International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient List

We all need soap.

Many soap-makers list soap ingredients on each bar of soap and use the International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient List, or standards for listing all ingredients.  It is for cosmetics.  Soap is not a cosmetic unless we make a claim on the soap.  For example if I state my activated charcoal soap cures all pimples and heals complexions. Even if I know charcoal is good for detoxing the skin and drawing out impurities, I can't state that it clears pimples unless I want it considered as a cosmetic and then the ingredients are required to be listed by from the INCI list.  I don't make claims on my soap.  I try to state that it may react on everyone differently.  I may say that other people have found it to be good soap for fighting acne.  This is not a claim that it cures anything.

To show an example of INCI lists, I will place one soap ingredient list that has all ingredients listed in readable English.  The ingredient list after that will be the ingredients listed with the INCI list.

Soap Ingredients:  Coconut oil, raw cow milk, castor oil,  water, sunflower oil, lye, kokum butter, organic shea butter, fragrance, 2 farm fresh eggs, mica, rose petal powder, titanium dioxide, ROE, sunflower petals, blackberry seeds.  

INCI Ingredient t Names:  Sodium Cocoate (coconut oil), Raw Cow Milk, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Water (Aqua), Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil,  Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH), Garcinia Indica (Kokum) Seed Butter, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), 2 Farm Fresh eggs (eggs), Mica, Titanium Dioxide and Carmine, Helianth Rosa Centifolia (Rose) Petal Powder, Titanium Doxide (Titanium Dioxide), Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, us Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Petals,  Rubus fruticosus (Blackberry) Seeds.

Even though you can figure out many of the ingredients from the INCI list, I like to give the customer an easier way to find out what ingredients are in my soaps.  I have many allergies and I like to read what something has in it so I can avoid hives.  

What would you rather read?

I hope you have a great weekend!!!

Please view my web store at:

http://www.custercottage.com

And visit my Etsy shop at:

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Dawnie 

Soaps

Some of my resent soaps.

 

My tomatoes and peppers.  So far I have only picked one pepper.  How many peppers has Peter Piper picked???

Please view my web store at:

http://www.custercottage.com

And visit my Etsy shop at:

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Thank you for viewing!  Dawnie

Fun Weekend

I hope you had a fun weekend too!  Dawnie

Creamy Coconut and Faded Rose Soaps

New Soap
Creamy Coconut
Still in the mold

Ingredients:  (In plain English) coconut oil, coconut milk, raw cow milk, lye, unrefined shea butter, sunflower oil,  fragrance oil, eggs, titanium dioxide, coconut soap shreds, rosemary oleoresin extract, flax seeds crushed, mica 

This should be a nice creamy bar of soap with added oils of 5%, not including the coconut milk fat, and raw cow milk fat.  I get the raw milk from an Amish Dairy.  The eggs give the bar a silky-smooth texture.  The eggs come from my urban farm hens.  Shea butter is great for moisture and sunflower oil helps retain moisture in your skin.  Titanium dioxide whitens the soap.  Brown mica is swirled in the soap for decoration.  Rosemary oleorsin extract helps keep the extra oils/fats from going rancid.  Flax seeds and shredded coconut soap are mostly for decoration.  In order to make soap, lye is needed, but it disappears once suponification occurs.  During the 4-6 week curing time, the soap will loose some of the water/liquids and the bar will become lighter.

This is not vegan soap since it contains raw cow milk and eggs.

This is not organic, even though a few items may be organic, such as the eggs.

This is made with sustainable products.


For those viewers that do not make soap, does it help to explain why certain ingredients are used?

New Soap
Faded Rose
On the curing rack

I hope you had a great weekend!
All was fine here.  I appreciate all of you who follow my blog.  I hope you all have a great week!

 

Please view my web store at:

http://www.custercottage.com

And visit my Etsy shop at:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CusterCottage

 

Part 3, Clearing things up about organic, sustanable....

What is the difference between fragrance oil and essential oil?
This answer is pretty simple;  however, soap fragrances may be blends containing both fragrance oil and essential oil.  Fragrance oil is less expensive and is basically an artificial smell.  It is similar artificial flavor in food.  Essential oil is extracted or distilled from the actual plant.  Essential oils are great for aromatherapy.  Soap makers like to create soaps that are all natural, but it is very expensive to make some fragrances, such as rose essential oil.  Due to the lower costs and the sheer variety of fragrances, soap makers generally use fragrance oils.  



Sustainable:
Something that can be carried on for a long time without severe damage to our environment.  If I use tallow or lard in my soaps it would come from the fat of a dead animal.  Tallow and lard are considered sustainable.  They are not in danger of extinction and the cattle and/or pigs do not destroy the land during their lifetime.  If I use palm oil, most palm is not replenished, so most is not sustainable.   Orangutangs are loosing habitat size due to palm harvesting   Palm oil comes from the fruit of the palm tree.  It can be grown anywhere where there is a lot of rainfall but it originated in Africa.  Palm, tallow, and lard makes a nice hard bar of soap.  I have noticed more soap makers going back to using tallow and lard and using much less palm oil. 

