Yes, something old IS  new again!  All 3 flavors of the new/old Shampoo Bar  have been flying out the door since we re-introduced them.   It was the most requested item on our customer ‘Wish List.’

At a Salt Spring Island Conservancy meeting last week, an old friend rushed up to tell me she’d just bought and used it…..and NO CONDTIONER!  Her hair looked GREAT! of course…

Yesterday, Molly Phillips showed up….we knew Molly as a toddler when her family lived down the road….later, as a teen, she wrapped soap after school, and as a young lady in university, spent summers working in the shop.  Here she was visiting from the city with a sweet little toddler of her own.  Mollie needed some Baby Care for Charlie…..and asked about the Shampoo Bar!  Heard about it it town…..so I gave her one I had curing on my windowsill  for some reason!  Oh yeah, it was from our test batch.

Lately, I’ve been using two different shampoos; one from the U.S., $22.00 per 8 oz bottle…and the most organic and natural product I’ve ever used.  It smelled divine!  But, I couldn’t get it to lather, and used it all up in a few shampoos by just pouring it on.  But, even with their expensive conditioner, which I liked, my hair wasn’t great.

The other was a national brand, about $18.00 per bottle, and it was nice…lovely scent, lots of lather, but my hair felt like straw after, even with loads of their and/or our conditioner.

Sunday, we biked for 40km up the Galloping Goose!  I was exhausted!  But couldn’t show up anywhere with helmet hair…so, just after falling asleep in the tub, I grabbed a Shampoo Bar, the one for blondes, of course, lathered up in the tub..rinsed off, a quick dry and fell into bed.

Monday a.m., my hair was softer and more shiny than in ages!  O.K. so now I know for sure who has the best shampoo…YES!!!  IT’S  SALTSPRING SOAPWORKS!!!

And no one can believe how long they last!  And NO PLASTIC BOTTLE!

O.K. Back to work….working on the world’s most natural Home Remedy and first aid products!  Coming Soon!!! (I hope!)

Linda Quiring

Founder Saltspring Soapworks

Recently, we reintroduced a product we made  25 years ago:  Our Handmade Natural SHAMPOO BAR!

We  began making it in the mid-80′s.   Several older people had bought my pure white simple soap to use as a shampoo.  When I inquired, they all said the same thing:  In their younger days, there was no such thing as shampoo in a bottle.

I found an old recipe for a shampoo bar, made up a batch and began selling it.  Over time, it’s fame grew, and it became a best-selling product.  Then, I began having trouble with the formula.  This bar is notoriously difficult to make

It seems my supplier had changed the source of my secret ingredient….not only did the bar get really expensive, I lost several batches.  By now, we were also making shampoo in a bottle, with naturally-sourced ingredients, not petro-chemicals.  It became so popular, I scrapped the shampoo bar.

But now, 15 years later, people are still asking for it!  What’s going on??!!

I feel it’s the green thing, and our new Shampoo Bar was recently featured in the Green Section of our local paper.  Hey! No plastic bottle , non-detergent,  all-natural, no conditioners needed, and best of all, lasts forever !  We’ve been giving them to staff and regular fans to use for months while we developed the new formulas….and people have said: “30 or 40 shampoos and still going strong!”

Maybe it’s the secret ingredient!  But, we’re listing our ingredients so I guess it’s no longer a secret!  Yes, CASTOR OIL!  Used for decades as a hair treatment.   Ladies apparently groomed their hair, eyebrows and lashes with it for a glossy, shiny, healthy look.  It was in all kinds of soaps and shampoos in ‘the olden days.’

Comes in three types:

JOJOBA with extra superfatting for fine, dry or treated hair.

CALENDULA & CHAMOMILE  for light hair.

ROSEMARY MINT for normal to oily, and dark hair.

Wow! ARE WE GETTING RAVE REVIEWS!

We’ll be introducing more of our original old hippy herbal products in the near future, like herbal first aid and  home therapy.  Keep in touch to see some things old become new again.

