Posts Tagged ‘organic soap’

Posted on March 9, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Read Your Palm Responsibly

From soaps, candles and bath and beauty products to ice cream and bread…palm oil is used in products we consume every day.

But the back story of palm oil tells an ugly environmental tale.  Life-giving tropical rainforests are being burned and cleared for expanding palm plantations. Just one more reason why it’s super important to know where the ingredients in the products you buy actually come from.

We turned to the World Wildlife Foundation, one of the fiercest advocates for sustainable palm oil, to learn more about large scale palm oil production:

• The world’s most biodiverse tropical rainforests are found in Malaysia and Indonesia, where the land is being devastated every day to create oil palm plantations.
• Clearing these forests creates inhospitable habitats for the region’s wildlife, including tigers, rhinoceros, elephants, and orangutans, the most threatened animals.
• Oil plantations erode the land and use fertilizers and pesticides that pollute the air, soil and water.

Buyer Beware

Don’t let irresponsibly grown palm oil ooze into your green beauty care routine.  You can do two things when it comes to taking a stand against it:

1. Avoid personal care brands that include palm oil in their products and opt for responsibly sourced products from full disclosure beauty and bath companies like Napa Valley Bath.

2. Write to your favorite retailers and manufacturers (with online access, it’s easy) and ask them to use Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) in their products.

Scroll down this list to see brands and products that source palm oil responsibly including The Body Shop and LUSH soaps. Kudos to these types of caring companies who join Napa Valley Bath and St. Helena Olive Oil Co. in sustainable, responsible, and earth-friendly agricultural practices!

Posted on March 1, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

A Sea of Bodily Love: Sponges & Loofahs

We hope by now you’re treating yourself to at least one relaxing, aromatherapeutic bath a week that’s:

• Good for the earth: the non-toxic ingredients in organic bath and beauty products don’t wind up in our water streams.
• Great for your body: by making smart choices about the products you put on your skin, you’re investing your health.

Now it’s time to think about transporting all the nutrient-rich soaps, sea salts, scrubs and more available from Napa Valley Bath in the most eco-conscious way…

Sea and Be Seen

Opt for sea sponges versus synthetic sponges, which are typically made from petrochemicals.

For thousands of years, people have been cleansing themselves with multi-celled sea sponges. Sea sponges live in almost every aquatic environment, filtering nutrients from the water through their pores.

Real sea sponges:

• Are a non-endangered species, so they are greener alternative to synthetic sponges
• Regenerate, so there’s no worries about over-harvesting
• Hold a greater amount of water
• Biodegrade, so there’s no waste

So ditch that pink, plasticized pouf hanging in your shower – your green bath is truly sea sponge-worthy!

Love Your Loofah

Did you know that a loofah is a dried plant related to the squash family?  Loofah sponges can be used every day to:

• Give a boost to your circulatory system
• Cleanse and exfoliate your skin
• Help prevent cellulite build-up

Make sure that any loofah you buy is organically-grown and unbleached. In a DIY mood? Harvest your own!

Posted on October 15, 2009 - by Leslie Billera

Keep Truly Clean with 100% Organic

Last time, we profiled several synthetic ingredients found in ‘conventional’ bar and liquid soap including 1,4 Dioxane, Diethanolamine (DEA), Parabens: this is the stuff that’s supposed to keep us clean?

Maybe you’re thinking, ‘Not me! I use ‘organic’ beauty care products!’

It’s time to face the myth of organic when it comes to personal care products thanks to an unfortunate technique known as ‘greenwashing.’

Greenwashing is Just Plain Dirty

Slapping the word ‘organic’ onto a product is an addiction for big beauty manufacturers.

The sad truth is, it’s misused, abused and often completely wrong. The abuse is so egregious that the researchers the Environmental Working have created a special database to help consumers get a grip on what’s really green and healthy – and what’s not.

Using one drop of organic essential oil in a beauty product is one of the most common greenwashing techniques in the cosmetic industry.  Companies regularly get away with declaring their products organic as a whole, when in truth, only a small percentage is.

