What is sodium hydroxide?
You may recognize this ingredient by its hardware store name, lye. A very caustic chemical, we don’t take our relationship with it lightly. It’s a necessary evil when making soap. This ingredient is used to bind the water and the oils. Once soap has been properly cured, the lye is no longer present. To all of my fellow Minnesotan’s out there, did you know that lye is used to preserve the Scandinavian delicacy known as lutefisk (a.k.a.,”lye fish”)? Gross. Back in the day, lye was derived from wood ash.
What is sodium lactate?
This salt is naturally derived from the fermentation of sugars in corn and beets. It is commonly used as a preservative, preventing bacteria growth. Assuming you don’t have bacteria growing in your shower, what will this do for you? It will give you a nice, long lasting bar of soap that has exceptional humectant (moisturizing) properties.
Do you use preservatives?
Our lotion and body butter products contain water. As a result, those products do have a small amount of preservative. We are currently using the same gentle preservative that is found in contact lens solution. Creating these products with water allows us to craft our products that leave your skin with a smooth, non-greasy finish.
Are all of your fragrances natural?
We primarily use both natural essential oils as well as fragrance oils. Essential oils are natural. Fragrance oils are synthetic. All of the oils we use are produced for cosmetic purposes and we take great care in avoiding nasty stuff like phthalates and nitro musks.
Why don’t you use palm oil in your soap?
Palm oil is a popular ingredient in handmade soap for its ability to add hardness however, its harvesting is largely responsible for the deforestation of the orangutan and other wildlife’s habitats in Southeastern Asia. Therefore, we have come up with a solid recipe that not only creates a long lasting bar of soap, but one that also holds its shape. Google “palm oil deforestation” and you’ll find numerous resources related to this sad catastrophe.