Our first palm-free soap is donated to BOS!

We're delighted to announce that we've finally cracked it! We've successfully re-formulated our luxurious goat's milk soap so it's now palm-free. You cannot imagine how excited we are about this, since it's taken over 12 months of testing to finally achieve the perfect formulation.

As you know, we're perfectionists when it comes to soap so we had a pretty long list of demands from this new soap...and we love the result! It's still a hard bar, still has a luxurious creamy lather, still looks beautiful, still smells gorgeous, and it's still packed with natural ingredients and goat's milk so it still feels like our soap!! (draws breath) BUT most importantly it lacks palm oil in it's formulation! Can you tell that we're over the moon with this soap?

It seemed only right that Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) UK should receive the first palm-free batch, since they have been our inspiration for removing palm oil from our soaps. Therefore we've donated the first 50 bars to BOS UK, and created a brand new ‘Orang 2’ palm-free goat’s milk soap to celebrate this important landmark for The Natural Soapworks. Just look at that lovely pile of soap.....

'Orang 2' is a lovely sweet but citrussy bar, containing a blend of citrus and ho leaf essential oils. Ho leaf has lovely floral but woody notes, but is the ecological substitute for rosewood. 'Orang 2' also features a pretty swirled pattern of natural clay, and as usual each bar is decorated with our hairy string and a BOS label. Every penny raised from the sale of this first batch will go to BOS UK, so Grainne and the team will be selling these bars at forthcoming BOS UK events. We'd just ask that anyone who gets the chance to buy one of these bars - please give generously, so as much money as possible can be raised for this wonderful charity.

Our own batch of 'Orang 2' is still maturing, and will be available in the studio and on our websites in a couple of weeks. As before, we guarantee that £1 from the sale of each bar will be sent to BOS UK in support of Lone, and everyone in the Nyaru Menteng team. For a while we'll still be using up the last of our supplies of organic sustainable palm oil, but then soap production will be switched over to this very 'orangutan friendly' new formulation. Our BOS soap page is: http://www.naturalsoapworks.co.uk/CharitySkincare.aspx

Meet the new neighbours!

We thought you might like to see our new neighbours -aren't they cute!

These lovely little ducklings arrived 2 weeks ago and we've had some trouble taking their picture, since they move around so fast. Finally at last we managed to catch them all in one place, so hopefully you can see that there are 10 little ones following their Mum.

They are growing at an amazing speed and have doubled in size since they arrived. So if you pop down to the Red House Glass Cone, try to find the time to stop by the canal. They can be regularly seen outside our studio, and you'll know they're around since they make a surprising amount of noise for such little ones! We'll try to keep you updated on their progress.

BOS Update - The Final Stage of Rehabilitation

Today we heard from BOS UK, giving us an update on the orangutans who are living on the Islands. We thought you'd like to hear how they are getting on:

Four orangutans from Nyaru Menteng - Borneo Orangutan Survival’s rescue and rehabilitation centre - have just started the final phase of their rehabilitation - relocation to a nearby island, Hampapak Matei. They’re only one step away now from release back into the wild, but it’ll be another 18 months to 2 years before they’re able to enjoy complete freedom. Life on Hampapak Matei will, however, be quite an experience for these for orangutans. They’ll be living in a state of near-freedom, in their natural habitat, with the ability to explore their new terrain at will, forage for food if they wish, and generally learn to acclimatise to life outside the confines of Nyaru Menteng and Forest School, where they’ve led a sheltered existence for something approaching 8 years.

Bobo, Marwan, Tim and Dani were victims of the illegal pet trade on Java, where they had been kept as pets in an urban environment. They were confiscated by government authorities between 7 and 8 years ago, and sent to Nyaru Menteng to be cared for and nurtured by Lone Droscher-Neilsen and her staff. There they were given the chance to learn how to be wild again, climbing trees and playing with the other orangutans in Forest School. One can only imagine what joy they must have felt at being able to move freely again, and to breathe the clean forest air. During their years at Nyaru Menteng, Bobo, Marwan, Tim and Dani developed all the skills which they’ll need to survive in the rainforest - learning how to build a nest, which fruits and leaves are edible, how to collect insects and how to avoid danger.