Linda Quiring

Founder,
Saltspring Soapworks

Sometimes, we just have to pat ourselves on the back!  Like when we get rave reviews like this one….from Kira in Vancouver who emailed us….Subject: Kudos

“Hello Linda & Family,

I just had to pass along a quick “WOW” to you folks after using your Vanilla Body Gelato.  I am not a “lotions & potions” kind of person (honestly my boyfriend has more hair and skin care products than me) but the Body Gelato was given to me as a gift and so I figured I’d try it out.

WOW – I don’t ever remember my skin feeling so smooth & soft!  I actually feel CLEAN after that shower!

I should also mention that I’m not the “email strangers with WOW comments” kind of person either, but I felt compelled.  I found your site and read through your history and I totally admire your family & business.

Thanks for the great product (I’ll be looking for more…) and best of luck for many more successful years of business.”

WOW!  Now, that’s the kind of feedback that’s kept us going for over 30 years! After that, what more can I say, except:

Thanks to you, too, Kira!  WOW! What a great customer!

Linda

Actually, Two Soaps!

Heather has been my right-hand-man, I mean woman, I mean assistant, I mean side-kick for around 15 years!  Besides being the Mom in our company, meaning she remembers the birthdays, orders in Chinese, keeps track of the party fund…..she has actual duties at Saltspring  Soapworks.

Heather organizes and helps the soapmaking crew,  does all the ordering and inventory and things like that…but most importantly, I think, she helps create all of our incredible products!

I get to invent new things….because I am the oldest and have been here for 31 years!  I get an idea, like what if we did a new Bath Bomb for summer…how about strawberry and something….maybe vanilla?  So, I tell Heather my idea (she always likes it) and then she goes in the back and makes one.  Sometimes she comes up with little or big changes and the new thing gets even better.  But now, well,,,,I am not sure how I feel about this…but Heather invented two soaps!

She didn’t tell me she was doing this…they just appeared on my desk one day.  A creamy white one, to which Heather added some of our Once Day Cream, some cold cream, essential oils and buttermilk!  It is to die for!  Why didn’t I think of that??!!  Is she trying to get my job!!??  Oh No!  What if her soap creations are better than mine?

The second soap has some of our Gardener’s Hand Cream added, some powdered clay, bran for a little scrub, with essential oils.  It is a lovely grey color….and a really lovely soap.    I would never dream of using the creams in a soap, as it would make them more expensive…but hey!  Would you pay $1.00 more for what may be the two nicest soaps in the known universe! One for the face, and one for the body, and two for the soul!

After 30 plus years of soapmaking, looking at soap, making soap, reading about soap, checking out soap on the web, I have to say she is right up there with the best!

Congratulations, Heather….and NO! You can’t have a raise!

Linda

So reads the title of an article in the May issue of Canadian Packaging by Lisa Beutel, a consultant and marketing manager.

Seems, “53 per cent of North American consumers instinctively mistrust what brand-owners tell them about their supposed moral and ethical superiority.  Beutel said that companies who fail to back up their claims with clear facts risk long-lasting damage to their reputations, citing the still-lingering effect of child-labor allegations plaguing the global sportswear giant Nike, Inc. ”

I loved their definition of  green-washing:  “a mixed bag of half-truths, meaningless sloganeering and plain wishful thinking.”  The article cites statistics that say “90 per cent of consumers are concerned about the environment and how their purchasing behavior affects it.”

This means that throwing a little green-washing into your product, labels, marketing, advertising etc. really pays off.  But hold it!  Apparently the market is full of ‘excessive green-washing’ and consumers are becoming more aware of this.  So, we might look to a brand that has certification from a third-party certifier who can verify the claims we read.

Well, hold it again!  Seems that “economic-impact calculators from six different organizations to estimate the carbon-dioxide output from producing one metric tonne of unbleached packaging produced a range of scores from a low of 773.62 kilos to a high of 3,538 kilos.”  In fact, “the data was incredibly varied.”

So, apparently there are “pitfalls of simply purchasing one of the many readily-available, seemingly credible certification eco-labels and slapping them on the products” without first checking the credibility of the certifier.

So, who CAN we trust???  If green-washing really sells products, and it pays off even more to add a questionable eco-label….well, all I can say is HELP!!

