What's The Difference? Popular Handmade Ingredients v. Natural Ingredients

Does the word Handmade actually mean all natural? That’s a very good question and that is probably a question that you are looking for the answer to. If so, well, you have come to right spot.  We wanted to take our knowledge of bath bombs and do a bath bomb comparison: natural vs. handmade.

If you know anything about the world of natural beauty products, you’ve probably heard all the common brands bragging about having “handmade” products that are filled with natural nourishment. These places have had a reputation for creating handmade natural beauty products, but do they really deserve to say that about their products? We wanted to take a look and find out.

One very popular brand sounded like it was the perfect brand for me and my bath time. They make all of their products by hand, they use only vegan ingredients, they tell you when their products were made and all the natural ingredients they use, and they limit their use of packaging and preservatives. So after hearing all of this you are in right?

But then you take a closer look at what they actually put in their products. And you could not be more shocked.

In order to find out more, I did a bath bomb comparison and dug deep. I took a look at what the popular brand puts into its products and compared it to what you would find in a similar product by a company that only uses all natural and organic ingredients. The results were surprising and shocking. For any company to advertise natural products and then find out that nothing about their product is natural is what most popular brands do. We have a way for you to be able to tell the difference. 

Here is the Bath Bomb Comparison

We are going to break down their bath bombs by ingredient. We took a look at a bath bomb they make. It’s pretty cute, until you look at the ingredients list of what they put inside. Here’s what you’ll find:

• Fragrance: If you’ve spent much time on this blog, you know how much I hate this word. “Fragrance” is a catch-all term that can stand in for thousands of different chemical additives. If you’re using a product with fragrance, you can never know what you’re actually exposing yourself to.
• Sodium Laureth Sulfate: This ingredient is added to bath bombs so they create a lather. Here’s a scary fact for you: they’re also added to garage floor cleaners and engine degreasers for the same reason. SLS is well worth avoiding because it is easily contaminated with ethylene oxide, a known carcinogen.
• Propylene Glycol: Ever wanted to bathe in anti-freeze? Because that’s where you’ll find propylene glycol. This ingredient also shows up in a number of other industrial uses and is associated with skin irritation and allergies. Not exactly what you want in a relaxing bath bomb.

Popular Homemade Brand Alternatives

So knowing the above, are the popular brand's products all natural? most likely not. No they’re definitely not. We found some other bloggers have been calling out other popular brands on the same things we found. But that definitely does not mean there aren’t alternatives.   

Here’s what you’ll find instead:

• Essential Oils: Instead of adding aroma through “fragrance,” Beauty by Earth uses essential oils. You’ll also get a list of exactly which oils are used in each product, so you’ll never have to guess.
• Baking Soda, Citric Acid, Dead Sea Salt, and Epsom Salt: No SLS in these bath bombs: you’ll get fizz naturally and safely.
• Beeswax: Preserves naturally and helps lip products slide on smoothly.
• Calendula Flower Extract: This extract is commonly used to treat skin irritation and wounds – pretty much the opposite of the skin irritating ingredients found in the popular brand's products.

Just because a certain product claims to be all natural and handmade, does not mean it’s the safest thing out there. Be smart about what you use and choose products you can trust while also doing thorough research. Stay educated and all natural. Nothing better than being one with nature. :)

 

Head over to Bubbly Belle to order some of our one-of-a-kind bath bombs.