Progressing from one class to the next, they became more and more independent of their human charges, and developed the social skills necessary to interact with other orangutans. Now, on Hampapak Matei, the four orangutans will have an opportunity to put into practice what they’ve learned at Nyaru Menteng. They’ll be out in the forest night and day, and meet the other orangutans who are sharing the 20 ha island with them. They’ll have as little contact with humans as possible, although food will be provided daily, and they’ll be monitored to make sure that they come to no harm and that they’re adjusting to their new lifestyle.

Hampapak Matei is one of five orangutan islands belonging to Nyaru Menteng which, in total, cover an area of 245 ha. There are 87 orangutans living on these islands, in preparation for their final release. Nyaru Menteng is presently working on acquiring other islands to be able to accommodate not only those orangutans who are ready for pre-release, but those who can’t be released into the wild, due to either disease or disability.

If you would like to help, please visit BOS UK: http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/
or make a donation:
BOS continually needs to find funding to cover the costs of leasing these islands, as well as surveying future sites for the safe release of the wild rescued orangutans.

Introducing...Natroma Bathing!

We're delighted to introduce a new range to Natroma, with the addition of our new bathing collection! With Natroma Bathing we've splurged on the most luxurious natural skincare ingredients to create a really indulgent range of goat's milk soaps and bathing products.

The goat's milk soap contains a decadent blend of organic botanical oils and Fair Trade butters, enriched with real goat's milk. We've then added the gorgeously scented Monoi de Tahiti, to create a top of the range soap with a lather that feels even more moisturising and creamy. We've co-ordinated these soaps to our Natroma skincare fragrances, so we've been able to use many of the very expensive essential oils that you do not usually see in handmade soaps. The initial fragrance choice is Chamomile, Rose and Orange Blossom. Each bar is handwrapped in a pure muslin cloth and decorated with a stylish organza ribbon, and we'd suggest that these natural wrappings are re-cycled as facial cloths so there's no waste. More of these luxurious soaps will follow during 2009, so watch this space!

We're also very pleased to introduce our Fizzing Bath Melt range. These are lovely little bathing beauties which really do look good enough to eat! We wouldn't recommend it though, since our new cup-cake range is designed to gently fizz in the bath and release lots of Fair Trade Cocoa and Shea butters into the bath water. They feature some lovely new blends of essential oils, and are naturally coloured with petals and other natural ingredients. Available on their own, or in a pretty ribbon decorated ballotin box, these are already proving to be very popular with our Studio customers. More fragrances will be released during the year, since these make lovely small gifts and are sure to be popular at Christmas.

Please visit: http://www.natroma.co.uk/store/d24-natroma-bathing/ for more information.

Natural Soapworks Favourites

We've noticed that quite a few of our customers are ordering from the Natural Soapworks and Natroma websites at the same time. This is great, since we can combine postage and despatch everything in the same parcel. But it's not so convenient for the customer since you end up placing two orders instead of one.

So we're very pleased to introduce Natural Soapworks Favourites to the Natroma website: http://www.natroma.co.uk/store/d20-natural-soapworks-favourites/

This is a new section on the site, which will feature some of our most popular soaps, lip balms and bathing items so these can be purchased at the same time as Natroma natural skincare items. We hope you enjoy this added convenience and as a special introductory offer, until 30th April 2009 quote: SOAPWORKS at the checkout to claim a 5% discount off your order!

Jojoba - simmondsia chinensis

In the second article about our natural skincare ingredients, today we’re looking at Jojoba oil (pronounced ho-ho-ba).

Jojoba is a botanical extract from the seed of the jojoba tree (simmondsia chinenis), and these are pressed to release a pure golden oil-like substance. You see, Jojoba isn’t actually an oil, it’s a natural wax ester and this makes it a very interesting skincare ingredient. The significance is that because it’s a wax ester, it's very similar to the sebum in our skin. This is a very important quality since it means that jojoba works in harmony with our skin, and can even “trick” the skin into slowing down sebum production resulting in greater balance and less shine for oily skin types.

Ours is a lovely organic, cold-pressed oil that is a bright golden colour. We love jojoba since it suits all skin types, doesn’t feel greasy when applied to the skin and spreads and is absorbed easily. It is said to be non-comedogenic (this means it won’t block the skin’s pores and cause acne). It's a lovely ingredient providing lasting hydration, and that's why it appears in many of our moisturizing products. Jojoba is also very stable so it has a very long shelf life, so won’t become rancid or lose anti-oxidants easily. This is another star quality since it means that we can use it in our products safe in the knowledge that they will have a good shelf life.

