For Soapmakers: How to Navigate the IFRA!

This Pumpkin Spice soap has clove, vetiver, ginger, anise and patchouli EOs with vanilla oleoresin - a TON of IFRA math involved!

So it's Fall and those spicy essential oils come a-callin' to be made into some yummy, delicious soaps. Tis the season - they deserve to be in your shower!

Not so fast! Despite what many in the essential oil industry may lead you to believe, there *is* a guideline for safe essential oil use on your skin, even in soap. There's a limit that's set forth by the IFRA (International Fragrance Association) - you can find them at www.ifraorg.org. Some suppliers do the work for you and provide their own IFRA certificates for their essential oils. Check with your essential oil supplier for this information first as it will save you a TON of time!

But what if your supplier doesn't supply this information? Well that's when you'll need to figure out your oil's limits on your own with the IFRA.

And that's when stuff gets real. How do you use this BLASTED website? I just want to know how much clove essential oil I can put into my cinnamon clove soap! Geesh! Well, gentle soaper, I am here to help you on your way. Here's the steps I generally go through to determine the UPPER LIMIT for essential oil usage in my soap. This isn't to say that you can't use less - it's just the top of the range is all. I like to both write on the labels on my essential oil bottles and keep a running list in the back of my soap journal of each of the usage rates I've already noodled out. I suggest doing the same so you're not going through this all the time!

First, a word on essential oils and the things to look for when buying them. You'll see why we need a supplier that gives you all of the following information once we dig into the usage rates with the IFRA. We will need to be using essential oil suppliers who readily provide you with the following information:

- Botanical name of the plant the EO originated from. This is a latin name - for clove bud, we're looking for "Syzygium aromaticum L." This is how we know that we are *all* talking about the same plant here.

- Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry lab report (GC/MS). This report gives you a breakdown of what is in the essential oil - normally a combination of terpenes, aldehydes, esters, phenols, oxides, alcohols and ketones. It should also give you the percentages of these components within the oil - so you know WHAT and HOW MUCH of each constituent is in your essential oil.

These are bare bones. I also like to have country of origin, the part of the plant that the EO was distilled from (leaf, fruit, bark, root, etc), and the method of extraction (steam, CO2, cold pressed). All of these affect the aromatic quality of the oil and, in some cases, the makeup of the oil's profile.

So let's get down to business!

From here on out, I'm going to use Clove Bud (Indonesia) essential oil from New Directions Aromatics (NDA) as my example. There is a .pdf of the oil's GC/MS report here.

The document you'll want (NEED!) from the IFRA is this one. Keep in mind that these standards are always being reviewed and reevaluated. An oil that's OK at one usage rate today may not be next year. I check about every 6 months or so to make sure I'm still in the right range. That might be too often, and generally you'll hear some noise-making about a popular oil's rate being changed. I just happen to be a particular brand of careful (husband might say paranoid) so I check often!

OK, back to clove! According to that GC report, this clove EO has 73.6% straight Eugenol - that's the main component of this oil. There's an additional 4.7% Eugenyl Acetate on the report - for the purposes of the IFRA, you'll find that they're both the "same thing" as far as their restriction goes. So we'll say that for this clove bud essential oil, we're dealing with 78.3% Eugenol. I like to always round UP whenever I see a decimal, because as you saw above, I'm a Nervous Nelly! So we'll call it at 79% Eugenol.

Now go to your IFRA .pdf document. Type ctrl + F. There should be a search box in the upper right. Type "Eugenol" in. You'll come across an entry with a heading that says "Eugenol" - on the .pdf file, it's on page 180.

The thing to look for here is that 1) Yes, it is Restricted and 2) The box of categories with the usage rates restrictions. For the purposes of soapmaking, we want category 9 - which is for bar soap (also liquid soap and other things). In a finished product, we can only have 0.5% Eugenol total.

OK! So now it's time for some math. Let's say you're about to make a 2 lb loaf of soap. I like to work in grams, and you'll see why in a minute. Two pounds of soap translates to about 905 grams total. This is your FINISHED soap (cured) - so if you're looking at your recipe of oils and additives, then I would add up everything except your liquid to get your total. As we all know, that liquid evaporates out and would therefore make all the other ingredients that much more concentrated - including that eugenol. So just take that out of your equation. We'll pretend that the 905 grams of soap is already minus our liquid. Ready for the math? Here goes:

0.5% of 905 grams (0.005 * 905) is 4.52 grams. That's the most Eugenol you can have in your soap. See why I used grams? That's a fraction of an ounce right there, so the smaller measurement will be more accurate.

To find out how much total clove bud oil we can use, you'll need to divide by the percentage of Eugenol (79%) we found in our Clove Bud oil. So: 4.52 / 0.79 = 5.721518987341772

ROUND DOWN. Unless you have a special scale that is great at reading those fractions of a gram, of course. I don't have such fancy things, so I round down to be safe. For this soap, you can only use 5 grams of this Clove Bud oil.

