Workshops cover the basics and enable participants to use natural ingredients that are easily purchased so that they can continue to make their preferred soaps at home.

'We hope that our workshops will enable participants to know more about the nature of the soaps they use at home and become more able to question the ingredients they contain,' Chan says.

'My class started as an extension of my cooking classes,' says Shima Shimizu, raw food chef and instructor at Sesame Kitchen. 'By using edible ingredients to make organic soap, that supports the skin's natural rejuvenation processes, you can custom make soap to suit particular skin types and the different seasons.'

Participants are taught to how to use food items that are found in most refrigerators at home, Shimizu says.

Spinach, cacao and turmeric provide the colours, and the fragrances come from the use of high-grade plant based essential oils.

Some dehydrated food ingredients may also be used to add texture and fragrance.

Classes run for two hours and cost HK$300.

Cost for each 90-minute class is HK$380.

Cost is HK$500 for the four-hour class, which includes a theory presentation and tuition on the basic techniques in making both forms of soap.

People with a keener interest may choose a series of three classes that provide skills development from beginner to advanced levels.

Cost ranges from HK$300 to HK$450, with classes running for two to two-and-a-half hours, each including a 30-minute theory presentation.

Participants are taught techniques for making cake and liquid soaps using natural ingredients and pure essential oils.

Other course elements include getting to know skin type, the use of basic garland rendering or layering techniques and the use of Taiwanese soap moulds.