It’s Always Something!

Just when we think, O.K.  the paraben thing is over..the SLS thing is over…no one in the known world is using them in body products anymore…now…another BIG NO NO!!!

Now, it’s the PALM OIL!!  Yes, we use Palm Oil in our famous Artisan soaps….and sometimes it’s Palm Kernal Oil.  But now,,,,,another larger soap and body care company has a really large campaign going that Palm Oil is really bad; bad for the environment mostly, bad for orangutans, and something else, I forget.

I just found out about this campaign, but it explains why in the past few months we have had a couple, not many, calls about our use of Palm Oil.  The first time, we consulted with our supplier, and found that no, our palm oil wasn’t coming from the places where it is unsustainably grown that the company is boycotting.  I called the lady who inquired, but she still believed that just generally, palm oil must be bad.

I asked her what she would suggest we use..and she said soya.  Well,  our research has shown that vast areas of Latin America are being decimated for soya production by mostly American companies.    Canola is Canadian….but is all GMO….so what to use, what to use.?..olive oil is nice..but too soft for a really good soap…we just add a bit to superfat the soap, and also, we use coconut….again…just enough to create a good lather…but it’s too drying to use by itself….mixed with palm oil…the French and Italians say it makes the best soap in the world…and they should know!!

The company boycotting the palm is using ‘rapeseed’ instead.  When I grew up on the Prairies,,,fields of rapeseed were everywhere….but the name was not politically correct, or even nice, and it was changed to ‘Canola,’ short for Canadian “ola” or oil.  However….it appears that about 100% of Canola is now GMO….remember Percy Smeizer??  Why would anyone want to drop Palm Oil from their soap and add GMO canola?

Not sure…but they are calling it ‘rapeseed oil’ again…and apparently it is not GMO.  Also,,,it is way easier to grow than Palm Oil, which is obtained from a tree, not a weed, the Canadian Prairies are now covered with canola …and well, it is famous for being really, really CHEAP!!!!

Are we going to change over??  Don’t think so…actually, it is also famous for making really, really BAD soap!

I’ll keep you posted, but in the meantime…I think our blend of Palm, Coconut and Olive makes about the finest bar in the world…this after 30 years of soapmaking!  If anyone out there has more information on the  canola/rapeseed question  vs palm or palm kernal vs soya….let us know!

Bye for now, and enjoy the last day of August…..(or was that today?)

Linda

“Artisan Soap Line”

The other day, I was talking to a young lady, Anita, who sells soap in one of our shops.  The week before, we had introduced our new “ARTISAN” SOAP LINE,  and Gary had created an exciting new window display.

I asked how the new soaps were doing, and Anita replied that they were going really well. People were noticing the window display, which “stopped them in their tracks,” and many came in to see the new line.

The soaps were a bit more expensive…because the cost
of our oils had gone up, shipping had gone up a lot, and we had added
organic oil to them….and used only 100% Pure Essential oils.
Would people pay $1 more for a good hand-made natural all-vegetable soap?

“If I don’t bring my lunch,” said Anita, “I go over to the cafe where

I can get natural and organic food, the coffee shop is great, too, andI notice more and more people are going there.”Then, she added a line which I thought was GREAT!! And so, I’m passing it along!

“People are killing themselves by making cheap choices,” she said.

What a perfect concept!  CHEAP CHOICES!!! The bookstores are full of books about ‘industrial food.’ Magazines are full of articles about organic foods
shipped from Chile, or China???? and where and how to ‘buy local.’

We’re not buying coffee in the big cheap 2# tin anymore, and we’re buying
local, organic eggs, and becoming “locavores” instead.  A loaf of bread
used to have four ingredients; wheat, salt, flour, and water.  Maybe the
water doesn’t count.  A recent book listed about 40 ingredients in a
manufactured bread.  Want to eat “azodicarbonamide?”

Now, it’s time to spend a little more on our personal care, right?  How
about a soap with four ingredients?? I thought of calling the new line,
“Local Soaps.”  If most people knew what was in the bar of ’soap’ they
showered with each a.m., they wouldn’t use it!  More about this next time.

Why use an “Artisan” soap?  It has just a few ingredients; a combination
of food-grade oils; coconut, palm, olive, soy, usually 2 or 3 essential
oils, and sometimes, for a little scrub, some crushed oats, bran or tea
leaves. Gary makes them all by hand, a small batch each day.  They are hand-cut the
next day…and after 3-4 weeks curing time, they are hand-wrapped by Claire
and Heather.

It’s our answer to ‘CHEAP CHOICES’ and you can buy some today!

Thanks, Anita….

By for now…

Linda Quiring