Other popular greenwashing terms that often come in tandem with ‘natural’ style packaging – include:

• Made with organic essential oils
• Contains organic ingredients
• Made with nontoxic ingredients
• 100% natural
• Essentially nontoxic
• Earth-friendly
• Environmentally Safer

Look closely at the ingredients list, be a vigilant shopper, and treat yourself to organic products that you can trust.

What is Organic, Really?

We know – it gets confusing. Here’s a simplified guide:

• The farmer or producer must avoid synthetic chemical additives, including fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, genetically modified organisms and sewage sludge

• Farmland must be free of chemicals for more than three years, depending on the country

• All the production stages must be transparent, open for audit and take part in frequent inspections

Next time we’ll give you an amazing recipe for a nutrient rich hair butter using two of our favorite organic ingredients: organic virgin olive oil and organic lavender essential oil!  After all, if you make it yourself, there’s no doubt what’s in it!

Posted on October 14, 2009 - by Leslie Billera

Beyond Luxury: Why Organic Soap is Just Plain Healthier

Your skin is an organ – your body’s largest one in fact.

Skin ingests pretty much everything you put on it. Ingredients travel straight into your bloodstream, which then carries them to your organs. In fact, research shows that skin can absorb as much as 60% of whatever is applied on it.

Soap, a skincare product you use every single day, typically hosts chemical culprits that lurk behind pleasantly packaged bars and bottles. Consider these ‘conventional’ soap ingredients…

1,4-Dioxane

This petrochemical is considered a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In spite of its toxicity, you won’t find 1,4 Dioxane on ingredient lists since it’s actually a byproduct caused by the manufacturing of other ingredients. If a product has ingredients with an ‘eth’ in their name – sodium laureth sulphate, polyethylene glycol, oleth, myreth, ceneareth – most likely, the product will test positive for 1,4 Dioxane.

Diethanolamine

DEA is a surfactant that helps to stabilize foams and is a potential carcinogen. It is readily absorbed through the skin and has been linked with stomach, esophagus, liver and bladder cancers according to the Cancer Prevention Coalition. Beware of synthetic, “natural” ingredients like cocamide DEA

Parabens

A known endocrine disruptor, parabens interfere with the body’s natural hormones. According to the Environmental Working Group and many other sources, parabens are also linked to cancer. On labels, they can be found as methylparaben, ethylparaben, butylparaben and propylparaben.

There’s many more, but you get the point…it turns out that getting clean can be a dirty business. That’s why organic soap isn’t just a luxury…when it comes to your health, it’s a necessity.

Posted on May 16, 2008 - by nvbath

Organic Rosemary Soap

An herbaceously scented essential oil, rosemary is known for its ability to purify and cleanse. Coupled with the dark green of barley grass, this bar evokes the gentle healing power of the plant kingdom.

Posted on May 16, 2008 - by nvbath

Pink Grapefruit Organic Soap

The pink grapefruit essential oil gives the bars a light orange tint and a bright citrus scent with floral notes. Combined with the deeper, spicier notes of lemongrass, this soap is both enlivening and centering. The finely ground organic oatmeal acts as a gentle exfoliant for all parts of the body and face, making this bar great for the shower.

Posted on May 16, 2008 - by nvbath

Cinnamon Soap…for the kitchen

The rich aromatic spice of cinnamon combines with the earthy pungency of ginger to create a scent that enlivens and invigorates. These essential oils have strong anti-microbial properties. The ground coffee provides a cleansing action and cuts through odiferous oils like garlic, onion, and fish. These qualities make it a great bar for use at the kitchen sink. The sweet citrus of orange and the spicyness of cinnamon combine in a scent that enlivens and invigorates. The olive mud, ultra-fine particles of olive pumace which settle out of unfiltered organic extra virgin olive oil, is a rich substance which is a source of anti-oxidants and moisturizing superfatting oil.