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Name: sarvasoap
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Name: sarvasoap
Nickname: sarvasoap
Member since: 2009-05-15 02:07:14
Website URL: http://www.sarvasoap.com
About me:
Facebook profile
A GLOWING Sarva Soaps review and a special offer too!
April 8th, 2010 at 6:44 pmAnne, thank you! So, so nice to hear from you.
Indeed, jumping for joy on this review!
Colorado votes for sound research and good science.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:56 pmdM, thank you! Your efforts and those of everyone who presented today, got the word out, and worked behind the scenes have been so greatly appreciated. Thank you for all of your hard work.
Colorado versus the cosmetics industry
February 27th, 2010 at 6:49 pmThank you so much, Marge – I’m honored by the comments I’m receiving from industry leaders like you. I must credit Mr. Tisserand for introducing the concept to our dialogue – it is such an important point that I wanted to be sure to really get it out there in the open. To me, this is KEY to the problems with this Act. Thank you again!
Colorado versus the cosmetics industry
February 26th, 2010 at 3:29 pmThanks for your kind words, Anne-Marie! I thought your post was SO effective, so I had to stick it in there! Glad I can be of some help in this situation. This affects all of us. Thank you for taking a position of leadership and helping provide a clear voice to this issue. I have a lot of admiration for you, Kayla, Mr. Tisserand, Donna Maria, and everyone else who’s stood up for small business in this industry.
Colorado versus the cosmetics industry
February 25th, 2010 at 11:24 amThank you for your feedback, Staci. Mr. Tisserand discusses NOAELs in his post as well, and this appears to be a huge problem with the bill. The CFSC did indeed support the FDAGA.
If you are in disagreement with the bill, I urge you to contact the individuals above. Time is running out!
Soap saves lives. Help Haitian relief efforts.
February 1st, 2010 at 7:33 pmPaul, thank you for taking the time to write – I’m honored. We are happy to help support the amazing work you are doing, and hope to contribute more in the near future.
More thoughts on sustainability and natural scent.
January 11th, 2010 at 10:38 amHi Jennifer – Oftentimes a bulk essential oil producer or distributor will want scent consistency from batch to batch, so they will “boost” the essential oils with aromachemicals (specific components of an essential oil) either harvested out of another batch of oils or otherwise obtained.
Sadly, like anything else, it is about money, but of course they want happy customers who can say, “well, the lavender always smells the same from this producer, so I really like buying from them.” We all know that nature is not that consistent!
These companies are dealing in essential oils by the ton, so think of just how much plant matter that is. This is an extreme example, but I believe it takes a ton of rose petals to produce a pound (or a kilo, do not remember) of essential oils. So you see just how much plant matter we’re talking about here, and think about how widely variable that really is.
In short, if you aren’t buying from a company that can give you proof of gas chromatography analysis, you can’t guarantee that you are getting pure essential oils.
Sustainability, regulations, and flowing with change.
January 7th, 2010 at 10:28 pmYes, exactly. There are certain standards of dilution, and again, here in the USA we commonly exceed these safe standards. That’s another facet of the abuse I was referring to. We’re so addicted to strong products, and someone like you, a hairdresser, is inundated with them and very sensitive. Then, we move to aromatherapy, which by its nature must be more subtle, and we are disappointed that we don’t get that same “scent hit” as with all the synthetics. It’s already been proven, though, that you don’t even need to *smell* the essential oil for it to affect you. Your nose has inhaled its molecules whether you consciously smell it or not.
IFRA is trying to address this problem, and thus their standards seem incredibly harsh to us. This is not necessarily the case for every oil in question. What’s more, they propose that we develop a cumulative dermal sensitization reaction to fragrances, natural or synthetic. So they suggest for this reason that thresholds stay even lower.
When you start to think about all of this, you can easily begin to see why fragrance oils are not such a bad idea for skin care products that are manufactured in bulk, reserving essential oils for strict aromatherapy applications.
And this doesn’t even address the environmental/depletion issues!
Further, did you ever notice that organic products often use synthetic fragrance? Given everything we’ve discussed, I’ll let you ponder the several reasons why
Great to hear on the dyes! I use NO synthetic pigments, and no matter what anyone says, oxides are not natural! I do want to point out that, on occasion, I use some clays that may transfer color to pure cotton washcloths, especially red clay. Bear in mind all of those clay-dyed T-shirts you’ve seen.
IFRA would not shut me down. They are not a regulatory body, merely a trade organization. Compliance is voluntary, and many distillers and distributors are actually refusing to join and/or revoking their membership because of these issues. If I was randomly audited by IFRA, they would ask for a product sample and they would run analysis on the sample. If it was found to be in violation, I would be asked to remedy the situation and pull that product or fix it. If I was using materials they banned, they would ask for my supplier’s name and then the supplier would be held liable as well.
Still, the FDA could very easily choose to enforce IFRA’s standards if they so chose. I would likely not be shut down, but if the FDA chose to enforce IFRA standards, things could get difficult. This is why so many people are choosing to be compliant now… at least until the current backlash I’m hearing about.
These are very complex issues, and there is no one right answer.
Sustainability, regulations, and flowing with change.
January 7th, 2010 at 4:03 pmJennifer -
Thank you for your very carefully considered comments! I just completed a new blog post that will hopefully address many of the issues you raised. You are so right… we are all connected. I think the concept of E-cubed will really appeal to you.
