Why Buy All Natural Soaps?
Many products claim they are all natural, but what about the product makes them so? Many people can hear the word natural, feel they know what it is, but can't define it. For example, most people would consider a product to be "all natural" if the ingredient list doesn't look like a chemical formula, full of names of items they can't pronounce. Another thing is if the product contains all products that are not synthetically made but occur in nature, come from nature, or are distilled from nature.

Except for some of our products that contain fragrance oils (more on that below) all our products are 100% natural by our definition.

1. They contain products from nature. Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Essential Oils, Cinnamon, Oatmeal, are examples of this.

2. They contain unrefined products from nature. Unrefined Shea Butter is an example. Refined Shea Butters use chemical solvents to process them, that removes some of the beneficial aspects of the plant, plus introduces chemical products.

3. They contain plant based preservatives, not synthetic. Rosemary oleoresin extract, Grape seed Oil, and Vitamin E are examples of this. All are preservatives, all are substances that occur in nature.

3. We use NO synthetic foaming agents. Sodium Lauryl (Laureth) Sulfate (SLS) is currently the primary foaming agent used in commercial soaps. Most commercial soaps, shampoos, and cream rinses contain SLS. It is a skin irritant at the very least, and some studies suggest it can actually cause harm. We use NO synthetic foaming agents, detergents, emulsifiers, or dispersing agents in ANY of our products!

4. We use NO synthetic dyes. You won't find any FD&C or Lake colors in our soaps. We use natural minerals, plants, and fruits as colorants in our soaps.

5. No Animal Testing of our products. Our ingredients haven't been tested on animals in research labs to find out of the product is safe or not. We are coming out with a line of dog and horse shampoos, and we might test that on some of the neighborhood dogs and horses though. ;)



All of our products are available in All Natural Forms
We use ONLY one synthetic ingredient in a few of our products, and that is fragrance oils. Fragrance oils are synthetic fragrances that are not derived from nature. They are created in a lab to mimic a scent that is known. The reason for our usage of Fragrance Oils is:

1. Some products, although scents from nature, we have not been able to find as an essential oil. Pinion Pine is an example of this. It is one of my favorite scents. It is popular with our customers. But to date, I have been unable to find it as an essential oil. I keep looking though. Desert Sage is another example of this. These are two scents that are very southwestern, grow here regionally, and it frustrates me that I cannot find them as essential oils. But I keep looking. :)

2. Some products, although scents from nature, are prohibitively expensive as an essential oil. Sandalwood is an example that falls in this category. Sandalwood is becoming more and more rare to find. Many of the areas that harvest Sandalwood to create oil out of have restrictions on the amount of trees that can be harvested per year. My source for Sandalwood Essential Oil costs me about $80.00 an OUNCE, and would make soap created with it prohibitively expensive.

3. Some products, when concentrated into essential oils, are toxic. Sweetgrass is an example of this. The compound that gives Sweetgrass its distinctive vanilla / grassy scent is coumarin, which is moderately toxic to the liver and kidneys and has been linked to cancers. It has been banned as a food additive in the US since 1940. Because of this, the ONLY way I can safely use sweetgrass as a scent is through a fragrance oil.

In Conclusion
We strive to provide 100% All natural soaps, foaming soaps, lip balms, and body butters and many of our products are just that. The VERY few that have synthetic ingredients use fragrance oils because we are unable to use a natural based product for one of the reasons listed above. We search for the finest possible ingredients for all our soaps, and rest assured, your money is well spent at Old West Soap Company!