Now, if you have a smaller fraction than that and you want an easy way to measure those fractions without a fancy scale, you can always create a dilution. Let's say that getting to that .7 of a gram is really important to you and your blend. Do a 10% dilution of EO into a carrier oil that is in your soaping oils (let's say olive). So you can use 5 grams of your straight clove bud oil and 7 grams of your 10% dilution in olive oil to get pretty darned close!

And that's how you get your UPPER LIMIT from the IFRA for your oils. I used the upper limit in the soap pictured above (actually a little less!) and I can still smell it. Clove is actually quite potent! And now I know that, unless I come across a particularly sensitive/allergic person, my soap is generally safe for use. Whew!

A few more things to mention:

The reason you'll want to know the PART of the plant used for gathering the essential oil is that the oil's profile can vary widely, even on the same botanical name! For example, to compare to the clove bud above, there's also clove LEAF essential oil, which has a higher Eugenol rate (about 86%). You'll find the same goes with cinnamon LEAF v. BARK. For a higher usage, go with clove bud and cinnamon leaf. Bear in mind that the main sensitizer in cinnamon leaf is ALSO Eugenol, so you'll want to watch the total content of Eugenol in your recipe if you use both of these oils.

The other IFRA categories refer to other types of products you may also be making, including (but not limited to) lip products, lotions, shaving, toothpaste, and products for babies/children. Page 12 of this .pdf has an exhaustive list of these categories and which products they contain. So you can do the same calculations as this for any product - but definitely include the water content in your lotions and such!

Some oils are harder to figure out - a lot of folks ran into trouble with Star Anise and Aniseed essential oils: both are different botanical names - different plants - but similar profiles/aromatic scent due to the Anethole content in both. But look for "Anethole" in the IFRA .pdf and it's not there, despite being on the GC/MS reports from NDA for those oils. This is where having references like Robert Tisserand's book (Essential Oil Safety) become very useful. In it, you'll find that the sensitizer in these oils is anisyl alcohol - which IS listed in the IFRA's document. Some oils require a bit more digging in order to find them - and this is where a certified aromatherapist and resources that are written by/used by aromatherapists and chemists alike can actually come in handy!

And now, a warning (you knew it was coming!): Some oils are just plain not meant for soaping (or for any other use on your body). Some of them can be rectified to remove the compound that's banned (for example: Cade essential oil is nearly ALWAYS rectified to remove the carcinogen that naturally occurs in this oil). Bitter Almond can come FFPA (Free From Prussic Acid - aka cyanide). Some EOs, unfortunately, are irredeemable. These would include wintergreen (99% methyl salicylate - or SUPER concentrated aspirin; one drop is about 3 adult dose aspirin pills), fig leaf and wormwood, among others. Please do your research on the risks of every essential oil you are interested in. Again, Tisserand's book here is a great resource.

And one final note: I am a soapmaker. I am not an aromatherapist, not a professional in the fragrance industry, and not at all a medical professional. This is info I've managed to cobble together from various forums on the web in addition to a few books. If you find anything that's not accurate, PLEASE let me know. You can either comment or email me at jen.ohtc@gmail.com. I'm happy to admit where I'm wrong and fix it so we're not perpetuating any blind leading the blind around here! While I have a lot of knowledge on essential oils, I also know enough to know I don't know everything and that's OK - it's what makes them so much fun! Always learning something new!

And to think I thought I left behind all math and chemistry years ago. Ha! :-)

2014 HSCG Soap Conference!

*Blows dust off blog*

A-ha! It's still here! The official OHTC blog is - is - ALIIIVE! :-)

It's now getting to the end of May, and we're back. I'm back! Jennifer Robinson, proprietress of OHTC and terrible blogger extraordinaire. Well, inconsistent if not terrible. But I've boomeranged my random thoughts back, baby! There's a lot to cover, but I'm going to parcel it out over a few posts since it may be a bit overwhelming in a single post. We cool with that?


Off to learn all I can learn at the HSCG 2014 conference!
First, I'm going to talk about an amazing organization for soapmakers and cosmetics manufacturers called the Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetics Guild (of which I am a proud member!). Not only do they offer a pile of great incentives for being a member, but the camaraderie and networking with other soapmakers is downright invaluable. Some of my awesomest friends are also fellow guild members! If you're a soapmaker reading this and on the fence about joining the guild, then I cannot recommend it highly enough (even if you do not attend their annual conference). Join us! www.soapguild.org

As for the annual conference, this year we all descended upon the amazing town of Tucson, AZ for a jam-packed few days of all things soap and cosmetics! If you're reading this and wondering why cosmetics, then I invite you to read a prior blog post on here (Ingredients) which explains why so often items like soap, sugar scrubs and salt soaks can be considered a "cosmetic" rather than simply just soap!

I learned quite a bit at this year's conference, and something that I truly did not expect to learn along the way: that OHTC is actually going in a great direction and making some wicked smaht moves after all! It turns out that the worst thing I'm doing is getting in my own way and being my own worst enemy! Small business, as I learn again and again, is 90% hard work and persistence, once you have your amazing product and the confidence to know that you and your stuffs is enough! I'm sure you can guess by my bolding where I needed a swift kick in the pants!

