Commercial "Natural" Soaps

The bigger companies are noticing that "natural" soap is an increasing popular item and are capitalizing on it and producing their own versions.

I actually was unaware of that since I make my own soap and really don't pay much attention to what the commercial guys are up to.

That was a mistake. I should've been paying more attention.

Strolling through my local grocery store today, I happened to find myself in the "soap" section. I was totally amazed at the amount of "natural" and "designer" soaps that the BIG companies are producing now. Less than a year ago, I happened down that same section and took a look and there was barely a bar of soap to be found! Everything was liquid body washes and such. There were only a few of the very basic soaps that most are familiar with...and that was all there was.

Now, there are all these claims to "glycerine" soaps, "natural" soaps, special fragrances in the soaps and all kinds of designer scents. I was completely floored!

Curious, I picked up one of the "natural" soaps and read the ingredients. Floored again, I couldn't believe was I was seeing for their "natural" ingredients. Very vague wording, it all sounded good to the lay person who doesn't know about soap ingredients, but I wasn't fooled a bit! Some of the soap ingredients didn't even label the botanical names of anything, which I thought was a labeling requirement! I label all my ingredients on my soaps in both common and botanical names, why do they get away without doing that?

Maybe because it wasn't "natural" after all.

Most of the "designer" soaps were nothing more than a waxy cube of detergent with a couple of natural additives and fragrance!

Well, the price was good anyway! They were charging at least 1/3 of what I can charge for a bar of soap. If I could charge that much and make a living at it, I most certainly would! But, because I really do make soap the way it was intended to be made, I can't do that.

Don't be fooled by the bargain price. It isn't such a bargain, and you aren't getting what you probably think you're getting. It's all in the wording and clever advertising.

Clever advertising...I guess I need to work on that! Clever, yes, but not misleading...where does one draw the line? Nope, I don't do well at misleading! I want my customers to be totally in the know about what they are purchasing.

Maybe that's why I won't make millions at this, but at least I've maintained my integrity.

And that's OK.