FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Explore answers to frequently asked questions about our artisan soaps, shampoo bars, and eco-friendly products. If you need further assistance, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us
1. How do you make your soap?
Our soap is made the traditional way (cold process) using a combination of fats/oils and lye (sodium hydroxide). When combined, the oils and lye go through a process called saponification, where the chemical reactions between the lye and oils turns it into the bar of soap you use every day. No lye is leftover in the end product and you are left with beautiful, gentle, and nourishing soap.
2. What sets your soaps apart from every other soap maker?
Our soaps are handcrafted in small batches and are made with intention. Each bar is carefully planned, researched, designed, and formulated to be good for the environment AND good for you. Our bars are crafted to look nice and smell nice without sacrificing quality. We focus on sustainability and environmental impact, and design our products to be plastic free, non toxic, and sustainably sourced to provide you with a high quality product that is also good for the environment.
3. Why does cold process soap have to cure?
Our soap bars cure for 4-6 weeks after cutting, which allows for water to evaporate and creates a harder, longer lasting, and more mild bar. The curing process also produces a creamy rich lather. While soap is often safe to use after 48 hours (all/most of the lye is eliminated), the curing process is what sets cold process soap apart and creates a quality bar that will last longer and perform better.
4. Do you use animal products in your products?
Our soap and shampoo bars are vegan and cruelty free and do not contain any animal products. The only exception is our lip balms, which contain ethically sourced beeswax for its natural nourishing qualities for the sensitive skin barrier of lips
5. Is vegan soap just as good as tallow/goat milk soaps?
Yes! The blend of oils and other additives (shea butter, cocoa butter, clays, etc) perform just as well, if not better than some, animal based soaps. It comes down to personal preference. There is a common belief that animal products in soap are "superior" ingredients and provide specific benefits that can only be achieved with animal products, but well formulated vegan soaps provide the same benefits and perform similarly.
6. Are your soaps non toxic?
Yes. All of the ingredients used are phthalate free, paraben free, and sulfate free, which are just fancy words meaning we do not use any preservatives or chemicals in our soaps. The colorants used in our soaps are cosmetic grade minerals, clays, or pigments, not harsh dyes, and are safe for daily skincare use. All fragrance oils and essential oils used in our products are verified to be phthalate free, non toxic, and are formulated within safe levels in our soaps.
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Our shampoo bars use a cosmetic grade preservative to prevent the growth of mold and bacteria, which is required for shampoo bars. The preservative we use does not contain any parabens or formaldehyde. Bar soap has a naturally high alkaline environment that does not allow bacteria or mold to grow and fester, and therefore no preservatives are needed in soap.
7. I was told that fragrance oils are unsafe and only essential oils should be used, so why do you use fragrance oil?
Our soaps use both fragrance oils and essential oils- there is this inherent belief that because essential oils come from plants, they are automatically considered "natural" and "safe." However, there is not an extensive regulation process that oversees essential oils, so there is a higher likelihood that impure or other filler ingredients are present in essential oils, especially when they are not sourced from reputable sources. A massive amount of plants are required to produce a tiny amount of essential oil, which drives costs significantly higher, and results in some soap makers using cheaper, less reputable essential oils from Amazon or other sketchy websites just to state they create "natural" products.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of "greenwashing" that surrounds essential oils, and personally we find them not to be sustainable or environmentally friendly in the way they are grown/harvested/produced (such as sandalwood essential oil, if you were curious to research that). While some of our products do contain essential oils, we pay the premium price to source from reputable suppliers that do not contribute to unsustainable practices. The fragrance oils we use are lab tested and verified to be safe, as well as proven to not contain any chemicals, preservatives, sulfates, or parabens that might be harmful to you. We take safety seriously and formulate our products in conjunction with IFRA (International Fragrance Association) standards, which has specifications as to what and how much can be used safely in skincare products.
8. Why is your shampoo bar formula different? Can't I just use bar soap as shampoo?
Lye based shampoo bars are highly alkaline (pH of 9-10) and can destroy and disrupt the scalp's natural and more acidic balance (pH of 4.5-5.5). Most people experience dry, brittle, frizzy, or even a waxy feel to their hair after using a lye based shampoo bar. Some experience itchy or dry scalps as well. Spoiler alert, stay away from lye based shampoo bars. If a shampoo bar lists "lye" or "sodium hydroxide" or "saponified" in the ingredients, you will likely have a bad experience with these shampoo bars because they are not formulated for your hair's specific needs. Our shampoo bars are considered to be synthetic detergent bars, which is what you WANT in a shampoo bar, as it gently cleanses the scalp while matching hair's natural pH. Ours bars have a conditioning element (cocoa butter) in them to help add moisture to your hair, while the jojoba oil adds shine, reduces breakage, and promotes healthier hair.
9. Where does the name come from?
Our mission is to empower others with every purchase, meaning we give back to organizations, causes, and charities that align with our values and core beliefs, including environmental awareness and sustainability, human rights, mental health and wellbeing, and animal/wildlife conservation. We give 10% of proceeds to these organizations so they can empower others with the work they do in our communities.