We see so many companies adding ‘organic’ to their name, labels and marketing when they really aren’t.  We  tell the truth, as we are a small company who has to depend on real people buying and loving our products, and we can’t fool them.  Actually, we don’t want to!  But, are we being penalized for telling the truth?  By not touting a product as organic which just has a few organic ingredients, are we losing market share?

I was recently wondering if WE should get an eco-label that says Certified Organic or something, but apparently, it doesn’t mean that much.  Actually, I was surprised that only 53 per cent of people mistrust eco-claims, (did I just make up a new word?)

It’s back to the beginning for me: still harping on ‘read the labels, read the labels.”  A  company called “__________ Organics” recently introduced a product that actually contains NO organic ingredients in it’s listing.  At least they are being truthy there!  Baclically, the packaging mag agrees with me, “When it comes to greenwashing, we all need to be aware of all the possibilities and to do all the due diligence.”

So there.

Linda

For all of the 31 years we’ve been making soap, people have been telling us it’s  ‘the best soap in the world.’

I remember writing years ago in a newsletter, (that thing we read before blogs) that our customers thought we made the best soap and who were we to argue???!!! Lately, I’ve been thinking that as we’ve gotten better at making soap, the rest of the world has gotten worse! (Artisan Soapmakers excluded!)

We started out with a tallow base (ugh!) because 100% of the soap available in North America was tallow!  It was still better than commercial soaps, as they had morphed from tallow ….to being detergent-based, meaning petrochemicals.  Many people  don’t realize they are using “syndets,”  short for synthetic detergent!  Does your current bar actually say it’s soap??

Then, another Ephiphany!  I tried a soap from a natural body care company in Florida…..I had been buying and trying every bar of soap I  met….to confirm we actually WERE the best soap in the world.  I had to admit their soap was better! OH NO!!

A little research showed they used palm, coconut and olive…not tallow or petrochemicals!  How to get palm oil?  I had never heard of it.  Turns out most of the palm  imported into Canada was used to fry potato chips.  So, I called the Big Chip Company and they told me they imported palm from Portland, Ore.  Called them and they said, “sure, we bring it in from the Phillipines or somewhere, and we sell it by the tank car!”

Well, we didn’t need a tank car, but they occasionally drew off a 45 gallon drum for some weird hippy soapmaker who lived back in the back-country and they could probably do the same for me!  So, Bill and I drove the mini-van down to Portland, loaded up a couple of 450lb barrels of palm  and headed back. Oops, forgot about the border, the paperwork, etc.  Several hours later we had given a broker a lot of money  and were the first hippy soapmakers in Canada to have PALM OIL!!!

Very bland, a high lauric acid content for extremely mild lather, not a petrochemical or animal by-product!  And it made the most wonderful bar of soap I’d ever used!  The next time, we paid a trucking company to bring it to Vancouver, and our local freight company  delivered it to our door.  Now, you can buy a drum of palm anywhere, but we still use only food-grade.

So, yes, we still make the best soap in the world…because Palm, Coconut and Olive are the highest state-of-the-art in Soapmaking.  Also, we use spring water from the heart of the Salt Spring  Island countryside, high-quality and essential oils, organic when we can.  No petrochemicals, no pre-made soap chips, no dyes and yes, Gary still stirs the soap pot each day and he, Heather and Claire still pour each bar by hand.

Arguably, the best soap in the world!

Linda Quiring

Founder,

Saltspring Soapworks

For the past several years……we’ve been thinking about going back to our roots in many ways…we started out with glass bottles and jars, and handmade labels.  Not that I want to actually handcraft all our labels again…but we’ve definitely been trying to move to glass again.

Recently, I found this short article in Spa Magazine, and again…everything seems to be confirming  the direction Saltspring Soapworks is headed!

“Glass is Good,” says SpaMag.  “Look for products packaged in glass, which can be recycled over and over again in a closed loop.  Because it’s a nonporous substance, glass safeguards against moisture and oxygen invasion.  In addition, amber, cobalt and green glass filter out UV rays, protecting product integrity – particularly important with organic and natural products that don’t include preservatives.”

I loved that this article confirmed all the reasons we are moving to glass for many, maybe most of our products eventually.  A few challenges are that glass has gone out of fashion and isn’t readily available in the sizes and shapes we need.  Also, many people don’t want to use glass in the tub or shower,,,so we will probably use it for moisturizers and creams more than for shampoo and conditioner, for example.

