Archive for the ‘Natural Ingredients’ Category

NEW! Coconut…The Dark Side of Vanilla

This blog post was written by Abby-Lynn Knorr and posted on June 4th, 2013
Posted in Natural Ingredients, News Flash!, Uncategorized with the tags ,
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2006 was a sad year. It was when we made the decision to discontinue our Vanilla line. Shortly after we had made the commitment to use only 100% natural ingredients we discovered that the Vanilla scent we had been using was not quite natural enough to fit our mandate at 99.6%. Call it splitting hairs, but to us it is vital that we draw a line and don’t step over it. At the time Vanilla was our most popular scent and it was really tough  to say good-bye. That is why we are jumping up and down excited to be able to say; It’s BAAAAAAACK!! It’s back and it’s better than ever. Why is it better than ever? Because like all memorable characters, our Vanilla has a dark side, cleverly taken from one of the world’s most popular and beloved tropical plants…the carefree coconut palm. Thus we introduce to you Vanilla…with Coconut. If you love the smell of being on a tropical beach you’re going to fall in love with this collection. Let it take you away to an island paradise where only good-for-you natural products grow.

A Re-Imagined Store: Now Open in Canmore

This blog post was written by Abby-Lynn Knorr and posted on November 30th, 2012
Posted in Healthy Living, Ingredients to Avoid, Natural Ingredients, Uncategorized
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Toxin-free shopping at its best

In early November, we opened the doors to a whole new concept to retail. The concept of ‘how much old stuff can we pull out of the landfill or from our workshop and reuse to make a funky and fun new store’.

As part of the renovation, we put an extreme objective in place. One we felt was paramount to our core purpose of removing toxins from the world. The vision for this store is that it is a completely toxin-free and earth-friendly environment. In a world full of toxic laquers, paints, finishings and furniture…hows THAT for a challenge?

We made resolution early in the planning stages to avoid a ‘red-list’ of the toxins typically found in the construction of a store. Every material we used is toxin-free and either reusable, reclaimed, recyclable or compostable. We also wanted to make sure that no parts of the store will ever end up in a landfill, after all, we’d literally just pulled some parts of the store OUT of the landfill.

We had fun scrounging up materials such as reclaimed wood from a barn in Manitoba, amber glass beer bottles for light fixtures, and ingredient containers such as tin olive oil cans  and drums which were given new life as eco-chic chandeliers. We searched for antiques to use for cabinetry, and avoided virgin flooring, we just diamond ground the concrete floor that was already there. We also dug a hole down through the store floor and into the soil below to make home for a beautiful fig tree which we’ve affectionately dubbed ‘The Lorax’. American Clay on the walls and the living wall at the rear of the store help to purify the air while the living wall on the store-front adds a festive and natural header with its red berries and evergreen seedlings.

We invite you to come visit this ‘new/old’ store to enjoy a completely worry-free shopping experience. We’ve had some comments that most newly renovated stores have a toxic ‘paint-fumey’ scent, but ours didn’t have a smell at all. That is until we moved in about two million tonnes of soap. We’d so love to hear what you think the next time you’re in for a visit! Write to us at info@rockymountainsoap.com.

What On Earth Is An Attar?

This blog post was written by Abby-Lynn Knorr and posted on February 25th, 2010
Posted in Natural Ingredients with the tags , , , , ,
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indianattarsIt’s that time again.  No, it’s not time for a nap, it’s time for your favorite educational and slightly irreverent blog about all things natural, and some things completely unrelated to natural.

Today’s topic?  Indian attars.  I’ve had a few people ask after reading our perfume ingredients ‘What is an attar?’  So for those of you with an interest:

The word ‘attar’ is Arabic, and it literally means scent.  The practice of extracting scent from flowers (which is what the artisan is doing in the photo), herbs and spices began in India and is as ancient as the hills, well…at least 5000 years. To distill the scent the botanical was placed in vegetable oil or water.  Given enough time the oil would become infused with the scent and would retain it after the plants or flowers were removed.  Pure attars actually don’t have an expiry date and many of them smell better the older they are.  Attars are a luxury and in ancient times were used in offerings to the gods.

They aren’t all opulence though, attars also have health benefits ranging from blood sugar regulation, headaches, stress, an aid to ‘gettin’ busy’ and the list goes on.  The attars that we use in our perfumes are Jasmine, Pink Lotus, and Magnolia flowers.  Lotus calms the mind, balances emotions and improves concentration.  It’s actually so valued in India that it is the nations flower.  Jasmine is another treasured perfume whose vibrant and romantic scent is an aphrodisiac but it is also reputed to strengthen the nervous system.  Magnolia is said to alleviate stress, ease depression, and believe it or not help with food cravings.

So there you go – you can gain some benefits, and smell pretty at the same time. Perfume with function, who knew?