Walk through any drugstore, farmers market, or boutique shop and you’ll find shelves lined with products promising to be “natural,” “clean,” and “pure.” Consumers have never been more health-conscious — or more overwhelmed. But what does “natural” actually mean on a product label? The honest answer might surprise you: legally, in the United States, it means almost nothing at all.

Claudia DeFouw — known throughout Western North Carolina as The Asheville Soap Lady, owner of Sweet Abode Artisan Soap— has spent over eleven years formulating handcrafted bath and body products from her studio in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As an Advanced Certified member of the Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetic Guild in both soapmaking and cosmetic formulation, Claudia works daily with the very ingredients that confuse, reassure, and sometimes mislead everyday shoppers. She doesn’t just read labels — she writes them. And that expertise gives her a uniquely grounded perspective on what marketing language tells us versus what the science actually says.

In this friendly, science-backed 30-minute presentation, Claudia walks audiences through three eye-opening topics: how essential oils are actually made and why the extraction method matters more than the plant source, how to decode the INCI ingredient names hiding in plain sight on every label, and which ingredients — natural or otherwise — are genuinely worth seeking out for your skin. You won’t need a chemistry degree. You will leave a smarter, more confident shopper.

Positively Asheville’s Connect and Collaborate events are free to members. Events are held at Sun Soo Martial Arts, 800 Fairview Rd Ste D2, Asheville, NC 28803  Registration is requested.