I frequently go on a tear about the "organic integrity" of botanicals used in herbal remedies and soap. It turns out, I am not the only one. Recently, nefarious and greedy forces with access to the policymakers have been attempting to relax the standards that qualify items as organic.

Why do these entities care? They care because the more they can muddy the water regarding what is organic, the more easily the consumer can be confused by the appearance of the word organic representing a compound or item that is, in fact, something that no reasonable person would consider organic. The item becomes "value added" and the manufacturer widens their profit margin.

Let's talk about the different ways a company might list a botanical on its ingredient list and why it might make a difference to you. Keeping in mind the importance of "organic integrity", think about how different extraction methods impact the organic makeup of an extract. There are several extraction methods available.

Alcohol can be used to extract components of a botanical. Given how alcohol evaporates and how it performs on the skin, when components are extracted via this method it is likely that you are not capturing the full essence of the botanical. Additionally, alcohol's tendency to dry skin might not be something you want in your skin products. In fairness, it should be noted that for some botanicals this is the preferred method because it produces the best results. But, this is usually not the case.

Water can be used to extract components of a botanical; usually via boiling. The high heat exposure itself is damaging to certain elements of the botanical. So this method, while inexpensive, is not a method that I would recommend if you are looking for anything other than the most superficial elements of the botanical in question.

Soaking botanicals in carrier oil is another way to extract organic components. This produces a product that is not damaged by heat but is diluted by the carrier oil.

I am a strong proponent of the cold press method. This method is a mechanical method that generates a low heat that does not tend to damage the organic components and "presses" the desirable elements out of the physical plant.

(Here comes the shameless plug) Aunt Ann's Garden Soap only employs two forms of botanicals, the organic plant itself or it's organic essential oil. Sometimes, we enhance the plant's function with a boost of its own essential oil.

In short, (I know it's a little late for that) there are multiple ways for getting the goodies out of plants but the various methods do not produce products of equal strength and/or quality. The folks that make soap are not obligated and often do not reveal the method, quality or grade of their extracted material and ingredient labels are sufficiently vague to disguise the true nature of an added botanical. You should not have to pay premium price for a product that has substandard botanical components in it; that are listed so its manufacturer can claim a value added product.