Description

STRAWBERRY SOAP

A strawberry never smelled this good (or got you so clean!)

INGREDIENTS: Saponified Oils of Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Sustainable, Organic Palm Oil, Castor Oil, Unrefined Beeswax, and Fragrance

Olive Oil

In soap, it offers incredible skin conditioning qualities.

Coconut Oil

balances the conditioning of the Olive Oil with the best cleansing ability of all oils and great, big bubbles.  It also helps soap last longer in the shower by creating a harder bar.

Organic and Sustainable Palm Oil

I purchase organic and sustainable palm oil and palm kernel oils only. I have chosen to continue to use organic and sustainable palm oil because I believe it is the most environmentally ethical ingredient choice available to me right now.  The reason palm oil is so often found in soap is that it is a perfect oil – balancing all the qualities most people want in a soap with the added bonus that it is an oil that is easily and cost effectively produced. However, we are all aware of the damage the palm oil industry is wreaking on the environment and native animal populations including the orangutan, elephants and Sumatran Rhino. Urgent action is needed.

However,  I think boycotting palm oil entirely  could lead to even greater ecological disasters. Transferring demand to other (less efficient) oils means we create an array of less understood new environmental disasters in other parts of the world. Avoiding palm oil is like treating a disease effectively with something else that will probably kill you more quickly.  Instead I think we must  support the organization called Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

The World Wildlife Fund supports decision. They ask us to support Palm Oil certified by the RSPO. They do not believe that substituting Organic and Sustainable Palm with other oils is good solution as Palm supplies more oil on less land while producing more benefit for the environment than other oils. Check out Why Boycotting or Replacing Palm oil is not a Solution

I recognize that this organization is not perfect but their mission is to make most palm oil production sustainable. Buying more expensive palm oil certified by the RSPO empowers the organization. This in turn gives it more strength to influence the industry. By strengthening the RSPO we create a central focal point for  activists to demand ever improved environmental caretaking.

Purchasing Palm Products

I purchase my Palm products from this a company who is a listed member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil:

https://www.rspo.org/members/2312/CFC-Inc-dba-Columbus-Vegetable-Oils

and a certified supplier of organic oils

https://www.usda.gov/topics/organic

The World Wildlife Fund supports this and asks us to support Palm Oil certified by the RSPO. They say substituting Organic and Sustainable Palm with other oils is good solution. Palm supplies more oil on less land while producing more benefit for the environment than other oils.

Bubbles are Best with Castor

I use Castor Oil because it is the only oil that provides so much creamy, conditioning, bubbly goodness in such a little amount. When it comes to soap, it is truly a miracle worker.

Beeswax

Beeswax makes a good soap great. It hardens it and adds conditioning creaminess to a bar. I struggled to find a vegan option here but the other solutions didn’t work or were too chemical for my tastes. I try to source my beeswax from small, local beekeepers whenever possible. Beekeeping is a necessary industry to growing vegetables and beekeepers must be able to support their efforts through the sale of their harvest. Most beekeepers I have met love their bees and tend to them carefully and humanely. These type of beekeepers need support.

I prefer naturally derived smells and at least half of my soaps use only natural essential oils.