Naturalla Beauty

Historically, castile soap referred exclusively to the olive oil soap made in the Castile region of Spain, but today it's a term more broadly used to describe any soap made through the traditional saponification process that turns natural plant oils into soap.  Castile soap is an everyday staple in my home for both body care and cleaning purposes and I've recently been trying out the soaps from a new-to-me brand, Dr.  Jacobs Naturals.  Dr. Jacobs is a cruelty free company making liquid castile soap in the USA without palm oil, synthetic fragrance, colors, preservatives, or GMO's.



People often complain that liquid castile soaps are either too thin and runny or don't lather sufficiently, and quite honestly, these two factors frequently have me reaching for a different product in the shower too.  Dr. Jacobs soaps, however, circumvent both these issues by thickening their coconut and olive oil based castile soap with a small amount of the gentle, non-toxic surfactant coco-glucoside.   The result is a hybrid soap that's substantially thicker than your average castile offering.  It won't pour out of your hands or run down the drain, and the coco-glucoside helps it to lather more easily too.

I've been testing Dr. Jacobs' soaps out for all my usual household cleaning tasks -- laundry, makeup brush washing, and more -- and also as a shower gel and hand soap, and I'm pretty sold on them for all of the above!  The thicker viscosity makes it the perfect consistency to use as either a body wash or hand soap and its gentle and non-drying on the skin.  (And the 16 oz. pump bottles are extra convenient in the shower too!)  The thickness also means that you don't need to use as much product, particularly for cleaning, so a smaller amount of soap goes farther too.  I'm not personally a fan of castile soap for the face, but if that's something that usually works for you, I see no reason why Dr. Jacobs wouldn't as well.  

In terms of scents, Dr. Jacobs offers a good variety of both essential oil-based and natural fragrance options and I've been testing out three, plus the unscented.  The Citrus, currently residing in my shower, has a very mild scent.  It smells good and citrusy, but I also smell a little of the natural oils coming through.  The Eucalyptus and Peppermint are much stronger scents and have some serious scent power.  I used the Eucalyptus to clean my makeup brushes this week, while suffering through the tail end of a cold, and had the added bonus of clearer sinuses when I was finished.  The Peppermint has been hanging out by my washing machine, and a small amount in the wash leaves clothes smelling minty and fresh.  And the Unscented is, of course, great for when you don't want a scent, or for creating your own.

The Bottom Line
I always keep castile soap on hand and Dr. Jacobs is a great option!  The liquid soaps are thick and skin-friendly, and create a rich, versatile lather to suit a multitude of uses -- both for the body and household/cleaning.  

The first thing that stood out to me about Mamma Oceania Handmade Soap was their tag line.  After all, it doesn't get much better than "Mermaid Approved Clean," does it?  Add in a cute logo, great ingredients, minimal packaging, and the fact that the soaps are handmade in small batches here in Toronto, and I was sold.  



Anna Mattiuzzo, Mamma Oceania's founder and soaper-in-chief,  was working in fashion PR and publishing when she started making soap for her own personal use.  When she began sharing the soaps with friends and giving them as presents, people loved them and asked for more, and one thing led to another until Mamma Oceania was born.  

Anna was kind enough to send me all eight of her soaps to try and I've been having the best time testing everything out.  The soaps are made with USDA certified organic ingredients and are free of controversial palm and canola oils, as well as artificial colours, fragrances, and preservatives.  The entire line relies on a gentle, moisturizing base of olive oil, shea butter, coconut oil, sweet almond oil, colloidal oatmeal, and banana and Canadian kelp extracts, and each individual soap varies from that point on.  Soaps are cured for four to six weeks using the traditional, cold-process soap method, ensuring that you get a firm, solid, hefty bar of soap that really lasts and won't melt away in just a couple washes.  (Though you'll still want to keep your soap out of the direct shower spray and let it dry between uses to help it along!) 

