One of the best things about being an artisan soapmaker is the ability to customize. Because I have complete control over what goes into our products, it’s easy to tailor formulas for specific needs. Some people have sensitivities or allergies that make it difficult, if not impossible, to find soaps or bath products appropriate for their use. Can you imagine shopping for personal care products if you have a sensitivity to coconut, for example? Nearly every cleansing product contains coconut oil in some form. We love coconut oil, but we can make products without it. It’s very gratifying to be able to help people by developing a product that they like and can use.
It's not news to those with a sensitivity to fragrances that an unscented product is not necessarily fragrance free. If a product is labeled as "unscented" it simply means that there is no detectable scent. Usually, fragrances are added to those types of products to mask the actual scent of the ingredients used to make it. How frustrating for a fragrance-sensitive person to break out in a rash from an "unscented" product! All of our products are available absolutely 100% fragrance free.
I have to admit, though, I really enjoy customizing fragrances for customers! Woodhaven Soaps can find fragrance oils that smell like just about any popular or high-end (read "expensive") trademarked fragrance available today. A fragrance that is reminiscent of a trademarked fragrance is called a "type." As an example, our Moonlight fragrance smells similar to Moonlight Path® by Bath and Body Works, LLC, so we refer to it as a Moonlight Path® "type." Note that Moonlight Path® is a registered trademark of Bath and Body Works, LLC. Woodhaven Soaps is not affiliated with Bath and Body Works, LLC. We do not claim that our fragrance IS their Moonlight Path®, rather that our Moonlight is the same type of fragrance. We can even sometimes find fragrance types for those that have been discontinued. How neat is that?!
Currently, Woodhaven Soaps has 16 fragrance types in our web store, and many more in stock. Take a look at our products at http://www.woodhavensoaps.com/. If your favorite isn't represented there, just drop us a note at customerservice@woodhavensoaps.com, or phone us at (402) 690-6156, and let us know what you'd like. We'll tell you if we have it in stock or can get it for you, and we guarantee a much better price than the name-brand version!
Until next time, I'm off to a glass of wine, a good book, and a Moonlight bath!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Is This "All Natural?" GOOD QUESTION!
One of the hottest topics among soap makers is the term "natural." How often do we see that word on a product? All natural this, and all natural that. Our minds naturally go to a good place when we see the word natural. We automatically assume that something that is natural is better than something that is not. What does the word actually mean?
I have a dozen eggs in my refrigerator right now that proudly proclaim themselves "All Natural" on the carton. Great. But what is an UNnatural egg? If natural means something in it's original state as found in nature, then arsenic, lead, and petroleum are natural. Products containing essential oils are labeled often as all natural. We consider essential oils to be natural, but they are made by people distilling lots of plant material and then disbursing the distillation in oil. Are they really natural? Fragrance oils are considered synthetic, but if a fragrance oil is made from diluted essential oils fixed with petroleum derivatives, are they as natural as essential oils? The oxides so many of us use for coloring our products are by and large made in a laboratory, as natural oxides mined from the earth are contaminated with lead, mercury, and other nasty natural things. The lab-produced oxides are virtually chemically identical to the natural oxides; does that make them a natural colorant? Shea butter; we all love shea butter and consider it a natural moisturizer. It's pure lovely fat from a plant source. But people have to extract that fat, and to actually BE pure, it has to be cleaned and filtered. Is it natural? And so the discussion remains circular, and the word natural has become more or less a marketing ploy.
In the United States, the regulatory bodies have pretty much ignored the word natural, not trying to define it or make rules for its use. That doesn't surprise me at all. I'd hate to be the one who had to decide what natural means. Oh...wait a minute....I DO have to decide! At least for Woodhaven Soaps, I have to decide.
I fussed and fussed with whether to use the word at all in conjunction with any Woodhaven Soaps products. In the end, I (arbitrarily) decided that since the majority of people divide fragrances into two categories -- essential oils (natural) and fragrance oils (synthetic), we will use the term here at Woodhaven to describe any of our products that contain essential oils as their fragrance (or no fragrance at all) and contain NO coloring agents. Under those guidelines, I don't have to decide which coloring agents fall into the natural/synthetic categories. In the end, it's up to you. The one thing I DO know for sure is that we work hard to produce great soaps and great bath and body products. Loving our work here at Woodhaven Soaps comes naturally to us!
I have a dozen eggs in my refrigerator right now that proudly proclaim themselves "All Natural" on the carton. Great. But what is an UNnatural egg? If natural means something in it's original state as found in nature, then arsenic, lead, and petroleum are natural. Products containing essential oils are labeled often as all natural. We consider essential oils to be natural, but they are made by people distilling lots of plant material and then disbursing the distillation in oil. Are they really natural? Fragrance oils are considered synthetic, but if a fragrance oil is made from diluted essential oils fixed with petroleum derivatives, are they as natural as essential oils? The oxides so many of us use for coloring our products are by and large made in a laboratory, as natural oxides mined from the earth are contaminated with lead, mercury, and other nasty natural things. The lab-produced oxides are virtually chemically identical to the natural oxides; does that make them a natural colorant? Shea butter; we all love shea butter and consider it a natural moisturizer. It's pure lovely fat from a plant source. But people have to extract that fat, and to actually BE pure, it has to be cleaned and filtered. Is it natural? And so the discussion remains circular, and the word natural has become more or less a marketing ploy.
In the United States, the regulatory bodies have pretty much ignored the word natural, not trying to define it or make rules for its use. That doesn't surprise me at all. I'd hate to be the one who had to decide what natural means. Oh...wait a minute....I DO have to decide! At least for Woodhaven Soaps, I have to decide.
I fussed and fussed with whether to use the word at all in conjunction with any Woodhaven Soaps products. In the end, I (arbitrarily) decided that since the majority of people divide fragrances into two categories -- essential oils (natural) and fragrance oils (synthetic), we will use the term here at Woodhaven to describe any of our products that contain essential oils as their fragrance (or no fragrance at all) and contain NO coloring agents. Under those guidelines, I don't have to decide which coloring agents fall into the natural/synthetic categories. In the end, it's up to you. The one thing I DO know for sure is that we work hard to produce great soaps and great bath and body products. Loving our work here at Woodhaven Soaps comes naturally to us!
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