In early 2011, while at the Philadelphia Zoo with Genesee, I learned how palm oil plantations cause quick & vast loss of habitat. Loss of habitat means loss of many species, orangutan, rhino, elephants, and sadly, the list goes on. I tried shopping for palm oil free soaps at local health foods stores and could not find any. All the soaps stating vegan, natural, blah blah blah (green-washing keep your eyes open for those lies, be sure to read ingredient labels) still had palm oil as a main ingredient. It's a cheap, short sighted, ingredient that is totally unnecessary in soap making. I also avoid it in my personal life.
So I started making soaps for my family. Eventually friends became interested, then friends of friends and there you go, a small, woman ran business was born. It continues to evolve, constantly changing because I am constantly learning! My bath & body operation is ran from our cozy 1930’s Pennsylvania bungalow. In my vintage kitchen, I make small batches of cold or hot process, conflict palm oil free soaps, lotions, potions, salves, & balms formulated for sensitive skin.
Cold & hot process soaping is a science but I enjoy and prefer to focus on the artsy side of soap making. By adding 100% natural ingredients such as botanicals, spices, herbs, & flowers from my organically grown garden, I add visual interest, exfoliation, and/or color to the soaps. To scent the soaps naturally I use essential oils, no synthetic fragrance oils. The base oils I use for soaps are organic olive, organic coconut, organic babassu, organic castor, fair trade & organically processed shea butter, which means my soaps are almost 100% organic! When I use an animal product it is always sourced locally from a small, family ran, humane farm.
My mission, every day, is to wisely use the goodness Mother Earth offers. She is giving. She is awesome. She is life. Every day I worship and tend to her lovingly by composting, gardening heirlooms using the ways of our ancestors, raising backyard chickens for: compost, soil aeration, their glorious nitrogen rich poop, and pest control (bu-bye ticks!). I am crazy about reducing, reusing, re-purposing before recycling - which isn't really happening in the US have you read about how inefficient recycling programs are? Well you can here: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23531352-000-throwaway-culture-the-truth-about-recycling/).
In my business and personal life, I make every effort to purchase as locally as possible. I prefer raw materials that are responsibly sourced, fair trade, wild crafted, or organic, to help improve other sacred being’s lives. People who harvest the raw materials deserve fair wages and a healthy environment as do the animals who depend on quality forests, water, and air.