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Q: What does organica mean by "organic soap"?
Q: Does organica soap have organic certification?
Q: What makes a good bar soap?
Q: Do organica 's soaps contain glycerin?
Q: What are essential oils and fragrance oils?
Q: What is superfatting?
Q: Do organica soaps contain lye?
Q: Do organica 's organic soaps contain sls?
What does Organica mean by "organic soap"?
To us, organic soap means a soap made with certified organic ingredients. We oppose the body care industry's use of the word "natural" to include synthetic fragrances, colorants, and preservatives. We add no artificial substances to our soaps, such as synthetic fragrances, colours, dyes, and preservatives. Our purely organic soaps are scented with essential oils only. The soap base recipe is made from certified organic oils. There are no added chemicals in our soaps. Read through our ingredient list to see what we mean by "organic soap." Then, to really see what we mean, take a copy of our ingredients with you next time you go to the store and compare them to the ingredients of soaps on the shelves. Your skin will know the difference.
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Does Organica Soap have organic certification?
Yes. The ingredients used in our soaps are certified organic. Our certifying agency is Uttaranchal State Organic Certification Agency (USOCA). Organic certification is a rigorous professional standard that must be validated and re-issued annually. Many skin-care companies claim to sell organic products but are not officially certified. Without certification, they are actually in breach of national policy, and, technically, they are not allowed to make the organic claim. At Organica, official organic certification assures our customers that our ingredients, our facility, and our procedures truly support our organic status.
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What makes a good bar soap?
A good bar soap balances bar hardness (durability), lather quality (both fluffiness and stability), and moisturizing ability. These different properties come from the different fatty acids that make up molecules of the organic vegetable oils we use as the base of our herbal soap. Unfortunately, the fatty acids that are moisturizing are not those that contribute much to lather quality, and the ones that make great lather are drying to our skin. A perfect bar soap is the result of carefully balancing the fatty acids to maximize the bar's hardness, lather quality, and moisturizing ability. Still confused? Try our organic soaps. Trust us.
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Do Organica's soaps contain glycerin?
Yes. Glycerin is a natural part of the vegetable oils we use to make our soaps, so it is a natural part of all Organica soaps. Our soaps qualify as "glycerin soaps," because glycerin accounts for 9-10% of the final product. Unlike most commercial soap companies, we retain all glycerin produced during the saponification process. Since glycerin is a sellable commodity, commercial soap makers remove it for sale, or they keep trace amounts for mention on their labels. Our soaps differ from clear "glycerin soaps" because our bars are not transparent. To produce their transparency, "glycerin soaps" contain a sugar-alcohol compound that can dry your skin.
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What are essential oils and fragrance oils?
This is one of the most common misrepresentations among natural products, especially for natural soaps. Essential oils are pure plant extracts used for scenting or aromatherapy. Fragrance oils are synthetically made substitutes for essential oils. Many soaps, even those labeled "natural" contain fragrance oils. Often, a soap label will say "contains essential oils." However, such a label can be deceiving -- it is always important to check if it ALSO contains fragrance oils. Fragrance oils are problematic because, as synthetic compounds, they dry out your skin and irritate sensitive skin. All Organica Soaps contain only true, plant-extract essential oils. As always, read a product's label. If the ingredients include the word "fragrance," or "perfume," then it's synthetic and not-natural, even though its packaging may say it is a natural soap.
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What is superfatting?
Superfatting is a process by which we maintain extra skin-nourishing oils in their soaps. All Organica soaps have superfatted recipes. Superfatting soaps do not make your skin oily. Rather, it allows your skin to maintain natural moisture levels.
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Do Organica soaps contain lye?
All soaps, including Organica's, are made using lye (NaOH, "sodium hydroxide"). Even transparent "glycerin" soap and "melt and pour" soaps are made using lye. (Transparent glycerin soaps are made from oil and lye, like opaque soaps, except that a sugar-alcohol compound is added to maintain transparency.) In a properly produced soap, lye is a raw ingredient, but there is no lye that remains in the final product. All lye is consumed in the saponification process and presents no danger to you. Superfatting further assures that all lye is consumed. Any company that claims their soap is not made with lye is either promoting false information or doesn't understand the chemistry behind soap.
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Do Organica's soaps contain SLS?
No. SLS (sodium laurel sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate) and other surfactants are often added to soaps to increase lather quality. They are commonly found in soaps, including many marketed as natural soaps, as well as glycerin soaps, liquid soaps, and shampoos. As synthetic compounds, SLS and other surfactants dry out your skin and, for many people, cause irritation. At Organica, we use neither SLS nor any other surfactants. We don't believe in cost-cutting short cuts. Instead, we prefer to focus on making high quality soaps from organic oils that doesn't depend on surfactants for its lather. We carefully balance the oils in our base recipe to provide the proper fatty acid mix for a wonderful, rich - and most importantly - completely natural lather.
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