram @amira_soaps
Prices
OMR1-3 for bars
OMR12 for themed collections
*Customised soaps must be ordered a month in advance
