Moisture with Benefits: Plant-Based Goes All the Way
Plant-based skincare isn’t only the purview of hippies and rabbits. It’s also the realm of the bold.
Dr. K’s Artisan has one ultimate prime directive:
Our products gotta perform like a worldly twentysomething with something to prove.
A core value supporting that directive emerges if you poke around our site, store, and blog:
Our products gotta be responsible, and one flavor of that is reducing petroleum-based ingredients and fossil fuel use.
And a third rule that says we have to make vegan products? It looks like it, but . . . actually not.
Dr. K’s formulation journeys and trials painted a clear picture: plant-derived ingredients almost always outperform animal-derived ingredients. They often have the added benefit of being greener in surprising ways, too.
Let’s check the spread on common animal products in body and cosmetic products – lay it all out, as it were:
Beeswax:
Candelilla Wax is in Dr. K’s Artisan’s collection where most companies use beeswax. The Candelilla shrub is native to North America, whereas most beeswax available on the global market appears to be Chinese (meaning more fossil fuel needed to transport it here, doubly so because more is needed to get the same hardening effect). Dr. K also just finds Candelilla Wax performs better in the collection. For those with a curious streak: the one formulation Dr. K’s Artisan Body ever produced with beeswax was a beard balm – the exception that proves the rule as the distinctive bulk and slightly-elastic texture of beeswax is required for that application.
Lanolin:
Another heavy-hitter of animal-based skincare. Lanolin is the protective oil on sheep wool and its protective and nourishing qualities on human skin are fabulous.
It also makes high-performing diaper creams and old-school Americana-style hand balms intolerably effing sticky and nearly unwashable to the point of transferring that stickiness to clothes or objects. Not freakin’ OK. If Dr. K’s Artisan’s customers go nude, it’s because their skin feels great, not out of fear of ruining clothes!
Could we obtain some of the nourishing compounds out of lanolin without the sticky-icky? Some of it, yes. That’s another level of processing, though, and we can obtain good nourishment from other minimally-processed plant sources – hello to Shea Butter, you sexy beast!
Tallow and Lard:
Two more old-school, high-performing ingredients Dr. K mostly sees in soaps. Tallow is beef fat, lard is pork fat. While lanolin can be no-kill due to being from wool, tallow and lard by definition are not, as the internal fat of the animal. These two make hard soaps with skin-loving lather.
Why does Dr. K’s Artisan not use these? Short answer – they’re not necessary and likely less environmentally responsible. Olive Oil is a superstar of bar hardness and epically gentle cleansing. Palm Oil has certain similar features to the animal fats and provides its own distinct and fabulous spectrum of skin-love and lather quality. Palm Oil does have some sourcing from the Western Hemisphere and is the most concentrated source of fats per area of land by far. That’s a crown no animal fat can touch and a sustainability win.
Note here: Dr. K is aware of responsibility concerns related to Palm Oil. Dr. K’s Artisan sources Palm Oil only from suppliers traceable to RSPO.
That prime mission of high-performance skincare needs not bow to any animal sacrifice!
TL/DR: Plant-based soaps, lotions, and balms are often the pinnacle of luxury formulation, not a second-best. Cruelty-free, eco-responsible, and skin-loving are all the same thing here.