The seasons can be harsh on the skin.. the products you put onto your skin are just as important that is why when making our soaps we chose the oils and butters very carefully. Not only do they have to be very high quality, they had to come from fair trade and sustainable resources. Many of you may be aware of the orangutans and the destruction of their habitat for purposes of harvesting the Palm Oil that is used in many soap recipes ... it is for this very reason that we have reformulated all of our soap recipes so that they do not include Palm Oil ... it is not reasonable for us to utilize an ingredient when it involves the destruction of a species or natural habitat.
The ingredients used in our soaps are carefully selected. You will not find milk products, tallow, lard, or hydrogenated anything in our ingredients listings. Many soap crafters incorporate the use of Crisco or tallow in their soaps, accompanied by low-grade corn, canola, or safflower oil ... ingredients found at your local grocery store. These products have been chemically altered and we believe that they may not necessarily be the best ingredients for use on your skin.
This is the list of the biofriendly ingredients we use in our soaps and WHY we use them:
Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Hempseed Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Avocado Oil, Castor Oil, Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Meadowfoam Seed Oil, Rosehip Seed Oil.
Coconut oil (Cocos Nucifera) contains mostly fats, so it acts as an emollient providing a softening and soothing effect. Small wounds (caused by acne or pimples) also soften and heal quickly. Soothes itchiness and dryness (effective for dermatitis and psoriasis) Coconut oil contains medium chain fatty acids which are absorbed into the skin, where they can be directly utilized for nutrition and energy. This provides all the energy your skin needs to heal and maintain itself. Coconut Oil is also an antiseptic and microbial, is a powerful antioxidant to sooth away to sooth away winkles, and can help you look younger by improving the quality and appearance of skin through the elimination of dead skin cells. Our cold pressed coconut oil is sustainably sourced from Canada.
Olive oil (Olea Europa) is closer in chemical structure to the skin’s natural oils than any other naturally occurring oil. The regenerative power of olive oil also helps in stimulating the process of skin healing. It can be used to soothe and heal skin irritations. The same property also helps in treating sunburn. Just apply olive oil on the affected area directly. Is considered to be the best remedy for dry skin as it helps to exfoliate dead cells and flaky skin. Its moisturizing properties help to soften the skin texture, leaving you with beautiful glowing skin. Olive oil soap cleans your skin without stripping away the natural oils -- so you don't end up dry and flaky after it's use. Olive oil also allows the skin to sweat and shed cells naturally; commercial soaps that contain synthetic cleaners and fragrances can block your pores and cause irritation. Our cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil is sustainably sourced from Spain.
Hempseed oil (Cannibis Sativa) is one of the world’s most richest sources of polyunsaturated fats, including both of the essential fatty acids (Omega 3 & Omega 6) and GLA, making it an unequaled natural emollient and moisturizer. Hempseed Oil helps heal: sunburn, scrapes, acne, burns, wrinkles, aging, drying or chapped skin, stretch marks and damaged skin! Clinical studies have shown that dry skin defects such as scaling or cracking can be reversed by skin care products containing Omega 6 Fatty Acids.
Hempseed Oil is one of the richest sources of EFA’s and Vitamin E in the entire plant kingdom. These healing enzymes and vitamins can be absorbed directly into the skin to replenish the missing oils, instead of sitting on top, as do saturated oils. With regular use, Hempseed Oil body care products can help slow down the effects of skin aging, reduce skin discomfort by soothing and restoring dry or damaged skin, and leave the skin smooth and moisturized. The Hempseed Oil we use in our products is cold pressed and sustainably sourced from Canada.
Raw Avocado Oil (Persea Gratissima) has been used to improve skin and hair both by ingestion and by topical use. Studies have shown that both intake and topical application of avocado oil can reduce the appearance of age spots, fine lines and wrinkles. Avocado oil is high in a substance called sterolin, which studies have shown to facilitate the softening of the skin and to reduce the incidence of age spots; Avocado oil is rich in antioxidants, making it useful for healing sun-damaged skin. Antioxidants like vitamins A, D and E in avocado cause the skin to be suppler, and are particularly good for dry or aged skin. Our cold pressed, virgin avocado oil is sustainably sourced from Spain.
Castor Oil (Ricinus Communis) is beneficial when it comes to skin problems like sunburn, acne, dry skin and stretch marks. It also helps evade infections like warts, boils, athlete’s foot and chronic itching. Castor oil is rich in Ricinoleic acid (formally called 12-hydroxy-9-cis-octadecenoic acid is a fatty acid. It is an unsaturated omega-9 fatty acid), which fights off the acne-causing bacteria. It effectively penetrates the skin layers, making it an excellent remedy for acne. Castor oil is a wonderful moisturizer and lends itself to boosting a soap's lathering abilities when combined with coconut oil. The highly concentrated fatty acids penetrate the skin easily, helping to remove dry patches and restoring hydration of the skin. Only a small amount of castor oil is required for this purpose. Our expeller-pressed castor oil is sustainably sourced from India.
