Our Ingredients
What We Use
Coconut Oil
Packed with Lauric, Capric, and Capriclic fatty acids, coconut oil adds cleansing properties and hardness to soap. Without it, our soaps would take a lot longer to cure and ship to you! We use coconut instead of palm oil because it is more readily available and is less destructive to forest and habitat to harvest. Coconut oil also contains micronutrients like calcium, potassium, vitamins C & E, and additional trace minerals - all good for the body, inside and out.
Olive Oil, Rice Bran Oil, High Oleic Safflower Oil
All three of these plant-based oils are very gentle and act as conditioners for skin. All three are rich in omega-6 fatty acids, which is associated with less dryness and less thinning of the skin as we age. We source our Safflower oil from a local producer who grows their crops right here in the Rocky Mountain region. We combine these conditioning oils with other butters to balance cleansing, moisturizing, and lathering characteristics for an ideal bar of soap.
Cocoa Butter, Mango Butter, Shea Butter
We like to add richer butters to many of our soaps. Our favorites are cocoa, mango, and shea butters because they are all great for restoring moisture and hydrating skin. Additionally, they add more stability to a soap's bubbles so you can suds up with a rich and creamy lather.
Avocado Oil
Just like for your insides, avocado oil is good for your outside! Rich in antioxidant vitamins A, B, D, and E, the high levels of natural fatty acids make it great for the skin.
Castor Oil
We add castor oil to all of our soap because it is the only natural oil that contains ricinoleic acid, which is moisturizing and has humectant properties. In soap, it has the unique property of making other oils lather better without drying out skin.
Natural Clays
Not only are natural clays colorful, ranging in hues from white to purple to yellow, they help absorb excess oil from skin. Additionally, adding clays to soap helps the fragrance of essential oils stick around longer so the scent is true until you finish the last sliver of your bar.
Pure Plant Essential Oils, Absolutes, and Resinoids
While lab-created fragrances can be fun - banana and peach, anyone? - they are frequently irritants for people with sensitive skin. That's why we choose to blend our own fragrances from purse essential oils, absolutes, and Resinoids. What are the differences? Essential oils are released when plants or flowers are pressed or distilled. They carry the natural fragrance of the plant. Commonly used for aromatherapy, essential oils are highly concentrated and their scents can have mood-affecting qualities. Like their essential oil counterparts, absolutes are highly aromatic liquids extracted from plants. Absolutes, however, are extracted in a more complex manner. We only use absolutes extracted using Carbon Dioxide (CO2) so we can avoid products extracted with chemical solvents. Occasionally we use resinoids in our fragrance blends because they pair well with essential oils and help the scent have staying power in a bar of soap. While resinoids can come from animal products, we only use plant-based resinoids in our formulas.
Ground and Dried Botanicals
Ground tea, walnut shells, flowers, and herbs are all used to add scrubby textures or visual decoration to our soaps.
Coconut Oil
Packed with Lauric, Capric, and Capriclic fatty acids, coconut oil adds cleansing properties and hardness to soap. Without it, our soaps would take a lot longer to cure and ship to you! We use coconut instead of palm oil because it is more readily available and is less destructive to forest and habitat to harvest. Coconut oil also contains micronutrients like calcium, potassium, vitamins C & E, and additional trace minerals - all good for the body, inside and out.
Olive Oil, Rice Bran Oil, High Oleic Safflower Oil
All three of these plant-based oils are very gentle and act as conditioners for skin. All three are rich in omega-6 fatty acids, which is associated with less dryness and less thinning of the skin as we age. We source our Safflower oil from a local producer who grows their crops right here in the Rocky Mountain region. We combine these conditioning oils with other butters to balance cleansing, moisturizing, and lathering characteristics for an ideal bar of soap.
Cocoa Butter, Mango Butter, Shea Butter
We like to add richer butters to many of our soaps. Our favorites are cocoa, mango, and shea butters because they are all great for restoring moisture and hydrating skin. Additionally, they add more stability to a soap's bubbles so you can suds up with a rich and creamy lather.
Avocado Oil
Just like for your insides, avocado oil is good for your outside! Rich in antioxidant vitamins A, B, D, and E, the high levels of natural fatty acids make it great for the skin.
Castor Oil
We add castor oil to all of our soap because it is the only natural oil that contains ricinoleic acid, which is moisturizing and has humectant properties. In soap, it has the unique property of making other oils lather better without drying out skin.
Natural Clays
Not only are natural clays colorful, ranging in hues from white to purple to yellow, they help absorb excess oil from skin. Additionally, adding clays to soap helps the fragrance of essential oils stick around longer so the scent is true until you finish the last sliver of your bar.
Pure Plant Essential Oils, Absolutes, and Resinoids
While lab-created fragrances can be fun - banana and peach, anyone? - they are frequently irritants for people with sensitive skin. That's why we choose to blend our own fragrances from purse essential oils, absolutes, and Resinoids. What are the differences? Essential oils are released when plants or flowers are pressed or distilled. They carry the natural fragrance of the plant. Commonly used for aromatherapy, essential oils are highly concentrated and their scents can have mood-affecting qualities. Like their essential oil counterparts, absolutes are highly aromatic liquids extracted from plants. Absolutes, however, are extracted in a more complex manner. We only use absolutes extracted using Carbon Dioxide (CO2) so we can avoid products extracted with chemical solvents. Occasionally we use resinoids in our fragrance blends because they pair well with essential oils and help the scent have staying power in a bar of soap. While resinoids can come from animal products, we only use plant-based resinoids in our formulas.
