Two Cowboys: Clean and Nice Smelling Christmas Cowboys with Rocky Mountain Soap Company in Canmore, Alberta

Getting Soaped

If, like me, your family members already have everything they want, you know how hard Christmas shopping can be.

Every Christmas I tease them that all they'll get is socks and soap. This year I might make good on the promise, and thanks to Cam and Karina at Rocky Mountain Soap Co. I may get away with it.

We checked in with Rocky Mountain Soap Co for another instalment of cleanliness in the Bow Valley. We wanted to find out what is available for Christmas to make shopping easy, natural and healthy. And because we like to understand good businesses, we wanted to know what's new on the business end.

If you haven't been introduced to the business, have a look here.

Impressions

Co-owner Cam Baty updated us on two recent developments: simpler products with fewer ingredients, and more environmentally responsible packaging. In both of these cases, it makes good business sense and aligns with the values of the people that buy and use their products.

Fewer ingredients require fewer manufacturing steps. The inputs to the processes are reduced. Correspondingly, it reduces risk and simplifies operations. A simpler process requires less labour and has a direct impact on the cost. Words such as "hand-made", "lovingly crafted" or "artisan" are often used as marketing speak to position a brand, but are a far cry from what really happens (or should happen) in manufacturing.

The reality of any manufacturing operation is that it must strike a fine balance between putting out great products that customers love and doing it for a reasonable return. Otherwise, there is no point. Sometimes it can only be done by hand. In other cases mechanizing an operation is the way to deliver consistent and good affordable quality. In both cases, keeping things simple is a win-win.

When it comes to the good products of Rocky Mountain Soap Co. there is a benefit in fewer ingredients and keeping things simpler for our bodies. With a shorter list of ingredients and no toxins, the ones that remain can do their best work. You and I get to know what we are using when we use their soap, put on their sunscreen or wash our hair (for those of us who still have hair). Simple and good.

The harder nut to crack is finding environmentally responsible packaging in the cosmetics industry. Soap in a bar is easy. You can simply wrap it in paper. It is not so easy when it comes to lotions, pastes and other viscosities. The industry hasn't solved those problems and plastic bottles and tubes are standard. We all know that this is a continuing problem that ends up in landfills, if not the ocean.

Rocky Mountain Soap has been experimenting with a small paper container for their lip quench. See it here. They call them paper pots. While it is a more expensive option (for now), Cam believes it is the right way to go. More of their products may go the same way in the near future. We think it is the right approach too.

Enjoy your shopping with Rocky Mountain Soap Company this Christmas: https://www.rockymountainsoap.com.
At least we know we are going to have clean Cowboys in 2017.

P.S. Also, ask for the "Serious Scrub" to get your "man hands" clean, smooth and healthy. It has rocks (pumice) in it...

Hendrik van Wyk
Nice Smelling Clean Cowboy

2026 update: Rocky Mountain Soap Co. turned 25 and is now simply called "Rocky", with stores across Western Canada and new ones in Ontario. Everything is still handmade in Canmore. (Source: Retail Insider)

Photos

Christmas Boxes

Shopping

Testing

Consulting

You Should Smell This...

Two Cowboys on a Journey: Rocky Mountain Soap Co - Canmore, Alberta

Naturally Back to Nature

(Learn: * Inspire: *** Amaze: *** Live: ****)
(The Two Cowboys Subjective Rate-o-Meter. )

I never thought I would be writing a blog entry about beauty products. Yes, to me soap is a beauty product, and you'll agree that beauty products are not really a hardened Alberta cowboy's thing. I do use them. Obviously. I just don't think about them much.

To keep life simple, I've been using the same soap and shaving cream for the last 25 years (no hair for shampoo, so I cannot comment on those). It is one less thing to think about in the morning. It also makes Father's Day, Christmas and birthdays really easy for those around me.

However, Karina and Cam at Rocky Mountain Soap Co. gave me something to think about when we filmed their profile. They mentioned the unnatural amount of chemical complexity that makes it into products like the ones I am using. These chemicals have never been proven to have positive long-term effects on the human body. Yet, they are considered "good" chemicals by many companies. This from a cut-throat, snake-oil-peddling industry, where a lot of global brands are fighting for the next big thing in beauty and anti-aging. They do this with the next model on display for eternal youth and happiness. Yeah right!

Why have these ingredients in the first place? Is it really necessary?

If there was ever a human guinea pig for the long-term effects of the chemicals in a beauty or hygiene product, then I am it. It's been years with the same trusty brands. Maybe I would have aged better on more natural products. Maybe I would have looked twenty-eight at forty-eight if I only knew of Rocky Mountain Soap Co.'s naturally simple and deliciously smelling soaps. They smell so good that you can eat them. (Don't do it. They are natural. Just not that natural.)

Rocky Mountain Soap is the darling of Alberta small business and an icon in the Bow Valley. Just see how many people write about them, and the prizes they've won. Here is a husband-and-wife team from Canmore who started with something simple, made it good, kept it good, and continued to make more of it because people simply liked it. How easy is that for a successful business recipe? If only it were this easy.

Impressions

When you visit the facilities of the company, it is quickly evident that this is not a "small business". Real business smarts go into the way this company is managed. Credit to Cam and Karina where credit is due.

It is a well-run business with amazingly simple and natural products. Yes, I know they have good soap, and if it were only about soap, then Rocky Mountain Soap Co. would probably have been just another soap business in a touristy town. It is so fashionable to have these nowadays that you can find them right next to the curio and the corner coffee shop. The other two fashionable touristy businesses.

If you've been in business and worked with as many companies as I have, in as many countries as I've been, you can recognise a success the moment you walk in the door. Everything is labelled, planned, structured, measured, evaluated, improved, reviewed, right down to the environmentally friendly cornstarch popcorn they use for packaging shipments for their online clientele. You can eat the packaging. Trust me on it. It doesn't taste like much, but it is edible (Only the popcorn. Not the stamps).

Rocky Mountain Soap Company is a success because it does a few simple things really well. It has great simple products. It is a well-managed business. And, it is in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Right here in Canmore. Cam mentioned that the business can probably do better in a cheaper, more business-friendly location than Canmore, but it is the community and the lifestyle that keeps them here.

Canmore is better off because they are here.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Rocky Mountain Soap Co. I am proud to say that I am a convert. I am now shaving with Rocky Mountain Soap Co goodness. And, I smell really, really nice.

Hendrik van Wyk
The Clean Cowboy

2026 update: Rocky Mountain Soap Co. turned 25 and is now simply called "Rocky", with stores across Western Canada and new ones in Ontario. Everything is still handmade in Canmore. (Source: Retail Insider)

Photos

Canmore Karina Cam

Where it All Happens

Bath Bombs!

Fresh

Travel Toner

Not Food