Frequently Asked Questions
1. Do you sell your soap in stores?
No, you can only purchase our Ocean Clay Cleansing Bar from our website.
2. Why do we sell only in bulk (large bars)?
We use the best ingredients we can find to make our Ocean Clay Cleansing Bar, so it's expensive to make. Selling in bulk helps keep costs down as individual bars would mean more labour in cutting, more time spent packaging, and frankly more packaging.
We have worked hard to create environmentally-friendly, plastic-free packaging for our product. Our kraft paper tubes are biodegradable. Our OGO stickers are zero-waste (yes, even the liner the stickers come on.)
3. How should I cut my soap for daily use?
We recommend cutting the bar as you need it. We love this product, and we wouldn't want to see it melt away in the shower. Cutting a 1/2 - 3/4 inch piece will give you a bar that should last 14 days, depending on how many are using it.
4. I have sensitive skin. Can I use your soap?
Our Ocean Clay Cleansing Bar is superfatted with the "Soothing Seven" - 5 responsibly harvested organic oils and 2 butters. In addition, our bar is "superfatted" meaning, not all of the Soothing Seven are transformed into soap. Instead, an extra bit of oil (lipids) remain suspended in the soap. These lipids help carry dirt and bacteria away and coat your skin to keep it from drying out.
Along with the Soothing Seven, our ocean clay unlocks moisture from the deep inner tissues for an intensely hydrating effect that strengthens the skin's barrier, reduces inflammation, and naturally cools and soothes the skin.
5. I have an allergy to avocados. Can I use your soap?
The superfatted formulation of our Ocean Clay Cleansing Bar means that additional avocado oils can remain suspended in the soap.
If rubbing a little avocado oil on your skin gives you a rash, we recommend you not use our soap.
6. Why is your soap unscented?
A few reasons. Scented products are not for everyone. Some find the scent overwhelming some are sensitive to them. Scenting or Ocean Clay Cleansing Bar is problematic. First the clay is naturally absorbant. You need to add a lot more essential oil that most ordinary soaps do. And the scent would disappear quickly again because the clay is absorbent. Second, adding that much essential oil complicates the chemistry of an already tricky formula - given the amount of ocean clay and mineral water used in Ocean Clay Cleansing Bar.
7. Can I recycle your packaging? Can I compost it?
Our current supplier of the kraft paper tubes informs us the package is biodegradable. They believe it is compostable; however, they say the cost of official "compostable" certification is high. Our supplier makes paper tubes in many different sizes, and apparently, each size requires a separate test. The box we mail the tube in is plastic-free and also biodegradable. The thank you card inside the box is cotton paper. The protective wrapping is a mix of kraft paper and cellulose fibre, also biodegradable.
8. Why does your soap look so different? Why is the lather grey?
The colour and texture of our Ocean Clay Cleansing Bar are due to the large amount of glacial ocean clay that we use in our formulation. Our mineral-rich ocean clay has formed over thousands of years, moving from the glaciers above Bute Inlet to the ocean floor.
9. Does your soap lather in hard water?
You should be able to work up a lather in hard water due to the Ocean Clay Cleansing Bar's superfatted formulation. We've even managed to get a lather in sea water!
10. Is the extra virgin olive oil in your soap real?
If you're unaware of the ongoing controversy regarding fake EVOO, you can read a bit about it here.
OGO Soap is a small company, and we make our Ocean Clay Cleansing bar by hand in small batches using traditional cold-processed methods. We get our EVOO from Costco because their extra virgin olive oil consistently tests as the real deal.
11. What does OGO stand for?
OGO is short for Ogopogo, the colloquial name for n ̓x̌ax̌aitkʷ — pronounced n-ha-ha-it-koo whom the Syilx believe to be a protector of the Okanagan Valley. The Okanagan Valley in British Columbia is where we are based.
Have another question? Please get in touch!