Sunflower Hill Ingredients

We thought it might be helpful if we discussed the attributes of some of our ingredients. We hope you agree.

Glycerin is what our soaps are made of. It is a humectant which means that it absorbs moisture from the air. That is why it is so good for your skin. Use it to shower or bathe, and it will continue to draw moisture from the air as the day goes on. On a humid day, you will find little beads of moisture on the soap as it sits in a soap dish; the first reaction is that it is “sweating” the moisture out when in actuality it is absorbing moisture from the air around it.

Essential Oils are natural plant products that are typically obtained by steam distillation. They are used to enhance health and beauty and can have subtle effects on mind and emotion.

Some of the essential oils and their aromatherapy qualities that we use are:

Lavender – soothing, restores balance to mind and body, energizing
Rosemary- energizing, stimulating
Lemongrass – calming
Sweet Orange – calming
Peppermint – energizing, stimulating
Patchouli – soothing, toning
Basil- soothing, energizing, toning

So how can an essential oil be both soothing and energizing? The belief is that your body reacts to the aroma based on what it needs.


Fragrance Oils are oils made using either natural or synthetic ingredients to arrive at a scent that will be pleasing to the “nose” but is not necessarily one that can be distilled from plant material. Examples of these oils include Cucumber, Sunflower and Blueberry.

There are also fragrance oils that mimic essential oils and sometimes are used because the essential oil is so very expensive. A good example of this is Rose. The Madison Avenue Aromatherapy Center website says: “The difficulty of extracting rose oil from the plant has always caused it to be a very expensive substance. A rose blossom contains only about .02% essential oil. It takes about 60,000 roses to produce just 1 ounce of oil, and ten thousand pounds of rose blossoms to produce 1 pound of oil. The extraction of rose absolute with chemical solvents is more efficient than the steam distillation of the essential oil. Ten pounds of a substance known as concrete can be extracted from 10,000 pounds of roses using this method. The concrete is further refined to produce rose absolute, the yield of which is about 67% from the concrete.”

A rose absolute can cost $40.00 for 1/8 ounce and an otto can cost 75.00 for 1/8 ounce. Now while it wouldn’t take a lot of oil to fragrance a batch of soap or lotion, you can imagine how pricey these items can become.

Bath salts are made with a combination of different sea salts including Dead Sea salt and Epsom salts. Adding a little salt to your water can help improve your circulation and reduce tenderness. They are great for easing stiff, sore, muscles and aching feet and legs. Bath salts open the pores to purify the skin, cleansing away dirt, sweat, and toxins. They aid in the healing of dry skin, making skin softer and suppler. Salts can help improve common irritations such as insect bites, minor rashes, and calluses on feet. High quality salts may also help improve the appearance of scars. Salts made with essential oils offer the added benefit of aromatherapy. Pleasant, soothing scents have been shown to induce calmness and promote relaxation. Scented bath salts combine these attributes with other healing properties. The ability to relax and unwind at the end of the day is also the best way to insure sound, restful sleep at night, and bath salts can help. (I cannot take credit for the description of the attributes of the salts as I found this on one of the soap groups to which I belong and the author is unknown to me)

Shea Butter (Butyrospermum parkii) is solid and comes from the natural fat obtained from the karite tree grown in West and Central Africa. Also referred to as karite butter. Shea butter is an emollient that is extremely therapeutic, helping to heal cracked, aged and damaged skin. Its chemical constituents help to heal bruising and soreness, and penetrates the skin and leaves it feeling soft and smooth. It has vitamin A, E and is highly compatible with skin. Shea butter has a high content of unsaponifiables and cinnamic esters, which have antimicrobial and moisturizing properties and provide protection from the UV rays of the sun. Unsaponifiables are a large group of compounds called plant steroids or sterolins which soften the skin, have superior moisturizing effect on the upper layer of the skin and reduce scars.

I hope this has helped you to understand what you are purchasing, not only from us but from other body care products manufacturers.