What does this mean for OHTC? I got the tough love about being more confident in my product and my knowledge base. It turns out that obsessively reading, researching, blending, experimenting, learning over a period of several years (7 years alone with essential oils and 5 years with soapmaking - holy cow!) does amount to quite a bit. I make a fabulous soap guys, and I'm not afraid to say it!

Radio silence is over, fabulous soap, amazing skin goodness and out-of-this-world scents are back in!

Thank you: HSCG fairies, speakers, friends, family, little girls, one crazy supportive husband, big bubbles and even bigger hugs. I needed it so much!

Chai Tea Soap!

I first tried chai tea (the actual beverage) when I was about 16 years old, in a now-long-gone coffeehouse on Bardstown Road in Louisville, KY (Twice Told Coffeehouse, guys - *tear*). They even offered a chai shake that was to die for. When I started selling soap, nailing a chai tea scent for soap became a huge priority. Spicy, sweet and warm - who wouldn't be thrilled with that combination?

Chai Tea Soap. A bit spicy, but very much like the real thing!

I went through several, ahem, "drafts" of this soap. I knew I wanted the color split, a sprinkle of nutmeg on top, and soap curls on one side. The color split, believe it or not, is the toughest thing to pull off! Vanilla and vanilla-based items tend to make soap turn brown. I found that I got the most authentic chai tea scent when I used (of course) real chai tea extract (which I make myself from bags of certified organic chai tea). The extract is oil-based and takes several months to make; I tend to have several mason jars of it going at any given time!

Infusing!

When I make this soap, I measure out my butters and oils with a discount in the olive oil. The entire batch is scented with a blend of mace, clove, cinnamon, and ginger essential oils (all at skin-safe levels according to IFRA guidelines for soap). I then carefully split my batch by weight and add in the discounted olive oil to each pot: regular olive oil goes into the soap batter that's intended to go white, and vanilla oleoresin and chai tea extract (in olive oil) goes into my "brown" pot. Vanilla naturally turns soap brown due to its vanillin content, which works perfectly for the design of this soap! 

So where's the math? Well, for every batch I make, I have to carefully calculate the amount of lye that I use in order to turn all of my butters and oils into soap. In fact, I actually discount my lye amount (as most soapers do) in order to have a % of free/unsaponified oils and butters in my soap, which makes it extra moisturizing! I have a regular recipe that I use for most of my soaps (the ones with the super high shea butter content) and I tend to follow that base recipe with variations on scent and color. For this particular soap, it's less straightforward as I have to account for extra oils with my extract. So it's back to the calculator!

Curls, the dregs of my last infusion, and powdered nutmeg for the top!

In the mold, mission accomplished!

The result, thankfully, is very much worth the effort! Chai Tea is a popular bar with quite the following - great for folks who can't decide which bar to start off with!

Available here: Chai Tea Soap

Jennifer

The Day I Found Soapmaking

On its surface, making soap is a really weird sort of thing to decide to start doing. I certainly wasn't putting it down on my "what I want to be when I grow up" worksheets when I was in school. I have actually changed professions quite a bit in my time (I've been a newspaper reporter, worked in human resources, lifeguarding and swim instructor through high school and college - the list goes on!). 

Audrey and her little sister Daphne, April 2013.

In 2008, my husband and I welcomed our first child into our family: Audrey! One day, after giving my new little baby a bath, I noticed that she was developing flaky, dry patches on her skin. I had had similar patches on my legs for most of my adult life. My husband, a family practice doctor, had said that there wasn't much to be done about it beyond the prescription creams I'd tried up to that point. It's funny how you'll let things like that go about yourself but when it happens to your kids, you MUST fix it immediately!

It was around this time that I dug a little deeper into the products I was using on my baby's skin that an (ahem) popular baby wash manufacturer - the very one we'd been using - disclosed that they did in fact put formaldehyde in their products. How was this possible? This came from a formaldehyde-releasing preservative (Quaternium-15) used in all of their products. 

At this point in time, my family and I lived in Indianapolis, where we had stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's to shop in. A new Kroger has sprung up and offered an expanded selection of their "Nature's Market" section. This was in the early days of our crunchy/granola revolution (where as a family, we prioritized certified organic foods, breastfeeding, making our own household cleaners, and the like). You know where this is heading: along the way, I stumbled across lye-based soaps. A cursory search found many folks were making soaps this way; my interest was immediately piqued.

My very first bar of soap: Lavender with Oatmeal and Honey

It took me several months of obsessive research, reading, video watching, and poring over www.millersoap.com before I made my first soap. That soap was made using olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil (which we no longer use), lye, water, colloidal oatmeal, honey (which darkened the soap), and lavender essential oil. I still have a bar of this soap! While I can't truly compare this soap to the ones I make now in quality (it's quite laughable really), at the time we LOVED and used up nearly every bar of this soap. It immediately replaced all of our soap; even my husband (who really just wants to be clean - who cares about the soap!) refused to use anything else. Audrey's little dry spots vanished, and along the way, my legs stopped having their flaky, dry patches. 

