Organic Olive Oil Liquid Castile Soap

Traditional Castile Soap is compromised of 100% olive oil.

Since there is no regulation of the term "Castile Soap" an item using that name can contain just about anything. I've seen some many modern versions of "Castile Soap" that either contain a simple majority of olive oil in their formula, only just a smidgen of olive in their recipe or in some cases even, they use no olive oil at all in the soap!

Our 100% Olive Oil Liquid Castile Soap is ONLY 100% KOH saponified Olive Oil and distilled water to liquefy it - nothing else! Pure and mild!
Click here to order

 

Green Zesty Moon Soap

Diana declared it party night

Under the bright lit moon

Around the pond

Danced Nymphs and Muse

The Faeries sang

A zesty groove


Zing and zest need not always be sunny to be bright, they can cast a luminescent green glow! Green Zesty Moon Soap was created to capture the bubbly enjoyment of inspiration, even during the night!

Pure oils of Lemongrass and Kaffir Lime Leaf are blended into a handmade silky & creamy Castile soap base which includes oils of Olive, Virgin Coconut, Fair Trade Non Plantation Palm, Virgin Hemp Seed, Virgin Fair Trade Shea Butter, with a bit of real Tussah Wild Peace Silk (as always, no silk moths were harmed!!! :)

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A Symphony of Community Spirit

This past weekend the ALOF family spent an afternoon at The Symphony. "Night at the Movies" was the theme. We had an absolutely fantastic time!

Never a disappointment, we were happy, like many others, to be part of The Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra's wonderful silent auction by donating items with the goal of raising funds to help keep this wonderful 20 year local institution going strong.

Quickly and generously both gift sets were snatched up. One contained Certified Organic 100% Olive Oil Kazanlik Rose Castile Soap & Certified Organic Bulgarian Rosa Damascena Hydrosol and the other was the Orange Luxe Gift Set Trio from our CZ Luxe division.

These days when adults and children alike can be captivated for 90 minutes or more with pure acoustic entertainment, you know you're doing something right! :) Thank you FBSO! And in recognition of that, as well as the many other wonderful benefits of our local Orchestra, we also provided some additional "hat drawing" items as a way to thank the cast of musicians and behind the scenes volunteers that make all of this possible. We hope you all enjoyed the goodies.

ALOF and CZ Luxe believe it is just as important for small business to come out and support its community and their local cultural events; as much as it is important for the community to come out and support its local businesses and their local presence!

We are our communities. We are the people in your neighborhood! :)

A Rave for the Castile!

ALOF's Tea Tree Scented 100% Olive Oil Castile Liquid Soap is the subject of our Unsolicited Customer Testimonial of the Day!

Here it is, as posted on Facebook by Mary Garcia (author of 'Boo Boo's New Leg', click here to check it out!)

"This is the best soap I've ever used to remove chemicals, stain and paint from my hands, EVER!! No scrubbing necessary. As a matter of fact, even if you have very dry hands, the soap gently penetrates the fine lines and cracks in your hands and fingers, removing all traces as it softens the skin as a bonus. NO ARTIST, CARPENTER OR CRAFTER SHOULD BE WITHOUT IT!"

Click Here To Order

Lavandula

Ah dear alkanet root, the plant kingdom's version of litmus paper; how I so enjoy creating colors with you .. :)

Unveiling today - Lavandula Soap - Fair Trade Shea Butter rich, Lavender & Lavandin scented, & made colorful with Alkanet Root and Calendula Petals.

Click Here to Order!

Before or After Eight?

Cocoa Mint - This is one of our more decadent soaps as it has REAL CHOCOLATE in it! In addition (if that weren't yummy enough), Creamy Virgin Coconut Oil, Cocoa Butter and Candy Cane sweet Yakima, Washington Peppermint make this a no calorie treat!

Click here to order!

Thai Spice Soap

Today's soapy feature is Thai Spice - A creamy combination of Virgin and Extra Virgin Oils, Fresh Coconut Milk, French Green Clay and a zesty essential oil combination of Thai Lime Leaf and Fresh Ginger Root .. It is as good as it sounds!

Click here to order!

 

Stirring the Pot!

I love to make soap! Bars and liquid! Blending together a myriad of oils, with vegetable and fruits, flowers and grains, herbs and oils, micas and oxides .. it just gives me a thrill! :)

All this week I will be featuring the fresh batches of soap in the house!

Today's soap is: Sangre de Cristo ~ An aromatic homage to the mountains - virgin oils, red clay, conifers and patchouli .. blend that with a shower and its a warm springtime day in the hills!

Click here to order!

Soaping

I made several batches of gourmet soap this week including such favorites as Pumpkin Chai Spice, Candied Citrus Peel and Mocha Java - yummy!

After all years of being a professional in the art of saponification I still find soap making so fascinating!

To put it in the terms of my inner child wonder - "its like special cooking" lol. I mix all these oils and fruits, botanicals and spices, then add a bit of basic chemistry and I end up with soap bubbles that wash me clean!

Incidentally chemistry was one of my favorite school subjects .. FINALLY, one of those mandatory high school courses has come into practical use! {grinz}

Alep Soap

In the ancient artisan soap making center of Aleppo the sabuncu's special is traditionally prepared from a combination of olive and bay oils; lovely gifts from trees which have graced Mediterranean region with their bounty for thousands of years.

