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Here are some of the most frequently asked questions that we receive. If you would like to add and ask us a question, we would be delighted to answer it. Simply shoot us an email, give us a call or track us down at one of the markets we attend.
To see our Farmers Market schedule click here. Phone #- 518-854-3320
Email- purensimplesoap@yahoo.com
Q. What are the differences between essential and fragrant oils? A. Fragrant oils are synthetically produced by chemist in laboratory’s to create scents. There are no therapeutic benefits to fragrant oils. And because of "trade secrete law” manufacturers are not required to disclose the ingredients used in making the synthetic fragrances. Often times this is why those who are very chemically sensitive cannot use products that have fragrant oils in them. Though there are many wonderful smelling fragrant oils, and they are significantly cheaper than essential oils- they offer no therapeutic value to your skin through absorption or inhalation. Essential Oils are straight from the plant, and are not produced in laboratories. These oils are therapeutic and are highly concentrated extracts from plants, roots, leaves, buds, bark, twigs, rhizomes, heartwood, resin, seed and fruits using distillation or expression. These oils are much more expensive than fragrant oils and limited to fewer scent variations. This is why larger companies will typically use the fragrant over essential oils to retain higher profit margins and greater variety of scents are easily available.
Q. What is Lye, and do you use Lye in your soaps?A. Lye is the reaction between sodium carbonate and calcium hydroxide. This is called saponification, which is the mixing of water, lye and fats or oils. When a strong Alkali is mixed with oils it produces soap and glycerin. Yes our soaps are made with a lye solution- as are all soaps. It is the very ingredient that makes soap- soap. Once the saponification process has taken place the lye is no longer lye, and is no longer dangerous. Lye by itself is extremely dangerous and can cause serious burns, blindness and permanent scaring. This is why it is very important to take all safety precautions when handling Lye during the soap making process. Also it is important to mention that the type of Lye used for soap making should be 100% Lye or sodium hydroxide, other forms of Lye have added unwanted ingredients for soap making.
Q. What are infused oils?A. Infused oils should never be mistaken as essential oils. Infused oils are called a carrier oil that is infused to one or more herbs with an oil like olive oil. After this infusion process, the oil now carries the therapeutic properties of the plant it has been infused with. A common practice to make infused oil is to take your harvested herb and to place in a glass wide mouth jar with lid. Pour some olive oil in the jar 1-2 inches above the harvested herb. Cover the jar tightly and place in a warm sunny location for about 4- 6 weeks and then strain the infused oil out into a dark amber bottle.
Q. What are herbal salves and how are they to be used?
A. Herbal salves are a combination herbal oils and beeswax. The beeswax helps thicken the salve, making it more spreadable. This allows for the medicinal action of the herbs to have greater effect and increases the time it last on your skin. To use herbal salve you simply apply topically onto your skin.
Q. Are your soap considered Vegan friendly?
A. Our goat milk soaps are not considered Vegan friendly. Even though we do not use any animal tallow and do use lots of organic and natural ingredients- goat milk is still considered an animal bi-product. By Vegan standards a product must not have any animal bi-products in it. However because we have been asked several times if are soaps are Vegan friendly we just began making Vegan soap bars that do not have the added goat milk and they will be available this spring.
Q. Why do you use goat milk in you soaps?
A. There are many reasons why we chose to use goat milk. First let us mention that we are not using powdered goat milk but fresh goat milk from our local farm. The goat milk offers many benefits to your skin such as, compatibility to the skins natural PH, moisturizing abilities, anti- aging properties, and loaded with vitamins (D,B6, C & E). Here is a helpful link to an article we posted a while back on the Top Ten Benefits of Goats Milk Soap. We find goat milk soaps to be very mild and can be used by almost all skin types.
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