Organic Soap

A short while back, I did a post about cosmetics and the use of the label 'organic.' I wondered if cosmetics and other daily items we use could be harmful to us. One comment interested me tremendously. It was from Cindy Harvey who authors two blogs ~ Cottage Instincts and The Real Soap Company. Here is a picture of Cindy with her Mom.....


Here is her story about why she makes soap ~ from her blog.....

"Several years ago, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and told to buy only organic body products. I had always been curious about learning the art of soapmaking, having been a customer of several mom-owned soap companies, so decided one small thing I could do to support my mom was make soap for her. These days I make soap for the sheer pleasure of it. My mom has now been cancer-free for a couple years (hurray!), but she still uses my soap!

I mostly sell to friends and family, market at bit thru my other blogs, and I donate a fair share to local charities. It's a hobby for me, a way to work with simple raw ingredients to produce a lovely (but very useful) daily luxury."

How wonderful that Cindy took this on to help her Mom and now she can help others too.

Here is a list of the ingredients she uses (not all soaps contain all of these but a combination of):

Liquids: Goatsmilk or Coconut milk, Water
Superfatting Oil: Avocado Oil
Oils: Base oils: Tallow, Palm; Bubbling oils: Palm Kernel, Coconut;Conditioning and Moisturizing oils: High Oleic Sunflower, Olive, Castor, Almond, Apricot Kernel
Natural Additives: Silk fibers; various herbs, seeds, spices; pulverized almonds and oats; citric acid; clay; vitamin E (protects oxidation of oils); skin-safe fragrance, flavor, or essential oils.

They are also delightful to look at.....

All photos compliments of Cindy Harvey

These products interest me and I'm going to give them a try. I did not get very many comments on the last post I did about cosmetics but I wonder if people are thinking about these things. Are you? I know Cindy is for very good reason. Her reason is good enough for me to take another long look at what I am using. Hop on over to her blog for more info.....

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Gorgeous, aren't they?!

I recently read on Young House Love all about anti-bacterial soap and its harm to the environment ~ not to mention that it is really unnecessary if hands are properly washed with regular soap and water. That led me to think about all my lotions and potions that I use daily. Are they bad for the environment... for me?? With the anti-bacterial soap, it may be harmful as we all need certain 'good' bacteria to take care of some of the 'bad' ones. This is true in the environment too. The soap though does not discriminate ~ it kills them all. Hmmmm??!

Stroke of luck on the lotions and potions thought, a newsletter that I subscribe to covered this very issue. Take a look at The Daily Green's story on it. I found it enlightening. Products that claim to be organic may not be. Here's an important symbol to look for if organic is what you are after.

What is basically means ~

"USDA Organic certified
Through the National Organic Program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture regulates food ingredients found in cosmetics, and the Certified USDA Organic symbol is one of the most trustworthy labels around, especially on foods. But because the USDA only has jurisdiction over farm-raised ingredients, not all beauty product ingredients are regulated under this program, and there are more than enough ways to get confused."

The Daily Green goes on to give tips on what to look for to lessen the confusion. Its a good read.

Question ~ Do we spend too much energy on cosmetics to make us youthful, pretty, alluring while negating the long term harmful effects they could have??