Each soap produces a beautiful, rich lather that feels very soft and gentle on the skin.  I always keep bar soap at my bathroom sink and I've had several culprits over the years leave me with dry, papery hands, but I haven't had that problem with any of the Mamma Oceania soaps, even through colder weather.  Instead, my skin is consistently left feeling clean, soft, and touchable.  Without any added scent ingredients - either natural or synthetic - the soaps just have a very light, clean scent that's basically undetectable as soon as you rinse off.  

My absolute favorite of the bunch has been the Baby Clean Soap, made with chamomile extract.  It has a slightly creamier scent than some of the others and feels extra soft and almost buttery on the skin.  Other favorites have been the Skin Nourishing Soap with rosehip, and the Gentle Exfoliating Soap with pomegranate and coconut milk.  Regular readers may recall that I don't generally enjoy exfoliating bits in my bar soap, but the Gentle Exfoliating Soap is, as the name suggests, extremely gentle and actually feels basically smooth to the touch.  If you like your soaps extra gritty, this isn't the one for you, but if you prefer a creamy lather with just a hint of exfoliation, it's just the ticket.  Mamma Oceania also makes two face-specific soaps, the Brightening Facial Soap and the Pore Saver Facial Soap, but the entire line is so gentle that I would honestly feel okay using any of them on my face.

Photo Credit

The Bottom Line
Mamma Oceania soaps are especially wonderful for those of us with sensitive skin and noses, but I really think they'd be a treat for any soap lover.  With a rich, creamy lather, an abundance of organic ingredients, small batch manufacturing, and no animal testing, Mamma Oceania is beautiful traditional handmade soap at its best!

The Mamma Oceania website will be set up for transactions very soon, but in the meantime orders can be placed by contacting the company through the website, Facebook page, and by email.  

For Torontonians, the soaps can regularly be found at Nepal Pari Salon on Front St. W., and Anna will also be at the following markets this Spring:

Mid-February isn't too late to write about holiday gift sets, is it?  I actually got this set on my birthday, at the end of January, without any plans to blog about it, but it ended up being too lovely not to.  Rocky Mountain Soap Co. is a Canadian bath and body company founded on the principle that nature provides everything we need for beautiful and healthy skin.  The company believes that body care should be beneficial to our health and psychological well-being and has even launched an entire Toxin-Free Movement to help spread information about ingredients and how to shop clean.

I've checked out Rocky Mountain Soap's website numerous times in the past and even tweeted with them on Twitter, but with stores only in the Western provinces, my birthday was the first time I came across their products in person.  I wasn't sure where to start until I spotted a lone Vanilla Candy Cane Mini Tray in the store's sale section.  Vanilla and mint scents are some of my favorites, so finding this - and on sale to boot - made it an easy decision.  The Mini Tray came with mini sizes of the Vanilla Candy Cane Body Butter and Bar Soap and a full size Vanilla Candy Cane Lip Butter.  It also included a card redeemable for a free bar of soap in one of their stores, which I will certainly be hanging onto until I - or someone I know - can make it to one of the ten Rocky Mountain Soap stores in person.




Vanilla Candy Cane Bar Soap
I'm always excited to discover new palm-oil free soap options, so this was probably the item I was most eager to try in the kit.  It didn't disappoint.  The Vanilla Candy Cane scent is the mildest in the soap, and while I wouldn't object to it being a little stronger, it's still there and quite delicious.  The soap creates a good, rich lather that feels soft and non-drying on the skin and it's also lasted a good bit longer in my soap dish than expected, considering its compact size.  

