Let’s Talk About Orangutans

Alright, this a more serious topic, one I hope will help explain why my handcrafted soaps cost double what you can buy at the store.

About 15 years ago I went to the zoo in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The young female orangutan had just had a baby. It was only a month old! At that point I hadn’t had my two girls yet, but I knew I wanted kids one day and that baby orangutan was pulling on my heart strings something awful. I watched it play with it’s mom for at least 30 minutes. Then the keeper came over to the group of us watching and started telling us about the environment they normally live in and how it was endangered due to clearing of the forest to plant palm oil palms.

From that day forward I promised that momma orangutan that I would not buy products with palm oil in it, so I would not be apart of the killing of her other relatives. To this day I held fast to that passing up on what would be some pretty yummy treats in order to not support the palm oil industry, which is enormous!

That being said, my soap is not made and will never be made with palm oil. Could I use palm oil and make my soap for half the price? Absolutely. But I won’t. There are some “sustainable” sources of palm oil, but I see no reason to destroy forests halfway across the world when I can use other sustainable ingredients that don’t destroy habitats. If I find one of my ingredients suddenly does not have as good of a reputation, I will certainly think about changing my formulas.

Let me ask, what is more important for you when you buy a body product? Price or quality and integrity? Some people say price and use products with sketchy cheap ingredients. And that’s ok if you have too. But I find buying a higher quality product to be an investment even if it costs a bit more, it will last longer and give you a greater return in the end.

Tell me what you think in the comments below. What’s most important to you in a body product?