4 Ingredients We'll Never Use in Our Products

NewHope360.com, one of the leading natural products information sites online, posted an article listing "4 controversial personal care ingredients to know."

Some of these ingredients haven't necessarily been definitively been proven to cause harm, but there's been enough concern in the marketplace over them that more and more people are looking for items without them.

The four controversial ingredients are: Parabens, Nanoparticles, Synthetic Fragrance, and Sodium laureth sulfate/sodium lauryl sulfate. We've never used, and will never use any of these ingredients in any of our products.

To check out our full line of bodycare products that are pure, natural, handmade, fair priced, and made in Alabama, go HERE.

We're on a mission...

Plain and simple, you could say that our mission is to make really great soap. To turn ordinary shower experiences into extraordinary events. Frankly, over the years I've been amazed at what a difference in quality of life a good bar of soap can make for someone.

Recently I was challenged to come up with some core values. Our values are what keep us going, and what ultimately filters what we do and how we do it. Over the last few months I've just been observing things here at the Cheeky Maiden house and I made a little list.

You could call it our Five Core Values.

1. Cheeky Maiden Soap Co operates with integrity and transparency. Not only do we seek to always deliver exactly what we promised, we disclose all ingredients. We won't give you the impression that our soap is all natural and then slip in some fake stuff when no one is looking.
2. Purity and quality are our #1 concern in manufacturing safe soap and body care products for your family (and ours!). We research ingredients, question the producers of those ingredients, and refuse to ever lower our standards. All of our colorants are plants, clays, roots, seeds, or charcoals- never anything synthetic being passed as "natural". All of our scents are from steam distilled essential oils- straight from the plants! No synthetic fragrances- ever.
3. Cheeky Maiden always wants to provide outstanding customer service. We are not out to "make a quick penny" and take pride in our work. If you aren't satisfied, please let us know so that we can make it right! Since every product is made by our own hands, we love to hear how they are working for our customers.
4. Cheeky Maiden seeks to influence the surrounding community. We love to get involved in the good stuff going on around us, as well as participating in community enrichment projects such as Farmer's Markets. (This summer we'll be doing four markets! We love to meet our customers face to face and get to know y'all!)
5. Cheeky Maiden promotes healthy families. We work as a family to produce the items that you purchase from us. Everyone but the baby has a job, and we love having our kids work by our side. In the future, we'll be looking for ways to get involved in promoting healthy families in the communities around us!

You can't cry at this party!

Just because we call it Pitty Party doesn't mean we want to make you cry!

We released the beta version of our new Pitty Party

All-Natural Aluminum-Free Deodorants shortly before Christmas last year.

You may not know this, but we have a system for trouble shooting new products. First, we give it out to all the guinea pigs we can find. If the product in question meets our test group's demands, we offer it discounted to our larger customer base.

We did just that with the Pitty Party deodorants and we want to say Thank You for all the feedback.

First, we got it too hard. (Sorry.)

Then we made it too soft. (Sorry again.)

Eventually, we got it juuuuuuust right. Soft enough for our male users, and hard enough not to make a mess and go on smoothly. If you bought your Pitty Party around the end of 2010 or the beginning of 2011, chances are you got one of the beta versions. (Sorry. Again.)

Still crying?

There was just one more FAQ about the natural deodorant darkening some fabrics.

There is a very short answer to that question:

You're probably using too much! In perfecting our recipe, we have added more essential oils for stronger anti-odor benefits, so you don't need as much. (We've added "apply sparingly" to the labels to help you remember.) To the best of our knowledge it is the coconut oil that is darkening under arm fabric and this is totally preventable by just swiping once and allowing your under arms to dry a little before getting dressed. Easy!

Sage?

There seems to be confusion about the Clary Sage oil used in our Clary Sage and Lemongrass flavor of Pitty Party. Clary Sage is NOT the same thing as Sage! While Sage has a camphorous medicinal smell, you will find that Clary Sage has more of a floral citrus scent.