Vanilla Candy Cane Body Butter
Solid body butters can be tricky, but Rocky Mountain Soap has really nailed the perfect lotion bar consistency here.  It's solid without being waxy, so it smoothes onto the skin easily without dragging or feeling sticky.  It's also not overly oily and sinks in beautifully.  My favorite thing to do with this has been to use it as a hand butter, since the tube packaging makes it so easy to smear on the backs of your hands and quickly rub in.  The product absorbs nicely, so you don't end up with greasy hands or needing to wait more than a minute before you can touch anything.  The Vanilla Candy Cane scent is a gorgeous mix of cool peppermint and sweet vanilla that I can smell on my skin for a few hours after application, and the body butter leaves anything it touches super soft and hydrated.  The smaller, mini size is also perfect for carrying around with you and using on the go.  

Vanilla Candy Cane Lip Butter
The lip butter feels very similar in consistency to the body butter and is beautifully rich and buttery.  I notice a slight peppermint tingle on my lips, but nothing over the top.  We've had -25° temperatures here the last several days and while admittedly I haven't been spending a lot of time outside, the lip butter has done a great job protecting my lips when I have ventured outdoors.  

The Bottom Line
I've been impressed with all three products, so I'm pretty confident this won't be my last experience with Rocky Mountain Soap.  The Vanilla Candy Cane scent - which is phenomenal - was a limited release for the holidays and isn't currently available, but all three of these products - and the Mini Trays - are sold year-round in other scents. With a large assortment of products and many varied scent choices, I sort of envision Rocky Mountain Soap Co. as a healthy alternative falling somewhere between Bath & Body Works and Lush.  I'd love to visit one of their stores one day, but in the meantime, I will content myself with their website, plus the products stocked at The Big Carrot here in Toronto.  

Palm oil is natural and non-toxic, but it's an ingredient that brings up a lot of environmental and ethical concerns.  Due to its popular use in the food industry, cosmetics, detergents, and even biofuel, global production of palm oil has doubled in the last ten years, and according to the World Wildlife Fund, palm oil demand is expected to double again by 2020. (source)  To meet this demand, large areas of tropical forests are being cleared to make space for palm plantations.  This deforestation destroys critical habitats for endangered animal species and has even lead to the eviction of forest-dwelling people.  The palm oil industry is also linked to human rights violations, climate change, soil erosion, and air, soil and water pollution.  

You can find "sustainable" palm oil, certified through the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), but there's some controversy around this as well.  According to Greenpeace, there's very little to stop companies from having part of their operations certified by the RSPO while they continue to use unsustainable means in other palm plantations elsewhere (source), giving the illusion of much greater sustainability than is real.  There have also been instances of both child labour and forced labour discovered on RSPO certified plantations. (source)

Personally, I don't think it's feasible for me to completely eliminate palm oil at this point, but I do make an effort to minimize my consumption.  I'm a diligent label reader - of both food and personal care products - which allows me to always make informed choices.  Generally I allow palm oil in makeup items and some palm oil derivatives in skin and body care, but I don't use products that contain large quantities of this ingredient.  

Bar soap is one of the largest body care culprits for palm oil - both because it's less costly than a lot of other oils and because it creates a firm, long lasting bar of soap - but it's one product that I refuse to compromise on.  And there's no need: there are plenty of lovely natural soaps made without a trace of palm oil.  (See below for some great examples!)  Currently many of these offerings are from smaller, artisan companies, but I'm hopeful that we'll see more large companies taking notice of this issue in the future too.  


1.  Meow Meow Tweet Fennel Orange Soap
2.  Tierra Mia Organics Gentleman's Soap
3.  SoapGirl Wine + Roses Soap
4.  Green Beaver Lavender Sunflower Soap
5.  Vice and Velvet Jewel Soap Sampler
6.  Ella's Botanicals Skin Soother Bar
7.  Aquarian Bath Neem Olive Oil Soap
8.  Organic Fiji Tea Tree Spearmint Soap
9.  By Valenti Organics Almond Coconut Soap
10. Hugo Naturals Vanilla & Sweet Orange Soap
11. Acure Mint Cookie + Omega 7 Soap
12. Etta + Billie Earl Grey Soap

Is palm oil an ingredient you're concerned about?  Are there other palm oil free soaps you'd recommend?