Ground and Dried Botanicals
Ground tea, walnut shells, flowers, and herbs are all used to add scrubby textures or visual decoration to our soaps.
Sodium Hydroxide
Also known as lye or soda ash, sodium hydroxide is a critical component in making soap, and cleansers made without this ingredient aren't, technically, soap. The liquid hand and body washes you're probably familiar with are usually chemical detergents. While they get you clean, they are made in a very different way from soap and are typically more drying on the skin. When sodium hydroxide is mixed into a solution with distilled water and then combined with natural oils, a chemical reaction occurs to create soap. We weigh our lye and water to ensure just the right amount is in each formula, and we chemically test each finished batch to ensure it is in the correct pH range for optimal cleansing and conditioning.
What We Don't Use
Palm Oil
Palm oil is inexpensive and has a fatty acid profile that makes it a good component for soap, foods, and cosmetics. However, when large companies cut down native forests to grow non-native trees for palm oil, it has negative consequences for wildlife and the ecosystems where it grows. A Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed in 2004 with the goal of getting brands to commit to sustainability in sourcing their palm oil. Only in 2018 were sustainability guidelines agreed to, and there are still challenges with wholesalers demonstrating that they are sourcing the oil from responsible farmers. We choose not to support this industry since there are viable alternatives.
Synthetic Fragrances and Colorants
Lab made doesn't mean bad, but synthetic fragrances and colorants are often skin irritants. Additionally, there isn't much regulation on the fragrance industry, so it's hard to know what's really in a chemically-formulated product. We choose to use plant-based essential oils, absolutes, and resins instead so we can best control what goes into our products.
Animal Products (with one exception)
Yes, beef tallow makes great soap, lanolin is very emollient for skin, and silk powder can make soaps and lotions feel really smooth on the skin. We choose not to use animal products in our products because we believe plant-based formulas are as good (and often better!), largely more sustainable, and because industrialized commercial farming often results in sub-par conditions for and treatment of animals. The only exception we make is for using beeswax in our lip balm formulas, which we source from a local apiary where we know how the bees are kept and how the wax is harvested. The best plant-based alternative to beeswax is carnauba wax, which is harvested from the carnauba palm tree. Like other palm products, carnauba is often over-harvested in ways that are detrimental to our forests, and finding ethically sourced wax is difficult. Sometimes we have to make trades when we choose our ingredients, and we feel that locally sourced beeswax is a more sustainable choice for our products than vegan alternatives.
Soy, Peanut, Gluten
Due to allergies in our own family, we choose not to include gluten, soy, or peanut products in our formulas. These are common allergens, so we hope this benefits you, too!
Also known as lye or soda ash, sodium hydroxide is a critical component in making soap, and cleansers made without this ingredient aren't, technically, soap. The liquid hand and body washes you're probably familiar with are usually chemical detergents. While they get you clean, they are made in a very different way from soap and are typically more drying on the skin. When sodium hydroxide is mixed into a solution with distilled water and then combined with natural oils, a chemical reaction occurs to create soap. We weigh our lye and water to ensure just the right amount is in each formula, and we chemically test each finished batch to ensure it is in the correct pH range for optimal cleansing and conditioning.
What We Don't Use
Palm Oil
Palm oil is inexpensive and has a fatty acid profile that makes it a good component for soap, foods, and cosmetics. However, when large companies cut down native forests to grow non-native trees for palm oil, it has negative consequences for wildlife and the ecosystems where it grows. A Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed in 2004 with the goal of getting brands to commit to sustainability in sourcing their palm oil. Only in 2018 were sustainability guidelines agreed to, and there are still challenges with wholesalers demonstrating that they are sourcing the oil from responsible farmers. We choose not to support this industry since there are viable alternatives.
Synthetic Fragrances and Colorants
Lab made doesn't mean bad, but synthetic fragrances and colorants are often skin irritants. Additionally, there isn't much regulation on the fragrance industry, so it's hard to know what's really in a chemically-formulated product. We choose to use plant-based essential oils, absolutes, and resins instead so we can best control what goes into our products.
Animal Products (with one exception)
Yes, beef tallow makes great soap, lanolin is very emollient for skin, and silk powder can make soaps and lotions feel really smooth on the skin. We choose not to use animal products in our products because we believe plant-based formulas are as good (and often better!), largely more sustainable, and because industrialized commercial farming often results in sub-par conditions for and treatment of animals. The only exception we make is for using beeswax in our lip balm formulas, which we source from a local apiary where we know how the bees are kept and how the wax is harvested. The best plant-based alternative to beeswax is carnauba wax, which is harvested from the carnauba palm tree. Like other palm products, carnauba is often over-harvested in ways that are detrimental to our forests, and finding ethically sourced wax is difficult. Sometimes we have to make trades when we choose our ingredients, and we feel that locally sourced beeswax is a more sustainable choice for our products than vegan alternatives.
Soy, Peanut, Gluten
Due to allergies in our own family, we choose not to include gluten, soy, or peanut products in our formulas. These are common allergens, so we hope this benefits you, too!