Full Ingredient Disclosure - Our Promise to You
Lisa Jenkins
At Heart's Path Designs we value you as an informed customer. That means putting every ingredient on every listing & label so that you can research for yourself before you choose which of our products are right for you and your family. We have a wide variety of products, from all-natural (more on that term below) handmade soaps and lotion bars to designs with foodie/trendy scents, vivid colors, and more. By listing all ingredients we use (right down to the witch hazel we spritz on while forming our bath bombs) you can check for ingredients you could be sensitive to, ones you don't want to use, and ones you want to use. Let's face it - life is complicated enough as it is, we don't need to be wondering what we're putting on our bodies. There are some ingredients we generally don't use (Corn, Soy and Canola Oils, Polysorbate 80) for reasons of personal preference.
“If you list all of your ingredients, won't other makers just rip off your designs?”
The short answer is possibly, yes. And possibly no. However, it's much more important to us that you get all the information YOU need to decide if any of our products are a good fit for your family (or even if some are, but others are not). Some people have sensitivities to the most common things (like coconut oil, for instance) and others do not want to use certain products for reasons of personal conscience or because they are affected by scents. Could someone take an ingredient list and re-create our products? In some cases they may come close, in which case they are free to market them however they like (of course we frown on straight copy-cats in any industry but we can't police every maker). However, chances of making an exact replica of any product with just an ingredient list are slim. Regardless, our primary focus is bringing the best quality product to YOU in the most transparent manner possible.
“But wait, your products aren't ALL, all-natural?”
This question comes up a lot. In the bath & body/cosmetics world, a LOT of people use the term “all-natural.” The truth is that there is no regulation of that term for soaps, body butters, lotion bars, etc. Some makers don't give it mention at all (or even list their full ingredients anywhere, yikes!). Some use the term very broadly, or don't really know which ingredients are sourced from nature and which are not. In fact, in the United States if a business clearly identifies a product as “soap” and lists the product name and weight, ingredients are not required to be listed at all. We choose to list for the reasons given above. We make every effort to determine which of the ingredients we use are actually from natural sources and which are not. Mica colorants, for instance - while they CAN be mined naturally, the natural forms are regulated due to high amounts of cadmium, lead and other impurities naturally found in them (that are very hard to separate using economically feasible refining methods). Micas sold on the market today for use in cosmetics and personal care products generally are laboratory-created in a controlled environment. So Micas aren't strictly “all-natural” (although the ones in use now aren't filled with the impurities mentioned above, either).
“Is Lye all-natural?”
Use of Sodium Hydroxide (Lye) does not in and of itself disqualify a soap as a natural product, in fact, soap cannot be made without lye. Even commercially-produced soaps begin with Lye. By carefully formulating (and carefully measuring ingredients in each batch) we ensure that the right amount of oils are used to fully saponify the Lye so there is never any active Lye left over in a cured finished soap bar (search the term “saponification” for more information). Even liquid soaps begin with a form of Lye. We always “superfat” by a margin of at least 5% (5% more oils and butters added to the batch than are strictly required for complete saponification), both providing a safety buffer and a luxurious-feeling soap.
Where one of our products has ingredients that are fully sourced from nature, we will use the term “all-natural” simply as a shorthand for our customers to compare available products. If it has any amount of an ingredient not sourced from nature (say, scent from fragrance oil which may or may be constituted 100% from natural ingredients) we will not use that term. We do offer a number of products specifically designed with the fewest ingredients possible and from natural sources. Many of our products use ingredients that are Organic and we always stick with reputable suppliers for all of our materials. Message us if you have specific needs not already addressed so we can discuss how to best meet them. And as always, if you have any other questions about our products, feel free to ask!