"Fresh and clean as a whistle" ... or is it?

This morning, I discovered a bar of Irish Spring tucked away in the dusty recesses of an unused bathroom cupboard drawer.  I dragged it out with the intent of tossing it into the trashcan.

But, as a soap maker, curiosity got the better of me ... and so, I turned it over to read the ingredients label:

There are a number of ingredients with which I was not familiar ... even though the internal shudder that coursed through my body certainly has become a familiar feeling whenever I read the ingredients labeling of so many commercially made products being sold on today's grocery store shelves.

So ... I fired up the computer and headed for the interwebs.

BTW - the internet is a beautiful thing, really.  Twenty years ago, research such as I was about to undertake would have required a library card, a sack lunch, and a degree in chemistry.  But not any more ... with a little typing and a good browser, you can find whatever you seek, whenever you wish.  It's like it's MAGIC!

But, I digress ...

So let's take a closer look at those pesky ingredients:

Soap (sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate, and/or sodium palm kernalate), water, hydrogenated tallow acid (skin conditioner), coconut acid, glycerin (skin conditioner), fragrance, sodium chloride, pentasodium pentetate, pentalerythrityl, tetra-di-t-butyl hydroxyhydrocinnamate (can I buy a vowel, please), titanium dioxide, D&C green #8, FD&C green #3.

Ugh.  I make soap ... and I've never, ever heard of any of this stuff.

Well then ... let's break it down, shall we?

Sodium tallowate:  Sodium tallowate is a true soap made by combining the fatty tissue (or tallow) of animals, such as cattle and sheep, with lye, typically sodium hydroxide.

Okay ... I get that one.  

Sodium cocoate:  Sodium cocoate is the sodium salt of fatty acids from coconut oil; lauric acid is the primary component of this oil.  Function:  Surfactant - Cleansing Agent; Surfactant - Emulsifying Agent

This is NOT coconut oil (Cocos Nucifera) ... this is a byproduct that they are classifying to be the same as coconut oil.

Sodium palm kernalate:  Sodium Palm Kernelate is a sodium salt of the acids derived from palm kernel oil.  Function:  Surfactant - Cleansing Agent; Surfactant - Emulsifying Agent; Viscosity Increasing Agent -Aqueous; viscosity controlling.

Not to be confused with palm kernal oil, which we don't currently use due to the sustainability and the orangutan issues surrounding the sourcing of this inexpensive oil.

Hydrogenated tallow acid - a mixture of saturated fatty acids which are produced from animal fat by hydrolysis and then treated by hydrogen at high temperature and pressure in a presence of special catalysts.

We use stuff like cocoa butter and/or shea butter, coconut and olive oils ... and we leave the glycerin IN the soaps that we make, keeping the natural conditioning ingredients where there are supposed to be, which is IN the soap.

Coconut acid - Coconut acid is obtained from the meat of the coconut and used in soaps because the extra fat it contains helps ensure the lye is fully reacted, and it gives the soap a good feel and more lather.

This is the closest ingredient to the real thing that I've seen so far ...

Glycerin (now, this is a fun one) - produced by synthetizing sugar or different propylene based substances OR is a byproduct in the biodiesel making process.

In conventional soap making, glycerin is a naturally-occurring substance that is created during the soapmaking process and is absorbed back in to the soap as it cures.  It is what makes your skin soft and is what helps your skin absorb moisture from the air.  Glycerin is hydroscopic ... meaning that it pulls moisture from the air and brings it to your skin.  

It is during the commercial soapmaking process that salt is added to the soap mixture, causing the soap to separate from the glycerin; allowing for ease in the extraction of the glycerin to be used in other things like skin care products, medicines, and other alimentary products.  Without glycerin, soap can be very drying to your skin ... so companies add it back ... only it's not the same glycerin that they removed in the first place ... it's a chemically-derived substance.

Makes sense ... 'cuz Glycerin (aka Glycerol or Glycerine) is also used in the tobacco industry as a humectant; in the food industry as an additive; in the pharmaceutical industry as an excipient and formulation aid; in chemical substances as an intermediate; in the cosmetic industry as a skin moisturizer and humectant; as an anti-freezing substance in cell and sperm preservation; and as a lubricant in hydraulic fluid.  There's lots of money to be made off of this stuff ... no wonder the stuff is so precious that they need to siphon it off to use elsewhere.

Sodium chloride - regular ol' table salt

Pentasodium pentetate - used in soaps as a water softener, and to protect dyes and perfumes from combining with metals in a solution. It is considered a chelating agent.  It's full name is Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid.

(Pentaerythrityl) tetra-di-t-butyl hydroxyhydrocinnamate - an antioxidant [used in the manufacture of soap] that inhibits reactions promoted by oxygen that could cause unsaturated fats to become rancid.

IMO - if manufacturers stayed away from animal tallow (fat) in the first place, this ingredient would be unnecessary.  Yes, I am aware that the use of animal fat in the making of soap has been around since the beginning of Time ... but this isn't Babylon ... we've come a long way in our knowledge of making stuff from other stuff that is healthier to place in and on our bodies.

