Sunday Spotlight - A Little Soap Variety

Take a look at these wonderful soap sets, variety packs, and samplers offered by this week's featured artisans on the Sunday Spotlight. These soaps look downright delicious, don't they?

Garden of Holly

DeShawn Marie
Dirty Sanchez
Maple Hill Farm
Long Winter Farm
Melmar Soap Hut

Morgan Street

Saponissimo

Sofiart

Southern Vermont Soap

Spa Goddess

SV Soaps

Sweet Sally Soap

Trinity Soap

Vistah Soap

You Stink Soap

It's time for the Around the World Sunday Spotlight Tour (well, a virtual tour). Each week we will visit a different continent and showcase artisans in those areas of the world. It should be a lot of fun and we'll get to see some new and different works of soap art. So if you or someone you know makes bath and beauty products outside the US, either email me a link to the website or post some photos on the Flickr Photo Pool.

First featured continent: Europe

The Bonnie Bath Co.

Natural, handmade bath and body products

Read More

Natural Ingredient Terms, Regulations, & Governing Bodies Explained - Part 6 - Final Note

Since some of the terms (natural, organic, fair trade, sustainable) discussed in these recent posts are regulated, you should further educate yourself about the appropriate use of the terms on your packaging and advertisements. For unregulated terms, it is a good practice to educate your customers on how your business meets these terms since many consumers are realizing that these terms are thrown around all too often inappropriately.

For example, if you consider your business to be sustainable or green, state why on your advertisements. Perhaps you use palm oil that is taken from a farm versus the rain forest, or you work with natural lighting in your place of business and run a paperless office. Letting your customers know how or why your products or company meet the requirements, definitions, and in some cases, your view of a term establishes trust and customer loyalty.

For further information, see the following websites:

Federal Drug Administration http://www.fda.gov/
United States Department of Agriculture (National Organic Program) http://www.usda.gov/
Consumers Union http://www.consumersunion.org/
Natural Ingredient Resource Center http://www.naturalingredient.org/
European Fair Trade Association http://www.european-fair-trade-association.org/
FLO International http://www.fairtrade.net/
World Business Council for Sustainable Development http://www.wbcsd.org/

The Bonnie Bath Co.

Natural, handmade bath and body products

Read More