As to the difference between essential oils and aromatherapy oils, this has largely to do with the purity, but there are other factors. Aromatherapy-grade EOs (essential oils) are typically confirmed pure by gas chromatography analysis, a process where they examine how light refracts through the molecules of the EO. This refraction process helps determine purity of the EO. There are other techniques, some more and some less advanced, but this is the present reliable industry standard.
Further, Aromatherapy grade EOs are sometimes selected based on their chemotype, meaning the balance of naturally-occurring chemicals that are detected within the oil. There are also different cultivars of, say, Basil, and they will tend to have different chemical compositions, and one specific type of Basil may be helpful for acne (O. sanctum) while more generally speaking, Basil is a great for coughs, decongestant, or a mental alertness aid. But again, you must know the chemotype of your EO in order to determine some of this. You won’t find that information on a bulk bottle of EO or in a grocery store. Those EOs are not as carefully analyzed.
As for EO abuse in America, I was being harsh… in general we are far less trained here to work with these very powerful chemicals, and the assumption is that because they are natural, they are safe. (Do note that a three-year-old boy was poisoned and died from ingesting 10ml, or just 1 teaspoon, of eucalyptus oil in 1980.) It isn’t quite this way in Europe, and aromatherapy certification in Britain is a governmental process.
Hope that helps answer your question! And thank you for your incredibly kind words about the soaps. That means so much to me.
Sustainability, regulations, and flowing with change.
January 6th, 2010 at 6:37 pmlenore69 and Jennifer, thanks for your comments. What I’m doing is letting this serve as a poll. I think we have a vote against any synthetics, two votes for “anything is fine”, and also some very interesting points raised. I invite the comments to continue.
There is a difference sometimes between a green product and an all-natural product. My choices for the all-natural products must, in my mind, remain green, though even what’s green is a nebulous concept. What happens beyond that point will be based on further research
Sustainability, regulations, and flowing with change.
January 6th, 2010 at 3:36 pmBud – what a well informed comment, thank you.
Yes, you are indeed correct. At this point – and I repeat, at this point – compliance is voluntary. This could change. There are individuals in this industry who believe that IFRA/RIFM compliance *now* prevents unnecessary policing by the FDA. Remember, the FDA could easily bring IFRA in as an informational organization and enforce their findings. There is a *lot* of increased FDA regulation in the last few years, and it is not something that would be impossible. They do, in fact, have enforcement power on other issues, and they use it.
I am not a member of IFRA. I purchase from both IFRA and non IFRA member distributors.
There is, however, a different side of this. It is not solely political.
Well, two, actually. (1) The skin safety issues that I believe are of critical importance to adhere to. Some of RIFM’s findings correlate with my own data. Some do not. Some are close. We are left to make our own judgment, but new research continually is available. I can’t stress enough how important is is to treat essential oils like the chemicals they are, natural or no. Essential oils are very nearly abused in this country. Go to Europe and you find a different situation altogether.
(2) Environmental concerns. I am in contact with people who are going to be providing me more information about the environmental impact of essential oils production versus fragrance oils production. Consider deforestation or plants which do not quickly grow back. We have depleted many natural resources.
I also wish to reiterate that I am NOT eliminating products that I – and IFRA – deem safe, and the bulk of my product line will always be natural. This was merely putting feelers out to see what my customers want. If my customers want 100% natural products, and are content to have less choice, then I am happy to oblige.
Thank you again, Bud, for taking the time to write this considered post.
Sustainability, regulations, and flowing with change.
January 6th, 2010 at 11:11 amOne last thing. Many essential oils, while still permitted by IFRA and considered safe in some applications, must be used in such a small amount in a personal care product that they would simply not be detected by the nose. And we learn more about this every year. This, in a way, could be viewed as a waste of precious natural raw materials.
I am NOT advocating polluting our planet, robbing anyone of income, giving anyone cancer, or going completely synthetic. I am advocating as large a view as possible. I will continue to use any essential oils I can, while still knowing I am making the best choice for everyone.
Sustainability, regulations, and flowing with change.
January 6th, 2010 at 10:49 amWe also need to remember that just because it’s natural, that doesn’t mean it’s safe, and there is much clinical data available – that I work with on a daily basis – and we need to be very, very careful what we use.
If my customers want only natural soaps, due to arising regulation, they will have a gradually more limited selection. As you, yourself a natural perfumer, have stated from your own experience, it can be a real challenge to use many essential oils in soap. If my customers are fine with that, then I am too.
I didn’t say I agreed completely with IFRA, and I made it quite clear that I don’t like this either. But true sustainability considers ALL issues: Economic, environmental, safety, and ethics. And that is what I will do.
Sustainability, regulations, and flowing with change.
January 6th, 2010 at 10:45 amThank you for your input, Sonsa. There are many stances on this matter, but I have to admit that I completely disagree with your metaphor.
I am not discontinuing any approved essential oils, nor products made with them, and I will ALWAYS place my top priority on formulating 100% natural products. I have nearly 30 soaps, and I do indeed use a great many essential oils. As I said, stricter regulations are coming that will further limit what we are able to use.
Many crops are indeed part of the economy of battered countries as you so rightly suggest, and I am not stopping using them. That is the key here. I am NOT switching to synthetics.
At this point, all I am doing is opening up an opportunity for customer feedback. If the majority wants a 100% natural soap, that is what I will do. I have not purchased ANY fragrance oils to date.
I believe we need to stay open minded.
Event: Cleveland Food Co-Op Summer Social
July 9th, 2009 at 9:34 amExcellent, Jen! Look forward to seeing you!