Our Liquid Alep Soap is an homage to this art; containing only pure oils of Organic Extra Virgin Olive & Wildgrown Bay Leaf, Distilled Water & Laurel Seed Hydrosol.

Enjoy a true natural wonder this holiday season - ALOF's Liquid Alep Soap.

Hold The Triclosan, Please

A little over 2 years ago I blogged about the potential dangers of Triclosan's use in liquid soaps and other household products. Today I've once again stumbled across an article that brought it to the forefront of my mind. There are many findings which show it has an overall negative effect when it comes out of the hospital and is used wide scale by the general public. These not so good effects include but are not limited to aiding the development of drug resistant "super bugs" and causing environmental and wildlife damage.

Despite these facts, the usage of Triclosan in products on the mass market level has actually increased by 40% over the past 2 years! Items such as "Anti-bacterial" toiletries, cutting boards with "Microban", and clothes with "Biofresh" all contain Triclosan; another toxic chemical now ending up in water systems in larger quantities than ever before. Going down the drain does not render it inert or safe.

We at ALOF believe it is unnecessary to add to this issue by using any soaps and other toiletries containing Triclosan. The 100% Olive Oil Liquid Castile Soap that we make is the same soap that we use to wash our bodies, our children and our homes every day. Varieties of the soap which contain essential oils such as Tea Tree and Lavender not only smell pleasant but the aromatics are proven to have antiseptic benefits. Cleaning confidently, efficiently and effectively can add a gentle pleasure to life, without creating "superbugs" and poisoning our waters!

Triclosan

Today the newsletter I received from Larry over at Vermont Soap works and The Green Products Alliance, of which I am a member, was about anti-bacterial ingredient triclosan and its dangers. This got me too thinking about all those unnecessary anti-bacterial soaps, and other triclosan containing products on the market.

As if issues such as how nasty theses products are for your skin over time and how potentially damaging they are for your general health (terms such as neurotoxin and carcinogen come to mind) aren't bad enough, I would think the fact that the growing popularity and widespread (over)use of commercial anti-bacterial soaps/detergents, which contain triclosan, is adding to the growing, deadly epidemic of drug resistant bacteria would be incentive for the consumer masses to steer clear! Click here to read more about the issue.

Natural soap and water is an effective germ removing tool for the average person (basically unless you're a surgeon, its good enough ;) , and if the soap contains an essential oil such as tea tree, which has natural bactericidal properties (that due to enough natural variance per batch, do not promote the existence of superbugs), even the most squeamish germaphobe can cleanse themselves confidently.

Adulterated olive oil.

I make 100% Olive Liquid Soap - Made From TESTED TO BE PURE OLIVE OIL, organic is available too

Unfortunately there is A LOT of adulterated olive oil and olive pomace oil out there. Myself and another local soap maker, whom I work closely with, had some locally distributed olive oil tested and found it to be adulterated with soy oil (heck, it was mostly soy with a wee bit of olive added - totally undisclosed on the label).

Luckily we have found a source for true blue unadulterated olive oil and olive pomace oil, but the article and paragraph below highlights how, in addition to being a corrupt business practice, the misbranding of olive oil (and anything) can be sickening to people with food allergies.

It reveals an issue that goes well beyond the practice of undisclosed cutting of pomace and olive oils with cheap oils such as soy.

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On August 10, 1991, a rusty tanker called the Mazal II docked at the industrial port of Ordu, in Turkey, and pumped twenty-two hundred tons of hazelnut oil into its hold. The ship then embarked on a meandering voyage through the Mediterranean and the North Sea. By September 21st, when the Mazal II reached Barletta, a port in Puglia, in southern Italy, its cargo had become, on the ship’s official documents, Greek Olive Oil.

Read the full article here:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/13/070813fa_fact_mueller?printable=true

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Hopefully by making folks aware of this, we will be able to help prevent or at least minimize this kind of crapola ...


A Little Ol'Factory - Since 1999
Organic 100% Extra Virgin Olive Liquid Soap
Made From TESTED TO BE PURE OLIVE OIL
http://www.alittleolfactory.com

Soft as a baby's bottom

This is the diaper ointment I made for my sons when they were that age. I hope it keeps your baby's bottom as happy as it did my cloth diapered boys'.

~ Make it yourself! ~

Diaper Ointment Recipe

Clean and dry baby's skin before sparingly applying this ointment to the diaper area.
A great way to do that is to use our 100% Organic Olive Baby Soap!

1 Tablespoon Zinc Oxide powder to begin with
1 Tablespoon Fractionated Coconut Oil to begin with
2 teaspoons Jojoba to begin with
Drop of Vitamin E
Drop of diluted to 10% or less Rose Otto (Rosa damascena)
or Roman Chamomile Oil (Anthemis nobilis)

Blend well the zinc and oils together, tinkering with amounts, to the consistency you prefer. After blending store in a glass jar with a lid. Make in small batches to keep fresh.

Note: The Jojoba can be infused with calendula flowers for added benefit. For fungal related rashes, I'd use Jojoba infused with taheebo bark.