FAQs
You've got questions - we've got answers!
Short answer is yes -but the “yes” requires some elaboration.
Gluten:
Our understanding is that the sources of allergenic gluten are wheat, barley and rye grains but the situation is not quite as simple as avoiding them as other grains are processed in facilities that also process these three troublemakers and can often be cross contaminated with wheat, barley and/or rye gluten.
To cause a problem to those who are celiac or gluten intolerant, gluten must be consumed. So typically this means ingested but you can inhale gluten through airborne particles like say if you tour of a bakery or milling factory. Knowing that, all of our skincare products are topical. While you could eat our products – they are that safe…they won’t taste good (yeah we’ve tried it).
That said, if your find yourself with your arm trapped under a boulder for 127 hours, then by all means eat some butter balm. OK, OK we’re making light of a really bad situation. Sometimes our minds wander.
Soy:
Similar to the explanation for gluten, soy, or the allergenic protein in soy, causes an allergic reaction when consumed. Now, we do use a nonGMO lecithin derived from soy as an emulsifier in our products. Lecithin is a fatty substance that handily helps water and oils mix. In the production of lecithin, the allergenic proteins are removed, but there could be some residual proteins present. However, here again, the volumes would be very low and you are not eating our product (you may ingest some lip balm but we don’t use lecithin in it). You can read more on soy allergies here.
Nuts (including tree nuts):
None of our products contain peanuts (actually a legume) or tree nuts. That said, we do use a nut by product as an exfoliator in our Get Buff! Exfoliating Cleanser. Specifically, we use ground walnut husks because they are sustainable and their environmental impact is low – however these husks are the byproduct from the tree nut. We have reviewed several primary literature sources (starting with a general query in EWG’s database) on walnut husks cross referenced to allergenicity along with consulting with some physician specialists and we have not come across any reports of allergic reactions (of note, walnut husks have been used as a sanding agent in sand blasting for many years so exposure has been broad and tolerance well established). That said, it doesn’t mean that the potential isn’t there from residual allergens even though this is a topical product – you are exfoliating epithelial cells and increasing exposure. That’s why we have a note on the directions indicating that if a nut allergy is suspected or known, that people should avoid using Get Buff.
Dairy and Fish (Shellfish included)
That’s an easy one – none of these are present in our products
One final note – some of our products do have a “nutty” sent but they are indeed not free. The cold pressed nonGMO canola mixed with shea and coco butters causes this.
Short answer is yes. If you happened to review our Principles (Link to here) “Safe for Us = Safe for You” is listed. What this means is that we formulate products with our family in mind. Truth is all of our products were formulated for our family members.
The company is named after our daughter. If ingredients and/or packaging pose a minute risk, we won’t use it. Period. We have done a lot of research on the safety literature of our ingredients. We pride ourselves on that and on our partnership with the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Really though, maybe we are full of crap. Our story of a Pharmacist and father creating skincare products for his daughter then later naming the company after her sure pulls on the heart strings doesn’t it?
True story, but how do you know? This is the exact reason why we have participated in EWG’s Verified™ Program. By participating in this program, an independent 3rd party (EWG) has requested detailed information to help confirm that Lowen’s is making full disclosure to our valued consumers, that our products are adequately preserved and free of contaminants, and that manufacturing processes meet EWG’s rigorous safety criteria.
Essentially, EWG has put us through our paces so that we can prove that we are as safe as we say we are. We want to build your trust and we are confident that partnering with EWG helps facilitate that.
Because social media amuses us. If we can’t have fun with it what’s the point? We use social media to build our brand, which we hope you will see is more than another company trying to sell you another product with incredible imagery, models, celebrities and other BS. We use our media channels to champion causes that are important to us like mental health, chronic disease, alternative therapies, health promotion, and advocacy for safety in our industry while trying to throw in some obscure references, generational pop culture and inside jokes that makes us smile. Super cool if you get it; totally OK if you don’t. All you need to get is that there are people behind the brand and these people feel that a brand will do more than sell a product.
No. You’re wrong. Canola was selectively bred from rapeseed in the 1970’s. While genetic modification of canola has taken place and a lot of canola is GMO, the canola we use is not. It is locally farmed and pressed by our good friends at Highwood Crossing Foods and is certified organic by Canada Organic, the Canadian certification for organic foods in, you guessed it, Canada.
We think of Highwood’s canola as the olive oil of the prairies and it is incredibly nutrient rich. Looking for more information on canola, check out the Highwood Crossing site here.