Not your cup of tea? We have a Spearmint Rosemary flavor too!

SWEATING IS GOOD, STINKIN' IS BAD

Why isn't our Pitty Party also an antipersperant? Simple. We're crazy enough to believe that there's a reason why you sweat. Your skin is responsible for removing 1/3 of your body's toxins. It's important to allow it to do that. You need to sweat. Your body needs to get that stuff out.

We want you to sweat. In fact, we encourage it.

But please don't stink.

That's where we're here to help. You want an under arm product that will work with your body's natural toxin eliminating processes. You want to smell good without giving your body more toxins to get rid of.

If this is you, we're having a Pitty Party and you're invited! Pitty Party All-Natural Aluminum-Free Deodorants are 15% off this month! Give it a try!

Rave Reviews: "You can't beat it with a bat!"

Just today our mail box held several rave reviews.

Stephanie says:

Oh My Goodness! Thank you for making the Dental Soap w/xylitol! I think I ordered the soap from you in the summer and I'm just now reordering. My mouth and teeth feel and smell clean. My 8yr old doesnt like it, due to the soapy taste, so she uses coconut oil. If you ever make one that has more xylitol to mask the soap taste please let me know. $2.99 for over 6 months of use? You can't beat that with a bat! Thanks Again

(Tip for using Dental Soap with kids: Just use a tiny bit! They don't need much. To start, I just dab a wet tooth brush once on the soap and brush with that. You will be surprised at how much lather you get with just a dab. Your child will find the soap taste is pretty much gone!)

Marcella says:

I was given a box full of your products as a gift. wow!

how do you get the shea butter fluffy?

Answer: We whip it. That is the only secret to our whipped shea butter. It is, indeed....whipped. =)

We love to hear from our customers! Feedback is always appreciated and we're happy to answer any questions, anytime!

Where ARE my elves????

Cheeky Maiden Soap Co. gets excited about the Holidays. We love the yummy goodies, the time with families, the exchanging of gifts to show that you care. And we play Christmas music sometimes while we're working on our lovingly crafted items. We make everything from scratch in our workshop at our home.

Welcome to the soap room, real time:

Cheeky Maiden is toting these huge jars of salt just about everywhere these days for our salt parties:

There is a growing army of robots, butterflies, owls, and monsters!
Thank you for the overwhelmingly positive response to our newest offering- Pitty Party!
This little guy has been waiting forever to get sent off to South Carolina! =)

Lavender Oatmeal, curing as quickly as possible:

Woops! Our secret is out. Someone spotted an empty carton of all natural Pumpkin Ice cream with coffee grounds in the trash. Let's just say, everyone has their vice.
Finally, some elves!

Have you tried the new Chai Latte Soap?

We make the molds for our new beeswax candles ourselves and hand pour each one.

Bath Bombs. What more could be said????

We're stocked as good as we possibly could be. We have lots of local events. Consider yourselves warned. There may be a soap shortage in the future ;)

Revolutionize your Soap Nuts!

A Cheeky Maiden Soap Nut user recently blogged a review and shared an awesome technique for using them!

Rather not dig the soap nut bag out of your wet laundry? Want to use a liquid form but not have to worry about it going bad? Curious about how Cheeky Maiden Soap Nuts stack up to other brands?

Check out what she's got to say!

We love you a latte.

We let the cat out of the bag a few days ago on our Facebook page. (If you don't like us on Facebook, you should! You're missing chances to vote on upcoming soap flavors and short run sale announcements!)

Anyway, the Maiden was shopping at her favorite organic grocer the other day, in the bulk aisle, and lo and behold....Chai Tea.

Sniffing, sniffing, and sniffing some more, we've blended our own essential oils to get a really true chai latte scent.

The smell was heavenly when we poured it into our homemade log molds.

With just the right amount of real chai tea speckled throughout, and a gorgeous black swirl...

We think this one's gonna be a winner! You'll be able to enjoy it by the beginning of November 2010.

...and we hope you love it a latte.