Sustainability is an issue close to my heart. Here is a bit about the ingredients and packaging used for By Frankie. Though not always labelled as 'organic', I use organic ingredients as standard in over 90% of my ingredients as well as COSMOs certified ingredients. Apart from Goats Milk & Honey Soap, there are no animal products in the rest of the range, which are all Vegan.
What goes in to a By Frankie Soap?
Avacado Oil, Coconut Butter, Castor Oil, Olive Oil, Shea Butter and Sustainable Palm Oil.
Many brands boycott Palm Oil altogether, due to the impact farming has had on the the habitats of animals. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was established in 2004 to promote the production and use of sustainable palm oil for people, the planet and prosperity. I use Certified Organic RSPO Palm Oil, which is sourced direct from a verified supplier on the RSPO register. This means the oil is made from crops farmed far away from the Indonesian Rain Forests, and that meet the RSPO's rigorous standards.
You can make soap without Palm Oil. You will however notice that the bar lacks the lather and creaminess of a soap made with Palm Oil. I think providing viable alternatives so that customers can access high quality products is at the heart of making sustainability mainstream. That is why I support RSPO Palm Oil and use it in my soap - even though it is an expensive ingredient. RSPO Certified Palm Oil now accounts for about 40% of Global production. But there is still a long way to go yet.
Naturally scented and coloured.
I see many 'natural' soaps on the market that are brightly coloured or use fragrance oils. With a By Frankie Soap the clue is in the name...Carrot and Ginger Soap is made with real carrots. Pink Clay and Rosehip contains finely cut rosehips and french ventilated pink clay. Each of these additions bring their own special properties as well as providing texture and colour. In my Goats Milk and Honey Soap I use honey from my neighbours hives. I grind porridge oats to give the soap a very gentle 'buffing effect'. Oats are great for Eczema sufferers and the honey and milk is naturally moisturising. Each product benefits from additions like this. Furthermore I blend pure essential oils to give my products fragrance.
The same applies to my creams. There are 2 basic formulations for these. One is based on Shea, Mango, Rice Bran, Palm and Coconut Oil. This produced a whipped thick product that looks like a cream but sinks in to the skin like a balm. It is easily absorbed and very moisturising. The first of these is my bestseller Lavender Dream cream. The other formulation is Jasmine and Orange Body Elixir is labelled organic and also contains Vitamin E. The other recipe has more of a Cocoa, Shea and Sunflower base. It is a lighter cream that is good for the whole body. Lemon and Ylang can be used all over for a wonderful all purpose cream, as can Peppermint and Spearmint cream - though I like it best for tired feet and legs.
Packaging
I am proud to say that the entire soap wrapper of a By Frankie Soap can be home composted. The glassine wrapper, biodegradable labels and jute string are all biodegradable. The packaging reflects the rustic nature of the products themselves and like the soap, each one is handmade. The holes are designed so that the soap will continue to dry when stored. It also means when your package arrives you will notice an amazing scent as soon as you open it! You can hang the soap on a hanger, place them in a drawer, store them for months or rip of the packet and use it immediately.
I use glass amber jars for my products with recyclable labels. I also wrap them in compostable cellulose packets for safe postage and use shredded Kraft and biodegradable mailers as part of my postal packaging. Packaging is a complex issue, and many of us make our purchasing decisions on face value. Did you know a PET jar probably has an overall lower carbon footprint than glass? But it is also less desirable by customers who want to avoid plastic at all costs. Weighing up a products impact in terms of reuse and carbon emissions can mean trade offs. Establishing my sustainability credentials for By Frankie has been just as fascinating as designing the products themselves