We were completely converted. This is why so often, you'll hear me say that handmade soap - ANY handmade soap - is going to be better than 99% of anything else you can buy. It took me many more years before I started to sell my soap, time that I am grateful that I spent because it allowed me to tweak and perfect my final recipes before selling, as well as the experience I gained in what happens when a soap batch goes wrong, what my soap looks like one (or five!) years out, how my scents age, and to see what my colorants will do (which is especially important when using plant-based colorants; not all of them perform equally!).

Logo!

But what's with the name, you ask? I didn't want to insert my kids, who are my ultimate inspirations, into my business model. Orchard Hill is my happy place. It's a grove of trees in bloom, bees buzzing, wind swishing through the leaves, a hammock strung between branches, and complete serenity. I actually think about it when I meditate and when I'm calming down at the end of the day, ready to go to sleep. It's the feeling I want someone to experience whenever they use something I make. I think of it before everything I make!

Soapy soaps!

Freshly-cut bars of Mentha Veridis (Eucalyptus + Mint with Rosemary), waiting to cure!

Since we have some new fans, I thought I'd go a little into what a standard OHTC bar of soap is like. The only exception to all the attributes I'm about to mention is our Oatmeal, Milk and Honey bar, which we try to keep as simple as possible for folks who just want soap with few ingredients to lessen the possibility of irritation.

First of all, when it comes to soap, you can rarely go wrong with choosing a soap made the old-fashioned way (with lye and oils) over what we call a "syndet" (synthetic detergent) based bar. There are a myriad of reasons, from better conditioning properties, fewer harsh chemicals, fewer toxins, and you have the manufacturer - me! - to talk to about any particularities when it comes to soap. So anytime I hear someone loves to use handcrafted soap, regardless of whether it comes from me or not, I know that they're already a convert to just how amazing and different handcrafted soap is!

Source: The Facebook page for Wax and Soapy Water

It's amazing how much the handcrafted soap movement has grown since I first started making soap. And just like the people making it, each soap is different and each soap formula is unique. At OHTC, our soaps all contain certified organic coconut milk for scrumptiously decadent lather, over 20% fresh shea butter (so your skin doesn't immediately get that awful tight feeling when you step out of the shower; oh I hate that!), pure cosmetic grade clays that are mined from the earth (and fully tested for impurities), and scented with essential oils, oleoresins, extracts, teas, botanicals, and herbs and spices you'd find in the grocery store. We only use food grade oils and butters in our soaps, and we have chosen to only use fats that have a long shelf life (like extra virgin olive oil and coconut) so you won't find your bar of soap going rancid before its time. These aren't Crisco oil bars. We are also palm oil free and choose not to use rendered fats from animals (this isn't to say that these don't make great bars of soap, because they certainly can! Our formula just went another way.). Each bar is individualized not only in scent, but also with its own blend of botanicals, clays, and design. 

OHTC's Tea Tree Mint. How many colors can you find?
They're all from clays, zinc oxide, cocoa powder, nettle leaves, and activated charcoal!

So how can you compare handcrafted soaps to each other? You can always read labels, if they're made available (soap doesn't strictly have to list ingredients, and many soapers use this as an opportunity to use terms like "natural fats" or "vegetable oil" to describe their soapmaking oils). But in reality, it's an impossible mission. We all have different skin needs and different opinions about skin care. Thank goodness there's a growing number of soapmakers to take care of all of us!

OHTC and artificial dyes!

Really love our new Facebook cover photo! All those pretty colors!

Did you know that we don't use artificial colorants, like, ever? Not in one single product! We leave our 100% soy wax tarts and candles free of dye, UV color stabilizers and other such additives. How is that a benefit to you?

Cheaper materials cost for us - cheaper prices for you!

Fewer toxins to disperse in your home!

What about our brightly colored soaps, you ask? The FDA classifies what can be considered a colorant in cosmetics, none of which are used in our soaps. We instead like to use natural additives such as pure cosmetic clays, which come from the earth and not a lab, certified organic botanicals, and food grade spices and herbs often found in your local grocery store!

Working with additives such as these is not a hindrance to my final designs; in fact I love the challenge! I hope you enjoy the end result as well!

Essential Oils and the IFRA

My gorgeous five pound jug of lavender essential oil!
Sadly, not many photos in this post. Wall of text.
Preemptive apologies for that.

Wow, what a dull title, right? I'm trying to keep my titles in keeping with my posts, and it's hard to do that without being a little dull. I promise, this is not an entirely dull topic, especially if you enjoy essential oils! The safe use of these oils in cosmetics (which, if you've read my earlier FDA post, is what I technically make) is actually standardized by an organization called the IFRA (International Fragrance Association), which you'll see me refer to often when I talk about my products ("following IFRA guidelines" is a familiar phrase). According to their website:

The IFRA Standards form the basis for the globally accepted and recognized risk management system for the safe use of fragrance ingredients and are part of the IFRA Code of Practice. 

This is the self-regulating system of the industry, based on risk assessments carried out by an independent Expert Panel.

