Liar, Liar: Pants on Fire

Hi, this is Laura, my blog where this week, I'm calling out some blatant lies about the tallow, soap, skincare, homemade, handmade, and anything else I can think of to fill this list.  I'm calling all of you out.  No chatGPT or AI writing this, this is pure unbridled annoyance and caffeine fueled typing.  

"The more you read, the more you'll know, the more that you learn, the more places you'll go." -Dr. Seuss

Let's get to it. 

 

5. Grass Fed vs. Grass Finished

This one is a difficult one to talk about because I'm straight up not a farmer.  I can't tell you how many farmers would lie about this, or who you would need to ask.  But, just be aware that a farmer can state their cows are "grass fed" if they ever ate grass - even just once.  What you are probably looking for is cattle that have been grass finished - it's a different specification in which they are fed nothing but grass.  Just keep an eye out for those differences.  I use the term 'Grass Fed' for my tallow because that's the most common phrase people know - however all of my tallow products are grass finished.  

4: Vanilla Essential Oil

It just doesn't exist.  An essential oil, sometimes called a volatile oil, is a concentrated mixture of chemical compounds that are distilled from a plant. These chemical compounds make up the “essence” of the plant, which is where the “essential” in essential oils comes from.  Vanilla beans cannot be broken down via distillation, and therefore cannot be called an essential oil.  You can have vanilla fragrance oils, extracts or oleoresins, but not essential oil. 

Steer clear of vendors, soap makers, or labels that claim it's a vanilla essential oil.  Our Ylang Ylang and Vanilla Tallow Balm is the only balm that this effects - Vanilla Oleoresin is the ingredient that we use.  Still completely safe for the skin, just not an essential oil.  

3: Organic Honey or Organic Beeswax (from the US)

There are no organic standards for honey by the USDA as of 2021.  I also don't know how you prevent bees from getting into non-organic flowers and pollen if they are outside, but that's beside the point.  If anyone is claiming their honey is organic - they either purchased the honey outside the US, and are using a different country's labeling standards - or they're lying. 

2.  Soap that isn't made with lye

This is apparently a hot topic - and I actually got into a debate (discussion? fight?) with a customer a few weekends ago at the local farmer's market.  She wanted to purchase soap that didn't contain lye, so I filled her in on a few things:

Once you mix the lye water with fats - it becomes a different chemical.  Once it has gone through the saponification process, there is no more lye in the soap.  It was once lye, and it's now soap.  That's the definition of soap - it has to be made with lye and fat. 

She was pretty irritated at that lesson - and demanded to know what she was using, if she was using a lye-free soap.  I told her it wasn't soap.

Body Wash, Shampoo, Detergents, Cleaners, Cleansers, etc. are not soap.  So if you're looking for a true soap - it must contain lye.  I will not site my sources, as this is common knowledge in the handmade soap world.  I am the source. 

 

1. The Term "Handmade" or "Homemade"

This one is tricky, and could be it's own blog.  So I'm just going to pose a bunch of questions. 

When you want something to be handmade or homemade, what exactly do you want?  There is something romantic and alluring to purchasing something that was handmade or homemade - or lets face it - I wouldn't have a business.  But what do you actually want? 

Someone with a micro or small business?  Something made in a home?  Something made strictly with hands?  Can someone use a sewing machine?  Hand mixer?  Stand mixer? 

What about in woodworking - can I use a circular saw or does it need to be a hand saw? 

If someone makes a graphic design or programs a 3D printer - did they make it?  Or did the laser engraver?  Or the computer that rendered an image?  I'm not going to touch the idea of AI or POD, but I have strong opinions. 

If someone mixes a Melt and Pour soap mix with additives - did they "make" soap, or did they just mix it?  But people who make Cold Process or Hot Process soap "just mix" lye, water, and fats so how is that different? 

What happens when a single person rents a clean kitchen to make gluten free snacks to prevent contamination?  Are they homemade?  

If it matters to you, and you want to ask someone if something is handmade, or homemade, you could always ask them instead: "What's the process you use to make this?" OR my favorite question which can weed out those who make and those who resell:

"Do you do custom work?"