whole foods premium body care

we did it! we qualified!!! for whole foods' new premium body care standards that is. big deal? heck yeah. BIG deal! only bath and body products that are the purest, the most natural, the safest . . . the very BEST have this honor bestowed upon them. pseudo-naturals, fakes, and greenwashers need not apply.

let's face it, a wild soap bar has never used synthetic fragrances, dyes, harmful preservatives, or toxic petroleum products in anything we've ever made. not once. but until now, we've had to sit on the shelves of even natural foods stores with those who do and just "take it". i mean what's a truly green product to do? with so many unscrupulous companies out there claiming to be "all natural" it's becoming increasingly more difficult for the consumer to make any sense of it all. it's a mess really.

so thank you whole foods for trying to weed out the imposters. it's about time somebody started separating the wheat from the chaffe! to find a whole foods market or wild oats that carries our natural products, look here. so far we're only in texas, arkansas, oklahoma, louisiana and missouri . . . but we're workin on that. if you have a whole foods market near you, go in and ask them to carry a wild soap bar. it can't hurt. then purchase products with the premium body care shelf logo. these are the companies that are going the extra mile for you and your family.

what about crocs?

i have to admit . . . i own a pair of purple crocs (my favorite color), and i absolutely LOVE wearing them! they're so darn comfy! but i've been thinking lately. . . what impact do these shoes have on the earth? do they have any post consumer waste content? are they fair trade? what's their carbon footprint?

according to the manufacturer they're not rubber. they're not plastic. they're PCCR - a proprietary closed cell resin that's antimicrobial (could be harmful?) and molds to your foot. since it's proprietary, i can't find much info on this stuff. my gut instinct tells me that this is a petroleum based product that wouldn't win any environmental contests. but if you can shine any light on the situation, please share.

the good news is that crocs has a program called soles united where they take worn out crocs and recycle them into brand new crocs for people in impoverished countries. recycling is always a good thing, and of course helping people in need is too . . . but if they're not made in an eco-friendly way in the first place . . . is this really a good thing?

i found an interesting debate on treehugger. so what do you think? what about crocs???

greet the day with new sunrise soap

how can you NOT fall in love with this beautiful two-layered naked soap scented with an energizing lemon eucalyptus essential oil blend, hand stamped with "sunrise" for all the world to see, and whimsically handcrafted by a wild soapbartender just for grins? it's minimally packaged in earth friendly glassine bags because where packaging is concerned ... less is always more! check out my new hot off the drying racks sunrise soap du jour. get yours today before the sun sets. (ps cocoa bean soap is ready to go too)

a grateful mother

this is my youngest son jory, one of our master soapmakers, showing off a partial day's work. not bad huh? this is about 150 lbs. of soap. an average day for soap making. these loaves will be cut into small one ounce sampler sized soaps. that's a lot of cuts! i could never do this without jory. so here's to you kid! you are absolutely the bomb!!!

now this is our other son cael. he helps out sometimes on the weekends and we're always glad to have an extra set of hands. big hands too. he cuts labels, washes soap rocks, makes soap sample boxes . . . or whatever we need. it's great to have your kids nearby and to be on good terms. i realize that not every mom has that good fortune. i've gotta be one of the luckiest mom's in the world.

happy mother's day to all.

national pet week may 4-10

in honor of national pet week, join pets for the environment as they work to make this world safer for pets and their humans. and don't forget to join eddie's wall of cute. our 3 year old super spoiled rat terrier daisy did (shown here).

then try our WooF WiLD natural dog shampoo bars and balm. greats for dogs with even the most sensitive skin! ditch the plastic bottles and synthetic ingredients. daisy had her bath last night and she smells fantastic and her coat is sooooo soft now.

fake organic bodycare companies sued

dr. bronners sues the makers of fake "organic" liquid soaps, bodywashes, shower gels, shampoos and conditioners stating that their products are made with harmful petrochemicals and non-organic conventional agricultural products while being falsely labeled as "organic" or "organics" on their principal display panels. you go dr. b! it's about time somebody exposed these unscrupulous companies who are intentionally deceiving customers and reaping huge profits! among those listed in the lawsuit are:

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (JASON Pure & Natural Organic & Avalon Organics)
KISS My Face Corp. (Organic and/or Obsessively Organic)
Levlad, Inc. (Nature's Gate Organics)
Florestas Organic Botanical, Inc. (Ikove Organic)
Juice Beauty, Inc. (Juice Beauty Organics and/or The Organic Solution)
Stella McCartney America, Inc. (CARE)
Giovanni Cosmetics, Inc. (Giovanni Organic Cosmetics and/or Pure Organic Technology)
Cosway Company, Inc. (Head Organics)
Country Life, LLC (Desert Essence Organics)
Estee Lauder, Inc. (plans to label Aveda Organics based on weak OASIS standards)
Organic and Sustainable Industry Standards, Inc. (OASIS - the new industry pseudo organic standards being pushed by Estee Lauder)
Ecocert France (SAS) (for improperly certifying products as organic)
Ecocert, Inc. (for improperly certifying products as organic)

read more about it here. get informed. boycott these companies. make a difference. buy real organic soap.

soaps du jour

introducing soaps of the day! fragrant, fanciful, delightfully decadent . . . natural soaps from the soapmaker's heart. these are the soaps that soapmakers dream about! stirred in super small batches just to please their fancy.

this 6 oz. rich, creamy hunk of heaven goes by cocoa bean. with fair trade cocoa, moisturizing cocoa butter, fair trade coffee, and real vanilla; topped with fresh whole coffee beans to tempt your senses. it's on the drying rack. get ready. it's coming. i promise you won't be disappointed.