And then ... there's all the rest of the stuff ... titanium dioxide, a whitener added to get this chemical mess white so that the colorants can be added, along with a vague reference to a fragrance that is not of natural origins, but will leave you "Feeling Fresh and Clean as a Whistle".

BTW - after I researched all this information, I stumbled across a webpage wherein the author already did the homework:  http://www.scientificpsychic.com/blogentries/ingredients-in-soap.html.  I suppose I could have stopped ... but today, it seems, was a day for learning.

And so ... on that note ... the soap's being chucked in the trash.

I'll do it on my way to the shower ... where I plan on using my own stuff.

Cheers!

Oh My Meadowfoam!

One of the main ingredients in our lotions and perfume oils is meadowfoam seed oil ... a relatively new oil on today's market that boasts a long chain fatty acid structure which delivers good barrier formation and helps to lock fragrance onto the skin, while also helping to prevent the rapid absorption of natural creams and lotions that may sometimes be perceived as "drying".

Our nourishing hand and body lotion is perfect for keeping your skin soft & smooth. Loads of meadowfoam seed oil and vitamin e will pamper your skin without leaving a heavy, greasy feeling behind.

bio-friendly ingredients: meadowfoam seed oil, distilled water, beeswax, vitamin e, essential and/or fragrance oils.

You can find this amazing stuff ... and so much more ... in our online store!

Bio-friendly Deodorant

With the rise in breast cancer (not to mention the hyperactive advertising being done to raise awareness) reaching an incredible level of 1 in 4 (when I was a teen, it was 1 in 8), we've taken a completely different approach to creating a deodorant that works as good as your regular brand, without all of the dangerous and questionable chemicals.

Kokum butter helps to regenerate skin cells and is the hardest of all the butters currently on today's market.  Coconut oil and raw beeswax are naturally anti-bacterial and anti-microbial.  Arrowroot and baking soda to absorb wetness.  In our No Sweat! products, we use a proprietary blend of essential oils that are designed by nature to regulate your body's production of sweat.

 

You can find all of these great products ... and more ... in our online store.

A Sneak Peek!

A Sneak Peek at the Designer Line-up for 2013 Fashion Week San Diego

The ride of a lifetime has now begun ... please keep your hands inside the vehicle at all times!

More to come ... so please stay tuned!

Eco-Partnership with French Quarter Linens

Saturdays are always good days in which to receive news ... especially news that is exciting in nature.

But this story goes back to its origins on Thursday.

See ... I found myself wandering into this incredibly amazing shop in the Pearl District of Portland.

An exquisitely lovely bedding and bath shop called French Quarter Linens.

I wandered in with the intention of talking to them about certified organic cotton sheets.
'Cuz there's this company that I work with that creates some incredible fabrics that would be to.die.for as a set of sheets ... and ... I know a seamstress.  Personally.

Never even got to mention the subject ... I was sidetracked by the incredible tranquility, the soft music, the vibrant colors, and the luxurious textiles found at every glance ... in every nook and cranny of that glorious store!

I was swept away to Wonderland ... 

And then ... I saw the display cabinets filled with sample fabrics ... swatches of every imaginable textile any one could wish to have created into one form of amazingness or another, for the personal spaces within their homes.  The Creativity Muse made her appearance ... gave me the proverbial push toward the sales counter.

So ... I wandered up to the counter and had the opportunity to speak with a member of their Sales & Design Team.  I asked him what their store did with their textile samples once they were discontinued.

His answer met my surprise head on:  they threw them away.

!!!

In our subsequent conversation, I explained that I am a clothing designer, creating two clothing lines for next year's Baltimore FashionWeek.  Eco-friendly clothing lines.  He explained that his store was very eco-oriented; doing whatever they were able to reduce their overall ecological impact on the environment.

I offered to take their discontinued fabric samples to be used in my clothing creations ... in exchange for advertising that they will be a primary sponsor for Second Star Designs.

An Eco-Partnership.

In today's email, was a response that French Quarter Linens would love to work with us on this project!!!

Yay!!!

We're very excited ... we're helping to change the world ... one pretty, textile at a time  =)

Our Main Ingredient is Love!

We are currently directing the company into having a more ecologically aware and environmentally friendly product base ... changes such as these will take time to blossom into something incredibly amazing ... and we won't be excluding anyone with the new direction of our clothing designs. We will always be searching for the best possible options in materials from which to create our products for our customers.

Our raincoats & umbrellas will continue to be a staple product until a better material is available from which to create them. In fact, our entire 2012 clothing line was sourced from 100% cotton, organic knits, or bamboo/cotton blend fabrics. Not a single textile was synthetic ... already a positive ecological footprint.  Over the course of the next few years, we will be switching over our fabrics from the conventional textiles used in our garments to fabrics that are more organic in nature and better for the environment ... better for the people who choose to wear our garments.

That is not to say that the products we currently make are not good for you ... because they are.  The main ingredient which goes into each garment made by Second Star Designs is LOVE ... which is an ingredient that you won't find in any big box store ... and an ingredient that turns any negative vibration or aspect of the materials used into one that is positive ... one that you will love just as much as we do!

As we move into 2013 we will continue to create those products which you have come to know and love ... improving them as we are able, at a price that is reasonable for everyone ... and wrapping them up with a generous sprinkling of Love ♥