Let us know what YOU think about glass making a big comeback….with Peak Oil, perhaps it will be coming back sooner than we think, and in a bigger way!  Remember, you read it here first!!

Linda Quiring

Founder,

Saltspring Soapworks

Thinking about cosmetic ingredients again….these days, it seems that’s all I ever think about re: our products!  How can they be better…and better….and better!!?? Then I ran across this short article in the May/Jun 2009 issue of Spa Magazine, entitled, “Research your current beauty routine.” http://www.spamagazine.com/

“Do you have a favorite makeup-, shampoo, or sunscreen that you just can’t live without — even though you suspect it’s not necessarily safe or eco-friendly?  You can find out exactly how toxic it is (or isn’t) on a scale of 0 to 10 (zero being “low-hazard” and 10 being “high-hazard”) through the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep cosmetic safety database (cosmeticsdatabase.com), which checks thousands of products against dozens of toxicity screens.  We tried it and happily learned that some of our favorite products that aren’t marketed as green are still very low on the toxicity scale.”  (that would be Saltspring Soapworks!)  “Once you check out how your beauty staples rate, you’ll be empowered to make informed and conscious purchases.

Knowledge is priceless – and in this case it’s free!”

Linda Quiring
Founder,
Saltspring Soapworks

At Saltspring Soapworks we get lots of ideas…some of them a little weird, I think!  But sometimes, we get ideas….and like the Hundredth Monkey, or the Collective Unconscious…it seems like other people are getting the same ideas.  When our ideas and others’ match…..it looks like we are RIGHT ON TRACK!

I liked this short article from the Canadian Natural Health Retailer, March – April 2010 issue:

“Manufacturers are becoming more aware of their impact on the environment and implementing strategies to reduce their footprint.”

Here’s the part I like, the same ideas we are working on…..and you’ll soon see the results:

“More manufacturers are switching to glass bottles and jars.  While plastic can be recycled, glass can be washed, sterilized and reused.  That is good for the environment.  Boxing is now being made with recycled materials, and more products are being manufactured locally.  Canadian manufacturing of body care products has grown substantially over the past few years.  Buying locally is one of the best ways to reduce our environmental footprint. ”

Thanks to Colleen Hague of Awaken My Senses for the above…..and thanks for letting us know we are RIGHT ON TRACK!!

Linda Quiring

Founder,
Saltspring Soapworks

Amber says I am always going on about ingredients! I thought about it, and it’s true…….

I really watch what I eat, and we grow most of our own food organically, yes, even our own eggs and wheat.  So, I am just as watchful about what goes ON my body.

Forget the beautiful ads, or  the claim that it’s all natural, or organic, or bio-dynamic. Just look at the first few things on the ingredient list, although I found this too can be confusing. On my recent trip to the States, I was in a garden mall where they were demonstrating a new moisturizer.

I tried some.  It smelled and felt wonderful….so, I went in and looked at the label.  It was confusing because there were about 40, I kid you not, 40 ingredients.  That didn’t confuse me, OK, maybe a little.  But, 20 of them were really GREAT ingredients; natural, organic, herbal and pure.  But, the other 20 weren’t just average, or not so great, they were quite awful!  Was this a great product, or not????

I then read a  piece in the paper that the Sierra Club was lobbying to make the manufacturers of ‘natural’ household cleaning products  list ingredients.  They don’t have to tell you what is in your window cleaner, laundry detergent, tile or  tub cleaner.

Apparently many of the so-called ‘natural’ cleaners DO list their ingredients.  But Sierra Club is trying to make them list percentages.  What does this mean?  I don’t know for sure.  But I would guess that maybe some not-so-great things may be there in large amounts, while the advertised ‘great’ and ‘green’ ingredients may be there in really small amounts, making these products really no different from the ungreen normal products, which incidentally are much cheaper.

So, Good Luck, Sierra Club!  I hope I have the info correct, as I misplaced the actual article…..but things like this make me feel there is light at the end of the tunnel, and someday soon we will all know exactly what is in everything!!!

Linda

p.s. you can just use white vinegar to wash your windows!