In the United States, the key concept here is "self-regulating" - meaning there's no one looking over my notebooks, formulations, essential oil blends and usage rates to make sure that they're at a healthy and safe level for their intended use. It is up to me, the maker, to do the research and provide a product that won't be harmful to your health. The FDA can always decide to inspect me and my products at any time, but it's a very rare occurrence, especially if you aren't obviously flouting their rules (making wild drug claims, having mislabeled products, etc.). If you're a maker and reading this, then I highly recommend brushing up on FDA regulations for cosmetics and soap! There are several resources that I will link to at the end of this post. Hold me accountable if I forget to post them!

Back to the IFRA. With regard to skin safe fragrance oils, their components are often kept secret, even from those of us using them for an end product (this is to help protect their often proprietary blends; some essential oil blenders will do the same thing to protect a blend that took a long time to develop). It is up to us, the maker, to make sure that what we're using is safe for its intended use (some fragrances are only safe in candles, and not on skin, for example) and to make sure that we're using it at a safe usage rate, which the fragrance oil manufacturer will often provide to us (run away if they don't!). They base those usage rates on IFRA guidelines for the individual fragrance components of their oils.

But what if we're dealing with essential oils? Here's where things get a little more murky, and sometimes even a little controversial. The IFRA releases a standards booklet and is currently in their 47th edition of this booklet. Inside, you won't find, for example, cinnamon leaf essential oil. According to the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry report that I have for my cinnamon leaf oil, it's comprised of 79.5% Eugenol (and lists other components as cinnamic aldehyde, benzyl benzoate, and linalool). When I search for Eugenol in the .pdf file I have of the IFRA booklet, I find that it is a restricted substance for all 11 categories listed. The category I'm most interested in is typically number 9 (wash-off products like shampoo, bar soap, rinse off conditioners, body wash). Eugenol is restricted to .5% of my total end product. A typical initial soap batch (not full-scale production) is about 2,500 grams total weight. I can use 12.5 grams of Eugenol. For my cinnamon leaf oil, this is about 15.72 grams MAX of this essential oil. I'll introduce just one anecdotal piece to this blog post: I've had cinnamon BARK oil (which typically has 1/10th the usage rate recommendation of cinnamon leaf oil, so much more potent) accidentally make contact with my skin. What a burn that was! Ouch! I was lucky that it was a very small amount (not even a full drop, just a teensy bit of residue) and I was able to wash it off rather quickly.

Why restrict an essential oil's usage rate? For the example above, cinnamon leaf oil, the reason listed by the IFRA is due to sensitization. Sensitization means you are becoming allergic to and then developing an increasing allergic response to a substance - so future exposure to Eugenol-containing items, even very small amounts as in any other allergy, can result in an allergic reaction, sometimes severe. Eugenol isn't just in cinnamon leaves - it's in the regular powdered cinnamon at the grocery store, cloves, nutmeg, basil, anise, lemon balm, dill, vanilla, bay laurel and even celery. This isn't to say you should restrict your consumption of any of those foods, since essential oils are several times more potent than its source (an often-quoted example that I hear is that one drop of an herb's essential oil is typically the same as 75 cups of tea made from the same herb. Obviously, your mileage may vary from herb to herb.). Sensitization is possible with overuse of nearly any essential oil, even relatively safe ones like lavender and tea tree oil. (Says someone who is deeply allergic to tea tree oil!)

So how did the IFRA decide that Eugenol was a sensitizer? An RIFM (Research Institute for Fragrance Materials) expert panel met to review Eugenol and the evidence of its effect on the human body. The IFRA booklet cites seven academic sources for its decision, all of which are peer-reviewed articles, many of which have been published in medical journals such as American Journal of Toxicology, Journal of Applied Toxicology, and American Journal of Contact Dermatitis, to name a few.

For me, the wife of a doctor, an evidence-based answer such as this is all I need. I know there are many armchair aromatherapists out there who will dispute this. Since I am selling a product from my own company, under my own personal liability and carrying my own product liability insurance, and that product is intended for the public, I have a duty to them to do the safe and right thing. I don't sell essential oils mostly so I can allow myself to remain impartial whenever I criticize some of the selling practices that are common nowadays (because I have nothing to "gain" as I am not a competitor, but a very large bulk purchaser - I have purchased close to 100 lbs of essential oils so far in my lifetime). I have merely been a student, albeit a nontraditional one, of these substances for several years (even longer than I have been making soap, which is now about to be in its 5th year). And honestly, given the chemical makeup of so many of these oils and the different varieties and chemotypes that exist within each oil, I know this: I don't know everything. Not even close. Not even scratching the surface. That's why there's entire schools of study (chemistry, certified aromatherapists, and the like) devoted to these studies. I do know that I can operate within certain safety parameters set forth by experts who have much more experience than I do, and I'm happy that makers such as myself have these resources!

Bars of Bliss Soap; Tangerine + Lavender essential oils with Calendula petals.