No. Not to the best of our knowledge and yes we do check into this. Our canola, hemp, camelina, flax and oat oils are all non GMO. Our lecithin, while soybean derived, is not derived from GMO soybeans either.
Great question! We have been deliberating on this for a really long time.
Part 1: We started using plastic containers to begin with because we got a lot of our initial packaging for free. You see, it was destined for landfill so we “rescued” if from the warehouse and filled our basement with it.
Part 2: We recirculate our own packaging. We get a lot of our packaging back from customers (largely our retailers who also use our products in their services). The packaging we use is quite robust and can cycle through quite a few times before we “downcycle” it.
Part 3: Plastic packaging is quite strong. For the same reasons in Part 2, our packaging ships well and we don’t need to use a lot of extra packaging to pad and protect from breakage (glass), denting (aluminum).
Part 4: Plastic packaging is affordable. We want to keep our products within reach to consumers, and the alternatives are more expensive. Adding to the expense is the shipping weight. Alternatives are heavier and also require more preparation and padding to protect them. This means more packing materials used, larger boxes, and greater shipping expenses. What also concerns us is the carbon footprint incurred in shipping heavier boxes. As well, we are struggling with the energy expenditure of creating plastic vs metal vs glass.
Part 5: We don’t love plastic. We love cradle to cradle concepts and design, meaning products that have a purpose after use rather than being used and then recycled into something less useful than then originally intended (“downcycled”). We just are not here yet and are seeking a different option. We would love to see the industry change and will be the early adopters when something better comes along.
Part 6: What about paperboard containers? This refers to cardboard cosmetic containers. They show promise but the packaging isn’t that robust since it can easily collapse, doesn’t do well with liquids (all of our products start as liquids) and many are composite materials (have plastic in them) and therefore are not recyclable.
Part 7: As you see, we have thought this through. If you have suggestions, hit us up! Shoot an email to info@lowens.ca and we will respond and explore your idea. In the meantime, we hope you have a better understanding of our position and we feel that is it also important to note that we do minimize on packaging. No inserts, no outer boxes, no extra containers. We keep is simple.
What do you mean I’m funny? What do you mean, you mean the way I look? What? Funny how? What’s funny about it? Sorry, we’re sensitive types and have a thing for mobster movies. Our products smell different because we use cold pressed, unrefined oils in their raw form. This means ingredients in their most nutrient rich, skincare kung fu taking care of business on dryness and inflammation instantly forms. In doing this, some of the oils have a more “earthy” smell. Thing is, this is how you know that they are what we say they are (see unrefined kung fu/TCB) and rest assured that any smell dissipates in a few minutes. For those of you that love the smell – we totally were going for that! So glad you’re picking up what we’re puttin’ down. All kidding aside, we could mask scents with more, stronger scents but doing so adds more ingredients, complicates formulas and, most importantly, introduces more allergens. We want our products to be simple, effective and safe right? Causing allergic reactions in sensitive individuals isn’t really safe now is it?
Sure. Many people add in essential to In Yo Face! and Rub it in Why Don’t Ya! We suggest that you warm the contents in a water bath and then remove the pump (pump cap for In Ya Face) then add in 1-5 drops of your agent of choice. Replace the cap and shake it up.
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Broken pumps do happen but, particularly with Rub it in Why Don’t Ya!, in the colder months, our lotion gets pretty thick, making it difficult to get the pump working. Why don’t we fully prime the pumps? Well we used to but when we’d ship from Canada to warmer climates, the lotion would work its way up the pump and make a mess of the shipment and sometimes the same would happen domestically just due to the changes in air pressure while in transit. So here’s what you do – bring your lotion to above room temperature i.e. bring it in the bathroom with you when you have a hot shower (in the room, not in the shower, unless you want to get up close and personal with your bottle) and by the time you’re finished the contents should be warm enough to get the pump primed and ready to roll.
Note, if you receive your bottle of Rub it in Why Don’t Ya! and it is rock solid (frozen), give it some time to warm to room temperature. It may take a day (unfortunately) but it will work just the same once it is at room temperature. How do we know? – Well we’ve frozen many a bottle since developing out formula in 2011 (both accidentally and on purpose).
Here is a little low production value video of our fearless leader, Chad, showing his ambidextrous “A” game filming and priming a bottle of Rub it in Why Don’t Ya! if you are more of a visual learner: – click here for video
Please check out our blog article here
