FAQ

All our products are vegan and therefore contain no animal products EXCEPT for our T•L Sugar Polish and our Goat's Milk & Oatmeal Castile Bars. T•L Sugar Polish contains honey from a local beehive. Our Goat's Milk and Oatmeal bars contain real Goat's Milk.

YES! T•L products do not contain any peanut or tree nuts and they are produced in a nut-free studio. For a list of ingredients please check the Ingredient tab for each product.

YES! T•L products are not tested on any animals. Only friends and family are used to test new formulations and products. We also send products that require a preservative to an independent testing facility to ensure they are safe for use and to determine shelf life.

YES! We don’t use any wheat-based products or derivatives in any of our formulations.

Castile soap originated in Spain, 1000-2000 years ago (the date is up for debate). It was coveted by royalty across Europe and quickly became known as “The Queen of Soaps.” I like to call it the “Original Luxury Bar.” True Castile soap (like T•L soap) is made with 100% olive oil only. Other types of vegetable oils should not be in the formula.

This is because we do not add any foaming agents like SLS to our products. We believe there are not enough benefits compared to the downsides of what these types of ingredients bring. Our soap will foam with a little more emulsifying with your hands or using a body buff. Click HERE to learn more about SLS.

• T•L Castile bars are handmade in small batches using the Cold Process method but without the use of external heat. This maintains the beneficial qualities of the ingredients. Most Cold Process soapers use heat to melt the solid fats and then combine their ingredients at 100ºF to 120ºF.
• Glycerin is a naturally occurring byproduct of saponification (the chemical reaction between fat & lye). Cold Process soaps maintain all the glycerin created during this process. Most commercial companies extract the glycerin from the soap to use in other products like lotions or creams and then replace the glycerin with synthetic moisturizers.
• T•L CASTILE IS A GLYCERIN SOAP. Glycerine (with an “e”) is a trade name used to describe transparent bars. Glycerine bars are generally made with alcohol and need to be wrapped in plastic or they will dry out and crack. Cold Process bars need to breathe and should not be wrapped in plastic. Castile bars like T•L bars are a natural humectant, drawing moisture to themselves.

• For clients with sensitivity to fragrance or issues with eczema, we recommend the Goat’s Milk & Oatmeal Bar.
• To get a good lather with the soap, use a body buff.
• The soap is mild enough to use on babies.

YES! Because T•L Castile is 100% olive oil, it has a more slippery consistency, making it perfect for shaving. It also won’t leave your skin feeling dry like most alcohol-based shaving creams and gels. The soap is mild enough to shave with anywhere on your body.

Each bar soap comes with a complementary loofah slice. Put the slice in your soap dish and keep the soap on top of it. This will keep the soap dry between uses, prolonging the life and avoiding the goopy mess you get if the soap sits in water. If the loofah gets a bit messy, just rinse it out and reuse it. Best of all, the loofah is biodegradable, so just put it in your garden or green bin when you no longer need it.

Not to worry! Good quality soaps will get softer in water than others. All our soaps need to be kept dry between washes which is why we include a loofah slice with each purchase. Put the loofah on your soap dish and place the soap on the loofah. This allows air to circulate around the soap, keep it dry until the next time you use it. If the soap does get gooey, you can use this to shave with.

Absolutely! Most people will cut the soap down to their preferred size. For cubes, this is usually two pieces and for bricks, this is three or four. Just use a regular sharp kitchen knife and it will cut like a firm cheese or butter. Put any remaining soap back in the box and place it in a drawer or closet to get some extra aromatherapy from the essential oils.

Soaps are a wonderful thing that, like fine wines, can get better with age. Aged soaps will become harder as more of the water in the soap evaporates over time. You may also notice that the scent dissipates over time. It is important to keep your soap in its box when not in use. This will help preserve the scent for longer. Oxidation (like an apple going brown after it has been cut) can occur, which may show on the soap as a light orange spot (or as we in the biz call it, “DOS” (Dreaded Orange Spot)). While not as pretty, it does not affect the soap’s quality.

1. In the shower: After your normal cleansing routine, grab a scoop of sugar polish and rub it gently wherever you need some exfoliating or extra moisturizing. Legs, feet, elbows; wherever! Rinse away the sugar and you’re done. Pat dry and you’ll find you are left with delightfully moisturized skin.
2. On the face: Once a week, T•L Sugar Polish can be used on the face. Skin should be freshly cleansed and wet. Using a small amount, rub it gently on the face, then rinse off the sugar. Pat dry and moisturize if needed.
3. On the lips: T•L Sugar Polish is a great way to slough off dry skin from chapped lips. Click HERE for a short how-to video.

