If you've read one of our ingredient labels, you've probably noticed the word organic more than once.
That's intentional.
We choose organic ingredients wherever we reasonably can because how an ingredient is grown or raised matters to us.
But our finished bars aren't labeled USDA Certified Organic.
So what's the difference?
Why we choose organic
Many of the ingredients we use in soap begin on a farm.
Coconut oil comes from coconuts. Olive oil comes from olives. Castor oil comes from castor beans. Shea butter comes from shea nuts. Tallow comes from cattle.
These are all agricultural ingredients because they come from something that was grown or raised.
When we choose the certified organic version of an ingredient, we know it was produced according to USDA organic standards.
For example, glyphosate cannot be used on organic crops, genetically modified organisms are prohibited, and the land must be managed without prohibited substances for at least three years before an organic crop is harvested.
Those things matter to us.
So when an ingredient is available organic and it makes sense for our formula, that's what we choose.
Then why isn't our soap certified organic?
Because organic ingredients and a certified organic finished product aren't quite the same thing.
Soap can't be made from oils and fats alone. It also requires lye to turn them into actual soap.
Lye isn't something that's grown or raised, so there isn't an “organic lye” for us to buy.
The USDA has specific requirements a finished product must meet before it can be certified and labeled organic.
For us, that doesn't change the ingredients we choose.
We simply get as close to organic as we reasonably can.
Sometimes we make a different choice
Our tallow is a good example.
For our Tallow bars, we chose grass-fed and finished tallow rather than making organic certification our priority for that ingredient.
We care about what the cattle were actually fed, and sourcing grass-fed and finished tallow was more important to us than finding tallow that carried an organic certification.
For our plant oils, you'll see us choose organic again and again.
It's not about checking a box.
It's about choosing the ingredient that best fits what we're trying to make and what matters to us.
So, is our soap organic?
We don't label our finished bars USDA Certified Organic.
But many of the individual ingredients we use are certified organic, and in some of our bars, every agricultural ingredient is organic.
That's a distinction we're proud of.
We want you to know exactly what you're getting, which is why you'll see the word organic right there beside the ingredients that are certified organic.
No vague claims. No guessing.
Just the ingredients we chose and the reasons we chose them.
Real ingredients. Clean. Simple.
Go ahead. Read the label.
Shop bars made with organic ingredients
