valentinesday
GOOD FOR YOU, GOOD FOR OTHERS
Our promise is that each bar is made without preservatives, synthetics, or parabens. Our soaps are formulated with a blend of premium oils to naturally nourish your skin. To learn more, visit Our Ingredients page.
b.a.r.e. soaps is a part-time initiative. That means none of us need to take a salary. Currently, 20% of proceeds from each purchase is invested in our socially conscious vision from employing women with fair wages in India to recycle used hotel soaps to immediate needs for children in Uganda.
We are committed to sourcing our oils in an ethnical and sustainable fashion. Our palm oil is Rainforest Alliance certified, which means it is not only sustainably sourced, but it enables farmers to improve their livelihoods while protecting the ecosystem.
WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT OUR SOAPS?
Our soaps are all natural and free from preservatives, synthetics, or parabens. Basically, you won't find any of the yucky stuff that you would see in a "conventional" bar of soap. Speaking of which, did you know that the typical "bar of soap" that you see in the common grocery or drug store aisle is actually not soap but a detergent? You can learn more about that here.
We have both a handmade line of soaps and triple milled soaps. All are made with Rainforest Alliance certified palm oil and coconut oil which help naturally nourish the skin. Other natural ingredients are added to give color, scent, and exfoliation.
b.a.r.e. soaps was a simple idea born out of an observation in 2012. When co-founder Clare traveled around the world on mission trips, she noticed that many Westerners were helping provide fresh water to rural villages by helping dig wells. However, there was never a follow up of sanitation. So what if instead of fundraising, we were able to sell a really amazing bar of soap to fund sanitation supplies in these rural areas?
WE GIVE ON A "NEEDS" BASIS, HAVING LEARNED THAT A "BUY ONE GIVE ONE MODEL" DOESN'T WORK
INDIA: EMPOWERING WOMEN WITH FAIR WAGES TO RECYCLE USED HOTEL SOAP
We partner with Sundara Fund to employ local women (hygiene embassadors) in India to collect used hotel soap, recycle it into new soap, and distribute it to those who need it in a nearby slum.
Every purchase funds:
- -3x the local wage rate for our hygiene ambassadors
- -15% increase in wages/benefits from last year (2017)
- -Soap that is distributed to 500 migrant school children, along with basic healthcare and hygiene training
- -Soap to the local Shravan health clinic for women who seek free health care services
UGANDA: PROVIDING IMMEDIATE NEEDS TO CHILDREN
When we first started, we focused on a single rural village in Uganda. Then we visited it.
We found out that soap actually exists in many of these rural places but is financially out of reach because there are other priorities (ie food, education, etc).
Furthermore, giving away soap can be detrimental to a local economy especially where soap already exists. The impact extends beyond the companies that provide soaps but the small merchants who stock it in their shops.
Instead of using proceeds to simply "give away" essentials, we can have a much broader impact by investing it on a "needs basis", which means we are in constant contact with our partners to assess what is needed at any given time.
In Uganda, our proceeds have provided for vitamins, custom & durable leather shoes for each of the 150 children, conducted hygiene workshops, provided funds for toothbrushes/toothpaste to be bought locally, and even helped fund solar at a newly built resource center for the children.
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