This Just In – Nothing New With Earth Mama’s Soaps

by mamafier on February 29, 2012

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Earth Mama’s pure castile soaps are still the same. But you probably wouldn’t know it by looking at them. They are dressed in shiny new bottles, they have herbally new label designs, a fancy new organic certifier and a new ingredient panel that has different words that mean the exactly same thing. OK, if you want to get picky, those are four things that ARE different. Except the soap. The soap is still exactly the same.

First, the bottle!

Over the next few months, you’ll start to notice your pure, safe Earth Mama castile soap in new pearly white bottles. We think they are prettier and fancier, but they are still made from the same, safe PET plastic. And they’re still unbreakable if they fall into a tub with dirty kids, or are dropped on the floor by novice hand-washers. The bottle is different, but the soap is the same.

Ooh, the label!

The soaps also have sparkling new labels. Many observant mamas have noticed that Earth Mama products are all color-coded. The green labels grace all Pregnancy products, peach for Postpartum, pink for Breastfeeding, and pale yellow for Baby, lavender for Baby Loss. The new Mama’s Family category labels, with the family soaps and luscious lip balms, are blue and have lovely new photos of the featured herbs that make them who they are. The label is different, but the soap is the same.

A new certifier!

We’re excited to have a wonderful new organic certifier: Oregon Tilth. Yes, the soaps are still certified organic, but they are now certified to the NSF/ANSI 305 organic standard.  This is the organic standard to which the two Earth Mama lotions are certified, and it is the highest standard for organic personal care products. The certifier is different, but the soap is the same.

And, the confusing part…

So once again, the soap is the same. Exactly the same. But even though not one thing in the soap, the ingredients, or how they are made has changed, the ingredient panel is completely different.

Calm & Clean Hand to Toe Wash (OLD QAI certified)

Saponified Cocos nucifera (organic coconut) oil, Saponified Olea europaea (organic olive) oil, Aloe barbadensis (organic aloe) leaf juice, Kosher vegetable glycerin, Butyrospermun parkii (organic shea) butter, Vanilla planifolia (organic vanilla) bean extract, Lavandula angustifolia (organic lavender) oil, Potassium citrate, Calendula officinalis (organic calendula) extract

Calm & Clean Hand to Toe Wash  (NEW Oregon Tilth Certified)

Contains Organic Potassium cocoate, contains Organic Potassium olivate,  Aloe barbadensis (organic aloe) leaf juice, Kosher Vegetable glycerin, Butyrospermun parkii (organic shea) butter, Vanilla planifolia (organic vanilla) bean extract, Lavandula angustifolia (organic lavender) oil, Calendula officinalis (organic calendula) extract

The old ingredient list showed the ingredients before they were made into soap, or saponified. But according to the USDA National Organic Program castile soaps are not allowed to use the word “saponified” in the ingredient list, and are not allowed to list the ingredients before they are processed (saponified). Instead, they are required to list the stuff that is in the soap AFTER it’s been saponified. Confused? Hang in there.

So, OK. We start with Organic coconut oil. In order for it to turn into pure, safe soap it has to go through saponification. Organic coconut oil that has been saponified, or processed with potassium hydroxide, changes into Organic potassium cocoate. There is no longer any potassium hydroxide in the soap after it’s been saponified. Citric acid is added to adjust the pH, and it changes in the process to potassium citrate. It all ends up as pure, safe soap. We don’t put “potassium hydroxide” on the label, because there is no potassium hydroxide in the soap. The potassium hydroxide created a chemical process, and the end product is saponifed Organic coconut oil, or castile soap. Same thing goes for Organic olive oil, which gets saponified and becomes Organic potassium olivate. We used to list what went into the soap kettle, as per our certifier, now we list what comes out of the soap kettle, as per our new certifier!

The bottom line!

The bottom line, for those of you not willing to earn an advanced chemistry degree, is this: the soap is exactly the same as it has always been. It still rates zero on the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database, though it takes them awhile to update ingredients. The new ingredient list is on the new labels and it is different. But the soaps have not changed. Not one eensy little bit. They’re still the safest, purest soap, made the way true soap is made. Using the safest ingredients the safest way we know how to make them. Mama’s promise.

Want to know more? We got more!

Soap vs. Detergent: What are YOU Soaking in?

Soap vs. Detergent: How did Detergent become “Soap?”

Tagged as: new products, organic labels, safe personal care, soap

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