Spotted Owl Soap has its roots in a fateful trip to Europe where one of our founders discovered soap could smell like more than just “soap” and that it could do more than just clean you. Good soap could make showering more pleasant. Great soap could help skin restore its natural moisture balance and reduce dependence on moisturizers.
Our products are made based on a few basic principles:
No Worthless Fillers
We’re suspicious of long ingredient lists. We don’t like ingredients no one can pronounce. We don’t like the idea of smearing anything on our skin that starts with “petrol” and we don’t see the point of using synthetics when there are good natural alternatives.
No Detergents
Detergents are everywhere. From your dish soap to your toothpaste, you encounter them daily. Unfortunately they can’t always be removed in water treatment facilities and environmentalists worry this is damaging waterways. Fortunately one does not need detergent to make soap and soap breaks down naturally.
No Animal Fats
While it is still common practice to make soap partially from beef or horse fats we don’t think the benefit (lower production prices) outweigh the costs. Many people are surprised to learn their bar of soap even contains animal fat. These fats appear on ingredient lists as “Tallow” or “Sodium Tallowate”.
We’re lucky to have many wonderfully nutritive oils that come from plants and nuts – and are superior in many ways to animal fats. Also, the environmental cost of using vegetable oils is far lower than using fats from animals. We’re pretty sure the animals would agree.
No Animal Testing
If you’re a rabbit, we’re sorry. We already have enough human volunteers eager to try our products for free. We don’t test on animals.
A Healthy Balance Between Nature and Science
We’re all glad science invented antibiotics and none of us wants to slather our skin with poison ivy. We recognize that sometimes “natural” isn’t a good thing and sometimes “science” has a better way to solve a problem. Many of our products are 100% natural but some benefit from the protection only science can adequately offer. Read more about this topic in our FAQ
