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!