A Different Kind of Magic — Soap Without Palm Oil

Walk down any supermarket aisle and it feels like magic. Shelves stacked high, bottles and bars lined up in perfect rows, waiting for us to grab and go. We rarely stop to wonder how any of it got there.

It’s as if products simply appear — summoned into being, wrapped and ready. But nothing ever really “just appears.” Every product has a story: the land it came from, the resources that went into it, the people and wildlife affected along the way.

Philosophers have long pointed out this disconnect. When we only see the finished product, and never its making, we become alienated from the process. And in that distance, it becomes much easier for big business to put profit first — choosing whatever ingredient is cheapest, no matter what it costs the planet.

The hidden cost of palm oil

Palm oil is the perfect example. It’s everywhere — biscuits, spreads, shampoo, detergent, soap. But you’ll rarely see the words palm oil on a label. Instead, it hides under dozens of technical names, leaving us in the dark.

That invisibility has consequences. When the destruction of rainforests and the loss of orangutan habitat is hidden behind a friendly-looking bottle on a shelf, it’s easier for the system to keep rolling on. The product looks harmless, even ordinary. The forest cleared to make it is anything but.

The myth of “sustainable” palm

You’ve probably seen labels claiming “sustainable palm oil.” On paper, it sounds like a neat solution — keep using palm oil, but make it responsibly. The reality is murkier.

Certification schemes like the RSPO have loopholes big enough to drive a bulldozer through. Plantations that cleared rainforest years ago can still be certified. Enforcement is weak. Reports continue to link “sustainable” suppliers to deforestation, land conflicts, and labour abuses.

And in some cases, advertising regulators have stepped in to ban claims about palm oil being “sustainable” or “harmless” — because the evidence simply wasn’t there. These schemes can create a comforting story for consumers while allowing big brands to keep doing business as usual.

Why we chose another path

When we started making soap, we were told flat out: you can’t do it without palm oil. That was the industry line. Cheap, abundant, convenient.

We refused to accept it.

Instead, we built an entire range of real soaps from pure Australian plant oils. They cleanse, they hydrate, they last. And they’re all certified palm oil free by the Orangutan Alliance.

For us, palm oil free isn’t about chasing a trend. It’s about refusing to accept that the cheapest way is always the right way. It’s about closing that gap between product and place — seeing the forest as part of the story of the soap in your hand.

And because words matter less than action, we’ve also committed 1% of every online purchase to The Orangutan Project. Over ten years, that’s tens of thousands of dollars directly protecting orangutans and their rainforest homes.

A challenge worth taking

It can feel overwhelming — the scale of the problems our world faces. Climate change. Deforestation. The way modern industry often chooses speed and cost over care and sustainability. But small choices matter. Every swap is a step toward a different kind of system.

Almost anything that cleans or cleanses — face, body, hands, laundry, dishes — can be replaced with palm-oil-free alternatives. And every time you make that choice, you’re refusing to accept the myth that products just “appear” without consequence.

Because they don’t. They never have. And the more we remember that, the closer we get to building something better.

Simple ways to reduce palm oil

1. Question everything. The supermarket can feel normal, but it’s actually a very alien way of sourcing what we need. Shelves stacked with products that seem to come from nowhere — they all have hidden histories. Pause and ask: Where did this really come from?

2. Read past the packaging. Don’t be fooled by cute cartoons of cows or leaves — they’re designed to make us forget the real supply chains behind them. Flip the box, read the label, and look for the ingredients that tell the true story.

3. Start with swaps. Pick one or two products you use every day — soap, shampoo, dishwashing liquid — and replace them with palm-oil-free alternatives. Small, consistent changes matter more than all-or-nothing leaps.

4. Support brands that prove it. Look for credible certifications like the Orangutan Alliance, and companies that fund real conservation work, not just marketing spin.

Palm oil free won’t fix everything. But it will help us see more clearly — that what feels “normal” in the supermarket is anything but — and that we can choose to connect our everyday habits with the kind of world we want to live in.

Soapy Hugs,

Emma xx