T•L Sugar Polish should always be used on wet skin. On the face, use it no more than once a week as exfoliants used more often can be damaging to delicate facial skin. We recommend avoiding using it on your ‘delicate’ areas as that skin is also much more tender. It also should not be used on your hair as it will leave a moisturizing layer that would make hair heavy. After using our sugar, towel dry or wash your hands before touching your hair. Other than those areas, the rest of your body will love it.

Some oils like coconut oil are known to clog pores, but T•L Cleansing Face Oil uses only extra-virgin olive oil which does not have a clogging effect and is gentle on the skin.

T•L Cleansing Face Oil is well suited for oily skin. The olive oil will attach to the excess oils on your face without removing good ones so it doesn’t have a drying effect. It is especially gentle on acne-prone skin as it doesn’t dry out or sting on blemishes like soaps or cleansers often do.

YES! Our “left hand” Laura has very dry skin and is a convert to T•L Cleansing Face Oil. We know what your thinking: “Of course she likes the product, she works for T•L!” It actually took us over a year to finally convince her to ditch her old soap and try T•L Cleansing Face Oil. What finally clinched it was when she had a severe rosacea/eczema breakout around her nose. It was very raw and itchy and soap just made it worse. She then tried the T•L Cleansing Face Oil and found her skin felt so much better. While she had tried several prescription creams to reduce the breakout, it wasn’t until she started using the T•L Cleansing Face Oil that she finally started getting relief. Several years later and she hasn’t had a breakout since!

No, using T•L Cleansing Conditioner is like washing your hair with conditioner. It does not foam at all, but the cleansing ingredients in the formula will clean your hair without stripping it of its natural oils (like sebum).

No, the conditioner is suitable for all hair types.

YES! If you prefer to still use a shampoo, you can use T•L Cleansing Conditioner as a regular conditioner. It also doubles as an excellent shaving cream for anywhere on your body.

Try using a bit less of the product. You shouldn’t need more than 4-5 drops. When applied, your skin should feel moisturized but not greasy.

After dispensing the serum onto your palm, try anointing several areas of your skin with just your fingertip then use your palms to spread it around.

T•L Face Cream is light in texture which means you may need some additional moisturizer, especially in winter. Our “left hand” Laura, who has very dry skin, uses the T•L Face Serum as a base and then applies the T•L Face Cream on top. In the summer this works well but in the winter she finds she still needs an additional thicker moisturizer.

YES! Pricing depends on how many you’d like and whether you’d want a personalized card printed with the order. Just send us an email with your request to info@houseoftl.com.

We know you’ll want to use your House of T•L products right away. In the event however that you don’t, please be aware that since T•L products are all natural, their shelf life is less than your typical drugstore brands (think homemade bread vs. sliced bread). All our products are meant to be used within a year of purchase regardless of when they are opened. Check the back label for the jar icon to see the number of months once bottles are opened. Like with most things natural, fresher is better.

See below for a summary of our products shelf lives:

*As bars age they will harden as their water content evaporates. They will also lose their scent over time. You may also see some slight discolouring due to oxidation of the oils in the bars. None of these will affect the quality of the bar (in fact some people prefer a harder bar) other than aesthetically or in less scent.

Being all natural products and using only essential oils to scent our products, this sometimes means we’ll have variations in the appearance of our products. Products may appear lighter or darker than the last time you received it but rest assured it’s just a normal part of being an all natural product. While the consistency (thickness) of our products shouldn’t vary, because we are handmade, this can sometimes mean products may be slightly thicker or thinner than a previous batch as well.

*A note about our Castile Bars: All our bars are handmade, poured, and cut which gives them their rustic appearance. Occasionally some edges may get nicked or a small corner broken off in the cutting process. This does not affect the quality at all. We ensure that every bar also meets at least the minimum weight stated on our packaging.

If you have any concerns or questions about any of our products we are just a click away. Your satisfaction is our number one priority. Contact us at info@houseoftl.com.

First, remove the pump from the bottle. Rinse and dry the shaft of the pump, then firmly grip the pump shaft below the collar and twist the pump head to the right. The pump will pop up and it's now open!

Check out the video below for a short tutorial on how to open a stubborn pump.