Products That Are Actually Handmade

54 at a time...

Actually Natural

We pride ourselves on using only natural ingredients. High quality base oils like Olive Oil & Shea Butter, and natural exfolients like seaweed and essential oils.

No Fragrance Oils

Nobody actually knows what's in 'fragrance' so we don't use it. We blend our own unique scent profiles using pure essential oils.

100,000+ Customers

That's a big number. We are growing fast, but committed to retaining our handmade artisan soapmaking techniques. We make every product 50 at a time.

Smell Fantastic

A Natural Cologne

Created by blending our unique essential oil scents with denatured alcohol. This is as natural a cologne as we can make.

Shop Natural Cologne

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Open to the Public

Our Workshop

We operate an open and transparent business. You are welcome to visit us in person and purchase directly from our workshop. *cash/revo only

Address: Unit 4, 52 Bracken Road, Sandyford, Co. Dublin D18CH24 Ireland.

Opening Hours: M-F 08:00-16:00

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What's with the name 'The Black Stuff'?

This business was born out of an experiment in my house back in January 2021. I decided to try and make soap out of Guinness.

The Black Stuff is Irish slang for a pint of Guinness, and when I decided to turn this into a business, it was the obvious name for it!

When /where did this business begin?

I (John) started making soap for fun in my house in January 2021. For the first 18 months every product we sold, was entirely made by myself (John) in my home.

Is it still handmade?

Yes, we still make every product the same way I used to make them in my home. 50 at a time, by hand. We will never change this.

Is it all natural?

Yes we strive to only use natural ingredients in our products, we don't even use fragrances like most others. We actually blend pure essential oils to create our unique scents.

How is this different to other brands?

Well, we actually make our own products for a start. We have a small workshop in county Dublin, Ireland.

We have 20 employees, making these products to the highest of quality standards.

We also cure our soap, this step is often skipped as it's time consuming and costly. Curing allows the water within the soap to evaporate, leading to a longer lasting and better performing soap.

We also don't use fragrance oils like others. In our quest to create a truly natural product, we decided to blend pure essential oils to create our unique signature scents, rather than using cheap off-the-shelf fragrances.

Do you use fragrance oils?

We don't use fragrance oils like others. In our quest to create a truly natural product, we decided to blend pure essential oils to create our unique signature scents, rather than using cheap off-the-shelf fragrances.

We don't believe there is such a thing as a 'naturally derived fragrance oil' - its either synthetic (fragrance) or natural (essential oils).

Do you ship outside of Ireland?

Yes, we actually have warehouses with stock set up in the UK, the USA and Canada. So if you order in one of those countries, you will enjoy local shipping. Otherwise we will post from our Dublin, Ireland location.

Do you do samples?

I'm afraid we do not do sample sizes. However we do have a first time customer guarantee. So if you end up with something you aren't mad for, just let us know and we will send you something else of your choice.

How does your guarantee work?

It's really simple.

If you aren't happy on your first order for any reason, get in touch with us. We are happy to send you free substitute products at our expense for you to try instead. We don't take returns for obvious reasons, but we do look after every single customer we are blessed to have.