One final note, especially if you're a soapmaker like me. We often like to tell one another to run any new soap formula through a lye calculator to ensure that we're creating a safe end product. Why not do the same homework if you work with essential oils? It's every bit as important. In order to do so, it's also just as important to know what you are buying if you purchase essential oils. Can you get a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry report? Do you know the country of origin? The botanical name? Is there a chemotype? Don't ask if they run the report, ask that it be made available to you. If it isn't, move on. Plenty of reputable companies are able to provide this information, many of which are listed right alongside the oil as it's for sale.

And here's those resources that I said I'd tell you about!

Marie Gale's book, Soap and Cosmetic Labeling. This is a MUST READ if you make and sell soap, even if you're just claiming that it's soap that cleans. Most soapmakers claim much more than that (cosmetics are moisturizing, exfoliating, retaining moisture barrier. Anything beyond is a mislabeled drug.). Written by a soapmaker for other soapmakers! 

IFRA Standards Booklet, 47th Edition (this is a .pdf that will download for free!)

Robert Tisserand's Essential Oil Safety, 2nd Edition. This book goes a step further than IFRA guidelines, especially for essential oils which have no restricted usage rate under the IFRA but may cause sensitization at very high concentrations.

New Directions Aromatics is an essential oil supplier who readily supplies gas chromatography/mass spectrometry reports on all of their oils for your viewing pleasure before you purchase. This is one of the few bulk suppliers I use who does make smaller vials of oils available for purchase (1/6 oz, 1/2 oz, and 3.3 oz before moving up to 16.6 oz or more).

And one last resource: Wholesale Supplies Plus is a supplier that I sometimes use who creates documentation that lists IFRA recommended usage rates for their essential oils. They've done the homework for you, so if all of this is a bit too much but you still want to use essential oils - I highly recommend them.

That post about preservatives!

Yeah, I'm hitting you with the icky right off the bat. Who wants to avoid this yuck? We do!
Courtesy: Brambleberry Blog

As a self-professed semi-crunchy mom, I dreaded writing this post. Preservatives in the natural community are viewed as a fairly evil entity, believed to cause cancer, eczema, psoriasis, allergic reactions, contact dermatitis, and general irritation and awfulness. I don't like to say that that's not true - for some people, it's a reality that they react adversely to these substances and there are valid links to cancer - but I want to talk about why cosmetics manufacturers use them and let you decide for yourself! I'm going to tackle lotion in this post as it tends to contain a high percentage of water. We don't currently offer a water-based lotion, and it's because making lotion that contains water is a serious liability risk if done incorrectly. (Don't worry, we have product liability insurance! But we definitely would rather no one need use it!)

First, I'm going to use an example that Swifty Crafty Monkey's blog uses (because it's really great): If you brewed a fresh cup of tea and then let it sit on your counter, when do you think it'd be unsafe to consume? Once it had cooled? A few hours later? A day? A week? A month? Would you let your kids take a sip after a couple of days? Even if it's in the refrigerator - would you drink it after a couple weeks or a month? Now consider a water-based lotion. If allowed to sit unpreserved, it can become contaminated much quicker than many realize (many serious lotion makers consider a couple of hours to be too long). By the time lotion has turned color, separated, or started to smell bad, it's generally been contaminated for quite awhile. Chuck it immediately!

While preservatives have gotten a bad name, unpreserved products can be potentially worse, with the risk for dermal yeast infections, staph infections, contact dermatitis, mystery rashes and sometimes even a life-threatening infection can occur if staph manages to infect a cut or break in the skin. So what should you do? Well, very generally, any water-containing product should include a comprehensive preservation system (not just an antioxidant, like vitamin E or grape seed oil, which merely helps slow down the rancidity of oils but does nothing for microbial activity) that is effective in challenge tests for bacteria, yeast, fungi and mold. Manufacturers are often required to go through their local health department to demonstrate that they manufacture in a sanitary way that follows Good Manufacturing Practice guidelines set forth by the FDA (again, because lotion manufacturing is serious business and has potential for serious liability and health risks). 

Honey has water, no preservatives, yet no ickies!

The "water containing" rule is not a hard and fast one. Honey is a great example of a water-containing substance that does not require a preservative (because the water is "bound" by sugar and not available for microbial activity). Our bar soaps are another example; microbes cannot grow in such an environment due to the highly alkaline Ph that lye-based bar soaps tend to have. Other substances - alcohol, salt and glycerin - can also be used in a high enough percentage in the final product in order to make those items self-preserving. Very generally speaking, these are not useful for lotion making. Glycerin leaves a sticky afterfeel at much more than 3% total usage rate; alcohol can potentially be incredibly drying at the required levels - about 20% - for self-preservation; and sugar/salt make for products that leave an undesirable film on skin for a leave-on product.

Our first preservative-containing product.

