Since the creation of climbOn Bar in 1996, we are committed to educate, inspire and motivate with our words and our products.
We use food grade + plant based ingredients in our products. Not, cosmetic grade. Not naturally derived. Not synthetic. What, you ask? Isn't "natural, well, natural?
I understand how confusing this may sound. I answer this question hundreds of times each year. Here's an example that may help.
If you have a fruit tree in your back yard, each year it bares fruit. Each year, depending upon the number of days of cool weather, sunshine, water, any fertilizer added, etc. the tree may produce fewer or more fruit, but it IS actual fruit and they are all slightly different than each other on the same tree as well as, different from the crop from last year. Right?
In the cosmetics industry, ingredients are "refined" to remove, what they call, the "impurities." Actually, many times they also refine out almost and even all of the nutrition of that ingredients. A classic example is shea butter. There are different grades of Shea butter, A, B, C.
Grade A (what we choose to use) is unrefined, usually yellowish to beige in color. It has a slight smell of chocolate. It carries a high nutritional value as well and can be edible. It's also sensitive to heat. This means it is affected by the weather as well as it's melting process when making a product. Grade B is more refined, thus removing a lot of the natural nutrition carried in Grade A. It is very light in color and is easier to incorporate into a formulation with less challenges. Grade C is white and has had the nutrition "refined" out of it. It incorporates easily into formulations with no reformation of fat crystals or other separation issues.
This is just one example of ingredient challenges we encounter in every shipment of our food grade ingredients we purchase. As in your grocery shopping, if you choose GMO, synthetic, altered products, that is your choice. The point is, we should all have a choice in what we consume and put on our bodies. If it's not labeled or just called the blanket "natural" that doesn't mean a thing. Please read your labels. If it's not a botanical or food grade ingredient, chances are, even if the label says "plant based, 100% natural, naturally derived," it's most likely made in a lab AND IS tested on animals. Just because a company says "not tested on animals," they may have not tested their end product on an animal. However, if it is a synthetic, it's made in a lab and MUST be tested on an animal for FDA safety rules. Why do we need to test our cosmetic ingredients on animals?
We order our base oils organic, unrefined, from a food service company which ensures they are clean for consumption yet meet the standards of the powers that be. As a further example, even though we order it from the same company, each batch of wheat germ oil can slightly vary depending upon the crop of wheat used to extract the oil, what the weather was like when seeds were planted. What it was like when the wheat was harvested. What bugs were prevalent when the wheat was growing. What the soil used to plant the wheat was like… These and other factors make small to obvious changes in each batch of wheat germ oil we receive. Sometimes, it’s a very dark, aromatic liquid and other times, it’s is lighter and not so fragrant. While the medicinal/healing properties of the oil are consistent, the color and variation in aroma can slightly change a batch of climbOn Bars and Crème to be darker in color and vary the smell slightly. That’s just ONE ingredient we use.
While it is deeply moving to us to see these variations and the full effect of mother nature on truly natural ingredients, it is also challenging, for we are constantly adjusting and readjusting our already standardized recipes for Mother Natures’ mindset. Not only do the ingredients organically change, their cost also changes consistently due to many of the same factors, as well as supply and demand.
We work very hard to continue the practice of using food grade ingredients in our commitment to our customers, our integrity and our planet and its’ inhabitants. .
Natural occurrences
Methylparaben is found in several fruits, in particular, blueberries, where it acts as an antimicrobial agent. See the difference? Methylparaben is made in a lab. We don’t consider that natural no matter what the big corporations convince the governing bodies to agree to. (Sourced from Wikipedia.)
We absolutely LOVE what we do and have deep gratitude for all our loyal family of customers who get what we do and why we do it.