ingredient information.
When we are sourcing ingredients for our products, we look for several things:
1. Firstly, what is the impact of the ingredient? If there is a high negative cost (think impact on the Earth's resources, human cost, etc.), we begin researching alternatives.
2. What are the ethical components of that ingredient? For example, how are those treated that harvest/package/farm the ingredient?
3. What environmental standards does the ingredient/supplier meet?
4. Can we use the ingredient in multiple products? Or, is it limited to one item?
As a reminder, we are a sustainable business, not a "clean beauty" business. Our goal is to make products that take the needs of the Earth into consideration. This means that the decisions we make are for the planet first, and everything else second.
For example:
The conversation of essential oils (EOs) versus fragrance oils (FOs) is an interesting and nuanced one. One on hand, EOs carry many holistic properties and can be incredibly therapeutic for aromatherapy or in other settings. However, the toll EOs have on natural resources is high -- as EOs are made from steam distillation, just think about the water, energy, and plant. The other thing about EOs is that they are not "one size fits all". Not all plants can be used to create EOs, and even then the scents will be fully scents you would find walking through nature (such as rose, lavender, lilac, pine, etc.) This can limit creativity in terms of scents we can offer as products to you.
Perhaps the most important thing to consider with EOs is that not all are safe for skin, such as cinnamon and clove. There are even some EOs that are unsafe to use while pregnant. As we want our products to be accessibly for everyone, EOs can cause allergic reactions as well, which we want to avoid at all costs.
What makes FOs the better option then?
Because FOs are chemically and naturally derived, there is a larger range of scent options. It also means that the risks of allergic reactions is minimized. Again, chemically derived does not mean that it is "bad" or not "clean"; these FOs are simply made in a laboratory in order to ensure highest quality of scents and performance.
Another note: For the scrubs, we keep things as minimal as possible, while still feeling luxurious and "scrubby" as possible. We want our scrubs to be good to your drains and any waterways as well -- this is why our scrubs may seem thinner than other scrubs you may see in stores. We use liquid based oils for this, and other oil based products. (Julia found that with more emulsified oil based products, the drains in her home were becoming clogged more regularly. Thus, this formed the base philosophy for using liquid oils.)
As we plan to continuously monitor our products, looking for the best options available, this space will be continuously updated.