Frequently Asked

Questions

What do you want to know about our products? Do you really use organic herbs? Yes. Occasionally there is a shortage of a particular herb requiring an uncertified replacement, but barring that every herb we use is certified organic. Most are also purchased through businesses that follow free- trade practices and many are also certified Kosher. Are the butters and oils organic too? Some are, some are not. The more exotic butters and oils are particularly hard to find as certified organic and some are incredibly expensive. If the price is reasonable and we can get organic oils/butters, we do. If you use organic ingredients, why aren’t your products labeled ‘organic’? In order to be able to label a product organic the producer/manufacturer must be certified AND all the ingredients must be certified organic. Because there is usually at least one item in each of our products that is not certified organic, we cannot label them as ‘organic’ products. Do you use fresh ingredients? Absolutely. If any of the materials needed for one of our products is more than 9 months old it gets replaced before the next batch is made. (most herbs, oils, and butters have a shelf life of at least 2 years) Do you test on animals? Never. We do some limited testing with friends and family, but since we only use pure herbal ingredients (and commercially available preservatives when needed) there is no other testing done. Are your products vegetarian or vegan? Our products are absolutely acceptable to those living a vegetarian lifestyle. They may be acceptable to some who follow the vegan lifestyle, but because some consider beeswax to be unacceptable in vegan products we will never claim such. Why do some of your products contain a preservative? For those products that are subject to spoiling (sugars and some oils and butters) a preservative is required to prevent the breakdown of the finished product or bacterial growth. We only use established commercial preservatives that have been tested and proven effective without problems occurring and always use the smallest amount possible (usually 1% or less of the total volume). We never use preservatives that contain parabens. Why are some of your products more expensive than what I can get at my local store? This is a very small business and as such we aren’t able to order materials in huge lots to reduce costs. It’s also possible that the ingredients we use are a better quality than those used in other products ... we have very high standards when it comes to personal care products. Why do you use fragrance oils in some products? There are a lot of plants that can’t be utilized as a single essential oil. Many of our “fragrance oils” are actually essential oil blends that we’ve found. Some are perfume oils but those are only used if we’re looking for a particular scent that isn’t easy to blend ourselves. We never use fragrance oils in our herbal remedies, facial, or aromatherapy products. Why don’t you sell your teas or tinctures? Because of the possibility of reactions with medications or allergic reactions, we aren’t comfortable providing ingestible items to the public. We’re happy to share our recipes but with the understanding that those who wish to try them will do so responsibly and will take these factors into account before doing so,