Meadowfoam Seed Oil (Limnanthes Alba) is a fully refined, triglyceride composed of over 98% fatty acids with chain lengths of 20 carbons or more and also has higher quality triglyceride levels when compared to other vegetable oils. In addition, it has three long chain fatty acids that were previously unknown prior to its discovery.
The feel of this oil is distinct from many other natural oils. This is due to the novel chemistry of its fatty acids, which contain more carbon atoms than fatty acids common in edible oils such as soy, almond, sunflower and olive. As a result, Meadowfoam Seed Oil provides good emolliency without being overly greasy. It also has amazing moisturizing and rejuvenating capabilities, is very stable, and the high level of oxidative stability means Meadowfoam Seed Oil is less likely to go rancid, even when handled at high temperatures and in the presence of oxygen and other conditions that cause natural oils to degrade.
Our Meadowfoam Seed Oil is derived from the seeds of commercial meadowfoam (Limnanthes alba) fields in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
Rosehip Seed Oil (Rosa Mosqueta) is widely regarded as one of the most important oils for fighting wrinkles and premature aging and repairing damaged skin. It also has subsequently been identified as an effective treatment for stretch marks, eczema, psoriasis and dry and damaged hair. The essential fatty acids in rosehip seed oil can help reduce scarring and promote skin regeneration. Its essential fatty acids are emollients and as such, improve skin flexibility and permeability. Emollients also aid in skin repair. Vitamin A may also play a part in rose hip oil's affect on scar tissue due to its ability to improve skin texture and tone. While it carries similar health benefits as our Meadowfoam Seed Oil, it is not nearly as stable. Our cold pressed, rosehip seed oil is sustainably sourced from Chile.
Shea Butter (Vitellaria Paradoxa) is a super food for the skin and is hand-extracted from the nuts of the Shea tree, which grows in Ghana. What makes shea butter an extraordinary skin care and amazing body healer is its richness in precious constituents, which include unsaturated fats and a large proportion of “unsaponifiable” components, essential fatter acids, phytosterols, vitamin E and F, provitamin A and allantoin. All these are natural and make shea butter a super food for your skin and hair. Shea butter is one of the best anti-ageing agents for your skin by stimulating the production of collagen-strengthening your skin; keeping the pores of your skin and hair shaft clear. Shea butter helps to make your skin more supple, alive, nourished and radiant.
Cocoa Butter (Theobroma Cacao) contains a number of different antioxidants that can kill off a wide range of different free radicals and superoxides, including hydrogen peroxide. It also contains phytochemicals (posh name for plant chemicals) such as flavanoids that are also strong antioxidants. Polyphenols are very effective at neutralizing free radicals, and the cocoa mass polyphenols are particularly effective. In fact, cocoa butter contains a much higher antioxidant concentration then even blueberries and other so-called superfoods.
It has been scientifically proven that cocoa butter will prevent skin degradation due to the harmful effects of the UV light in the rays of the sun - UV radiation generates free radicals that are very effective at destroying skin. Just look at the effects of sunburn! However, there is more to cocoa butter than just that, since it contains a large proportion of minerals including calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc, manganese, copper and iron, all of which are in a highly bioavailable form that render them more effective that commercial vitamin supplements. Not only that, though. It also contains tryptophan, involved in the formation of serotonin, the 'feel good' neurotransmitter, and also dopamine and phenylethylamine, all good substances. It is a brain food as well as food for your skin.
Sodium Hydroxide, to put into layman's terms, is lye. When mixed with liquid, whether water, goat's milk, tea, or any other form of liquid, a chemical reaction is created which is essential and absolutely necessary to turn butters and oils into soap. Bar soap cannot be created without the incorporation of sodium hydroxide. The beauty of this highly volatile ingredient is that, provided the weights and measurements are precisely calculated, there is absolutely no lye remaining in the finished product.
We create exceptional, unrefined, biofriendly products that incorporate plant and mineral ingredients of natural origins in their simplest forms ... products that you will feel as good about using on your family as you do yourself.
We seek out natural ingredients that are as good for the earth as they are for your skin. All ingredients used in our products are researched as to their origins, how they are derived, and what impact they will have on our lives and on our planet.
We believe that every place in the world is local to some where ... and consciously work to ensure that the monies we spend on our ingredients will provide the greatest benefit to the communities that the sales of these ingredients support.
We continually explore new methods of processing while maintaining the quality found in small batch manufacturing ... even for tried and true ingredients, there is always an ingredient that is of greater benefit to our bodies.
As our world evolves, so will our our company and our products ... continually striving to bring to you products that deliver outstanding results.
