Monday, January 26, 2009

Organic Oils?

I have been thinking about changing all my oils over to organic oils as I run of of my current stock. How many of you currently use organic oils in your soap and other bath/body products? What is the general preference...do you care if your soap is made from organic oils or not? This would require me to raise my prices by probably 50 cents to $1, though I will have to price everything out to make a final decision on that. I would love to hear your opinion on the use of organic oils.

Finally, since it has been sooo long since I last posted pictures I will tease you with some new items that will be listed in my store soon. The first is some Pumpkin Pie Cream Soap. This is the real stuff...real soap not the foaming bath stuff.

This is Lavender Shea soap made with lavender essential oil. I brushed the top with mica so that is has a nice sparkle.

This red hot soap is cinnamon scented.
Lavender bath oil. Made with turkey red castor oil so that your tub does not get slippery. Turkey red castor is a water soluble oil.
Patchouli roll-on perfume.

9 comments:

  1. I reckon Organic is the way to go. People are so much more aware of their food intake and what they choose to put on their skin. I know that when I shop for skincare/bodycare I much prefer organic. The soaps look delish. I'd love some of your patchouli roll on - I spose I could make some for myself really!
    Can you ship to the UK?

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  2. I looked into Organic oils and after asking around, balancing out the new costs, ect. decided it wasn't worth it in the long run. People didn't seem to care as much as the price (and how it would be affected). The variety of organic oils was pretty small when I was looking into it too.

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  3. I've thought about organic oils too. I found the same thing as Liz. I suppose you could offer some soaps w/ organics. There's always a market. I think price point is going to be an issue with the bad economy. Just my opinion of course...I don't actually have anything to back that up ;0)

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  4. Heidi, that's a good idea. Section your soaps into categories, then people have a choice.
    I didn't think about availability, but Egassner is correct - they are very limited in comparison.

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  5. While I'm not a pro soaper, I would have to agree with what Heidi and Future said: there is a market, so you can make some with org oils and sell them at a higher price.

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  6. Your soaps are nice Sarah and organic with a higher price will attract a market. My customers are now more concerned with price than organic at this time. As long as my soaps don't contain a lot of unnecessary chemicals they are fine. Check out my other blog http://DaisyMayNaturalSoap.blogspot.com

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  7. I've checked into this too, and decided there wasn't a huge market for it in my area. People are more concerned about the price - especially since most of my sales come from the local farmer's market. Although, I have raised my prices little by little since I first started and no one seems to bat an eye. I'm curious to see how my sales go this year though.

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  8. I often pick and choose my Organics for skin care in the same way I pick and choose Organics while grocery shopping. Since they cost extra, I tend to only buy organic for things that get heavily dosed with pesticide. When it comes to groceries, I splurge on Organic for things like strawberries, raspberries, and raisins.

    When it comes to skin care there are a few things I usually try to keep organic, like Citrus Essential Oils. Citrus fruits tend to be very heavily coated with pesticides, and since the Essential Oil comes from the peel it makes sense to go Organic.

    Most of the things on this list don't apply to soap, but you might find it interesting. There are several "Dirty Dozen" lists that help folks pick what is worth splurging on Organic for: http://www.foodnews.org/walletguide.php

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  9. FuturePrimitive: I can ship to UK, just send me an email with your address before you order and i can give you a quote.


    Good suggestions everyone. I think I keep looking for cheaper places to get organic oils. Right now I get everything from Columbus foods, but they only offer a few organic oils. Other places I have found that sell organic oils are just so expensive. I will keep looking with hopes to change over in the future. I think i will start making palm free soap once I run out of my Palm oil...at least it is one step in the direction I would like the company to go.

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