Organic:  
An organic substance or matter would be a living substance or derived from a living substance where it had been made or grown without the use of artificial chemicals or ingredients. A carrot harvested without artificial chemicals could be considered organic.  Usually organic food or products are higher in price to purchase.

I hope some of this has answered your questions instead of making more questions.  LOL  Please send me a comment if you do or do not agree with me.  Thank you for viewing!

Please view my web store at:

http://www.custercottage.com

And visit my Etsy shop at:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CusterCottage

 

Part 2 Clearing things up about natural, organic, sustainable and what some ingredients are used for in hand made soap.

A hard bar of soap lasts longer than a soft bar of soap, so soap makers prefer to use oils or fats that have this quality.  Lard, tallow, palm and coconut oil are great for making a hard bar of soap.  Without using oils and butters that are known for making a hard bar of soap, a soap maker may wish to add stearic acid or sodium lactate  to create a hard bar of soap.  It is also used to aid in the removal of soap from some molds.

Sodium lactate is a salt used as a food preservative and is derived from lactic acid.  It is commonly used in foods and cosmetics.  It can also be used as a thickener.

Sodium lactate, a form of salt, is used as a food preservative a

Read more at: http://www.modernghana.com/lifestyle/3752/16/is-sodium-lactate-a-dairy-product.html

Sodium lactate, a form of salt, is used as a food preservative a

Read more at: http://www.modernghana.com/lifestyle/3752/16/is-sodium-lactate-a-dairy-product.html

Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH)  is what we commonly refer to as lye or caustic soda.  It is very strong and can burn your skin if you do not wear protective gear when using it.  My mother has a small scar on her forehead from a soap making accident when she was a small child.  While making soap with her mother, she somehow got lye on her forehead, which caused a burn and left a scar.  Most of us think of sodium hydroxide as the Red Devil drain cleaner we at the hardware store.  It is, but it has many other uses.  It can be used for removing peels from fruit and vegetables during processing and it even keeps our pretzels soft.  A soap maker must use lye to make soap.  Lye mixed with fats and a liquid have a chemical reaction called suponification.  After suponification, soap is made and lye is no longer present in the soap.  Added liquids are evaporated during the curing time.   Glycerin is also retained in hand made soap.  So, does my soap contain lye?  No.  It was removed during the suponification process.  As a soap ingredient, I list lye or sodium hydroxide since it was used to make my soap.  The liquid evaporates during the curing time, but I still list it as an ingredient in my soap.

Glycerin is usually removed from manufactured soap and used in other products.  Glycerin is important since it aids in attracting moisture to your skin.

Hot Process is a method for making soap where fats, lye, and liquid are placed in a container and heated.  Other ingredients may be added to the soap.  Once the process is completed, the soap is ready to be placed into molds and it is able to be cut as soon as it cools down and firms up.  This is the method most of us envision when we think of soap making from pioneer days where a woman stirs soap in a large pot outdoors.  There is much less cure time with this method and that appeals to many soap makers.  Currently crock pots are usually the method of choice when it comes to heating soap ingredients in the hot process method.

Cold Process is another method for making soap. Soaps are made with fats, lye, and a liquid like usual.  Other ingredients may be added, but the soap is not cooked or hot processed.  The fats may be heated up and solid fats melted but it is not cooked.  Lye will also create heat when a liquid is added.  There is also a combination of cold processed, oven processed where the soap maker places the soap at a low heat in the oven after placing the soap in molds.

Curing Time is needed for hand made soap to harden.  For cold processed soaps, it is usually about 4 weeks.  They say the PH also is reduced during the curing time in cold processed soaps.  If soap is hot processed, it can be used right after it is set up in the mold, but it is best to let it harden up for a couple weeks. 

Stearic acid is a waxy acid derived from animal and vegetable fats.  It is used as a thickener in soaps and lotions.  This gives soap a smooth waxy feeling.

Detergent is what most people purchase from the major manufacturers.  Detergent is usually made from petroleum products.  Foaming agents, fragrance, dyes, and other items are added to detergents.

Super Fatted Soap is a soap made without suponifying all of the fats.  What I mean by this is that extra fats are added to the soap when it is being made or manufactured.  These extra fats are too much for the lye to suponify with.  This leaves a soap with extra fats to moisturize and condition your skin.
If soap is super fatted, a label should not state fats as being suponified.  Such as suponified coconut oil, suponified castor oil, and the like.  Some of the fats were not suponified.


Next time I will try to explain the difference between fragrance oil and essential oil and hopefully organic and sustainable products.  If you have other questions about soap making, please let me know and I will try to explain them.

Pretty soap leaves you pretty clean!

Please view my web store at:

http://www.custercottage.com

And visit my Etsy shop at:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CusterCottage