So as you can see jojoba is a valuable addition to any skincare product, and is included in many of our Natroma skincare products.

What's so special about goat’s milk soap?

It’s a question we’re asked most weeks! We can guarantee that anyone who asks, has never tried a goat’s milk soap before. We’ll try to explain why we think goat’s milk soap is special…

Goat’s milk soap is more difficult to make than a typical handmade bar, since the milk affects the saponification process. We use real goat’s milk (not powdered) since it contains proteins, amino acids and Vitamin A to nourish and soften the skin. You may read some articles which claim that natural goat’s milk soap has the same pH as the skin. We’d disagree with this claim, since soap is a naturally alkaline substance, so it’s doubtful if a natural soap could become slightly acidic without the addition of chemicals.

Our formulation has come about after years of perfecting our soap recipe. The brief was to create a hard, long-lasting bar with a rich, creamy lather whilst being highly moisturizing and skin-kind too. Okay, we admit that we’re perfectionists so that’s why it’s taken a few years to create our recipe!

It’s no accident that our soap contains many botanical oils and butters (such as olive, coconut, shea and cocoa) and these had to be carefully balanced to produce the rich texture and foaming qualities we were looking for. We also use a cold-process saponification manufacturing process and use traditional handmade wooden moulds. Each new soap is matured for 4-8 weeks so it hardens and becomes mild before it is presented for sale. So the next time you try a new natural soap remember that each recipe will be different, since the skilled soap maker crafts their recipe to produce particular results.

So what can you expect from a Natural Soapworks goat’s milk soap? The first thing people always do, is give the bar a sniff! Fragranced with pure essential oils, each soap variety has its own special character, and this adds to the pleasure of using the soap each day. We also love pretty soaps, so we use natural clays and spices to add colour and we often swirl them through the soap so each bar has unique patterns. The goat’s milk gives a unique, creamy lather that’s so rich that it can be used for shaving or as a natural body wash. The soap suits delicate skin conditions, and people who visit our little shop are often invited to try washing their hands before making a purchase. Most people are impressed by the conditioning feel of the lather, and everyone comments on how soft their skin feels after just one wash. So we’d sum up our goat’s milk soaps as being pretty and fragrant, but very functional and full of top quality ingredients.

Tempted to give it a try? Visit out Goat’s Milk Soap page if you’d like more details:

http://www.naturalsoapworks.co.uk/GoatSoaps.aspx

Hydrolats, Hydrosols, Flower Waters

This is the first in a series of articles covering our cosmetic ingredients. This week, we're focussing upon hydrolats (sometimes called hydrosols or flower waters).

Hydrolats are a by-product from the production of essential oils from botanical materials, via a steam distillation process. During distillation the essential oil is separated from the water or condensed steam. This pure water is collected and contains the water soluble parts of the plant. Many hydrolats have a light aroma and are mild and cooling, making them ideal to use as ingredients in cosmetic products or as natural skin toners or compresses. The most well-known one is traditional rose water, but there are a great many hydrolats available. They each have their own charicteristics, but all are soothing, refreshing and help to balance the skin.

We have carefully selected a small range of organic hydrolats (from a Soil Association accredited producer) and they smell gorgeous! It took us a while to find these lovely floral waters, since a great many have added preservatives and are not produced organically. You'll find them in all of our Natroma cream products, and they alone provide the subtle aroma in our Facial Cleansers and Rhassoul Clay Masks.

Our Chamomile variety has a very subtle fragrance so is perfect for sensitive skin. Rose has a rich, sweet note and is great on all skin-types. Orange Blossom comes from the distillation of neroli essential oil, and has a light, sophisticated note (and is definitely our favorite!) After finding such a lovely product we thought they deserved special packaging, so we chose some elegant violet glass bottles. This special heavy glass looks almost black and protects them from daylight so they do not need any added preservative. These bottles have a fabulous spray attachment which produces the finest of mists - so you can spray them directly onto the face. Our tip is to keep a bottle in the fridge during hot weather, and use it to spritz the neck when you're feeling too warm. This also works wonderfully, for anyone suffering from hot flushes.

We love organic hydrolats, and would definitely recommend using them as a natural alternative to commercial toner products. They leave the skin feeling soft and hydrated and are an essential part of our skincare range. More information can be found on the Natroma website: http://www.natroma.co.uk/store/d2-hydrolat-skin-toners/