Manufacturers have been incredibly fortunate in recent years with newer preservation systems that avoid parabens, which is generally the family of preservatives that many in the natural community take issue with. Here at OHTC, we use such a system in our sugar scrub. Our sugar scrub has a fairly high Ph level due to the soap base we make for it and is also bound by a high percentage of sugar, so it's fairly unlikely that contamination would occur. However, the nature of a sugar scrub is that you'd likely be scooping it out of the jar with - you guessed it - wet fingers, which would introduce water and microbes into the equation. To be completely safe, we've opted to use Optiphen (phenoxyethanol and caprylyl glycol) in our scrubs as it provides broad spectrum preservation against bacteria, yeast, fungi and mold in high Ph environments.

Besides using a paraben-free and formaldehyde-free preservative system, we also use it at a skin-safe usage rate. Many lotions at your local retailer use a much higher percentage of preservatives than is required simply because their products need to be able to sit in warehouses and on store shelves in adverse environments, often for long periods of time, yet still need to stay preserved (think of those large industrial warehouses with little to no air conditioning in the heat of summer). This high percentage of preservative can be a lot to handle for some types of sensitive skin, and understandably a good reason to use an alternative.

So if you've read all of this and in the back of your head you've been screaming "I absolutely have to avoid preservatives!" - is this even possible? Yes it is! Our whipped shea body butter is a great example of a moisturizer that does not contain a preservative. We use a combination of butters and oils to achieve the consistency our butter provides, and don't opt to use an emulsifier (because it's all oil-based, so nothing needs to emulsify!) or a preservation system (it's an anhydrous - or non-water-containing - butter, so there's no medium for icky growth to occur in). Other great options include body oils, balms and lotion bars, all of which are typically anhydrous products as well. An extremely popular option is to simply use single oils, like coconut oil, for dry skin.

Our Whipped Shea Body Butter - preservative-free and still yummy!

If you're intent on using a preservative-free water-based lotion, my best advice is to make it yourself (recipes and methods are an easy Google search away - highly recommend the (free!) .pdfs available at Swifty Crafty Monkey's blog) and to use your new lotion very quickly. Whip up a very small batch, take a shower while it cools, and slather it on! Then refrigerate any leftover and use the remainder as quickly as possible (in my opinion, which is worth whatever you want to say it is, I'd go no longer than a couple days - same as any leftovers from dinner).

A quick final note on manufacturers that claim "preservative-free" and the sneaky labels they employ. Many cosmetics companies (many of whom are large companies with familiar names) use the term "fragrance" to include their preservative, so you may not know which preservative system (paraben/formaldehyde-containing or no) they use. Johnson and Johnson's baby wash has been in some controversy lately for their use of these preservatives hidden with the term "fragrance" on their label. In addition, fragrances can contain parabens all on their own, and it is up to the manufacturer to disclose that information to you. Here at OHTC, we note parabens whenever they are used (this affects a small percentage of our wax products) and we disclose absolutely all ingredients used to create every product intended to be used on the body, so you are able to make up your own mind and satisfy your inner label reader!

I hope that this post was relatively painless and helps you to see why preservatives are considered a vital part of cosmetics manufacturing. The following are several links that are great referrals for the importance of preservatives in our industry:

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2010/10/preservatives.html
http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lotion/when-mold-strikes-2/
The third blog post, from Earth Mama Angel Baby, a company we admire and often refer customers to when they're on the hunt for gentle products for their littlest ones:
http://blog.earthmamaangelbaby.com/mama-u/earth-mamas-take-on-preservatives-detergents-and-reformulations-oh-my

http://www.motherearthessentials.ca/organic_preservatives.php

January: Time to experiment!

For several months, I've had it rattling around in my head that I'd like to try a few new types of soaps, but the holiday rush shoved everything to the back burner - until now! I present to you: liquid soap!

In the crock pot, because liquid soap making does well if you heat up

 the emulsion and accelerate the process of turning the lye solution and fats into soap!
Also, yes, that is my wedding picture!

And now, a bunch of probably dull information about the difference between liquid and bar soap. Have you ever shredded down a bar of soap, added water, and came up with something that had a snotty or glob-like consistency? Generally this means that the bar you shredded down was formed by using sodium hydroxide (lye), which tends to turn gelatinous when melted into water (how many of us have had that happen to our bar soaps that a certain *ahem* husband has just left laying in a puddle in the shower?). Liquid soap manages to avoid this issue by using a different type of lye to saponify with: potassium hydroxide.

The difference between potassium and sodium hydroxide isn't terribly obvious at first: both are a white, solid (or powdered/flaked/granulated), extremely corrosive and strongly alkaline substance. The vegetable oils and fats that I use are actually acids which react with these hydroxides to produce what is essentially a salt. Potassium hydroxide differs in that the reaction yields a soap "paste" that is much more water soluble than the solid sodium hydroxide-based bar soaps. The paste can be diluted down to form a liquid soap that's a consistency we're more familiar with: not snotty or globby, but thick, quickly transforming into bubbles and free of synthetic detergents, triclosan, and artificial foamers. As an added bonus, the soapmaker can control any additives (essential oils, fragrance, color, etc).

Whew! I hope that wasn't too much to absorb. I did end up with some lovely, mostly yellow but transparent liquid soap that feels very nice on the hands. I did a lemongrass and ginger root essential oil blend that I've been playing around with for a future summer soap bar. It's currently sitting in mason jars around my kitchen - my husband claims that it looks like we now make moonshine!

I tend to test my formulations for several months, sometimes for over a year, before offering them up for sale. This way I can watch for ingredient separation, compatibility, consistency, and I continue to test for bacteria/mold/yeast growth (because that can be downright dangerous!). I do all this because I take pride in what I make and I want to bring you the best possible products! I am very hopeful that I'll see this become available later this year!

Body Butters!

I can't live without something to moisturize me. The problem I face in the winter, however, is that water-based lotions just keep me coming back for more and don't deliver the "FINISH HIM!" blow that I'm after for any dry areas (knees, elbows, that spot on my ankle). With this in mind, I began to formulate a body butter to get myself (and maybe some of you!) through the winter. I present the amazingness that is... whipped shea butter!

This is a very heavy cream. In fact, I don't really recommend it as your go-to hand moisturizer unless you're in need of a serious moisture barrier. It operates best after a hot bath right before bed. Why? Because this sucker is well over 75% pure shea butter! I also blend in coconut oil and jojoba oil to lower the melt point so that it melts on contact with warm skin. The butter is whipped together until it's light as air - which is why we list a product weight along with volume, so you know how much butter is in there!

Sadly, having a whip that melts at body temperature means that our whips are only available during the colder winter months, as heat would reduce the whip to a salve-like consistency. Care should also be taken to keep your whip away from any heat sources. If your whip should get melted, all is not lost! You can stick it in the refrigerator to resolidify. It's still got all the goodness, and still useable, but won't be light and fluffy.

In keeping with the rest of my body products, this whip does not contain any dyes or synthetic fragrances. Each whip contains some of our most popular essential oil blends: Lavender Herbs (formerly Lavender Jasmine), Bliss (tangerine + lavender), Ruby (palmarosa, our fresh rosey floral), Mentha Veridis (eucalyptus mint with rosemary) and Hippie Jeans (our premium dark aged patchouli).

This really deserves its own post to explain, but our whips adhere to IFRA guidelines for safe essential oil usage rates, which basically means that we don't use unsafe rates of essential oils and instead use an internationally (and study-supported) recognized rate that has been found to generally be safe. Essential oils are interesting creatures - they are not merely substances that smell good; many of them have properties that sensitive individuals (pregnant mothers, young babies and children, those with certain health conditions) should avoid if they are unsure about how it may affect them.

And my New Year's business resolution (blog more!) continues to be kept! Thank you for muddling through my blog with me!

Let's Talk Sugar Scrubs!

So a few weeks ago, we released our sugar scrub! Personally, I am a big fan of having a good quality scrub on hand, especially during the winter months (though I've been known to use it during the summer as well since smooth skin takes makeup application so much easier!). I try to use a scrub about once or twice a week to keep me flake-free.

I've been testing scrubs for several months, and finally settled on a soap base that's extra packed with moisturizing shea and mango butters, as well as a healthy dose of coconut oil. At its core is a whipped soap developed by us, which allows our scrub to rinse clean away while leaving behind just the right level of moisture for freshly-scrubbed skin. Just check out the first three ingredients: sugar, shea butter and mango butter!

Being an emulsified scrub, this will not leave your tub greasy and it will rinse away with minimal effort. I like to dampen my skin, scrub away (concentrating on flakier areas), and then I like to let it sit for a couple minutes to let all the goodness inside have a chance to soak in before I rinse away. Love!

Want to use a DIY scrub? I'm happy to tell you about one I've been using for years - and the bonus is that you probably have everything you need in your pantry!

For quite awhile, I've been a fan of using olive oil/sugar blends with different essential oils and dried herbs on my skin. This recipe has no preservatives, so it's in small measures in order to allow you to use it quickly. If you make a larger batch, try to avoid introducing water to this scrub as it may grow ickies that you definitely don't want on your skin! Use a clean, dry spoon to scoop up what you need before you even turn on the water. :-)

3 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon carrier oil*
1/2 teaspoon dried herbs (can use ground dried botanicals like lavender buds, calendula petals, chamomile buds, citrus peel, nettle leaf, comfrey, basil, sage, mint flakes, whatever your fancy!)
2-3 drops essential oil (I love lavender, clary sage, geranium, palmarosa and patchouli for the skin!)

Mix them all together in a small bowl. It should be a grainy, almost moldable mixture. Apply to damp skin gently - there's a lot of sugar here, and it can take off quite a bit of skin if you're not careful! Because this is not an emulsified scrub, I don't recommend using in a bath tub as it can leave a slick surface behind. After you let it sit for a minute or two (again, let the goodness seep in!), you'll need to rinse your skin repeatedly (generally until water stops beading on the surface) to remove enough of the oil. It's a wonderfully moisturizing scrub; I've never had to use any type of lotion afterward.

*Some carrier oils to look for are grapeseed, sweet almond, olive, rapeseed (canola), and hemp seed oils. You could also mix your own carrier oils together, which can be an art in and of itself!

Happy scrubbing!