Meet the founders behind the vegan and sustainable soap company, One Prana.

Meet mother and son duo, Manny and Raquel behind the earth conscious soap company, One Prana. Palm-oil free, vegan and biodegradable, free of synthetic fragrances and dyes, and plastic free. This is a company you want to get behind when shopping for bar soap.

My personal experience? I always preferred bar soap over liquid soap because I love a squeaky clean feeling. Whats fantastic about these soaps is it never leaves my skin dry and stripped. The smells are incredible and stay with you even after you shower, and it’s good for my skin and mother earth. Its a win win for me!

What is One Prana’s mission?

Our mission is to have a positive impact on our environment and people. We want to use our products (currently only soap but will soon expand) to make  sustainable living more accessible. We are currently focused on reducing the plastic waste that ends up in the oceans and reducing the deforestation of rainforest. In addition, by only using natural ingredients we ensure that we return what we borrow from the Earth. We cannot carry out this mission alone which is why we are committed to raising awareness and tackling these issues as a collective. 

How did you come up with the name, One Prana?

We wanted a name that described a wholeness. Something that described the world the way we see it, as one big, connected network of beings. Being involved in yoga and meditation we became familiar with the idea of prana. In very simple terms, prana is the energy source found in all living and non-living things.  Prana can be found in the breath, the sun, the food we eat and in inanimate objects. It is the life force energy that all beings and objects have in common. Prana is an energy that is both in and around us. To understand what prana is, a person must become conscious of it. By increasing your awareness of this universal energy, you realize that we are all connected. The air we breath; the energy we use is the same energy that is used by all the other organisms on this planet. 

We believe that by showing people this interconnected network between organisms and the living environments that houses them that people will see that taking care of the planet is the same as taking care of their home.

In summary and simply put, we placed the word “one” in front of prana to say there is one energy, or one life force on this earth so let us take care of it.

(Also, originally the name was just “one prana” and still is but when we made the domain with “.co” we kept the full name with the domain “oneprana.co” for social media because “oneprana” alone was not available. We thought about giving meaning to “.co” saying it represents “company” but we are still thinking about it).

What inspired you to start One Prana?

We were inspired by our desire to care for our planet and be part of the conversation of how we can take steps to help clean up and protect our environment. After being on a plant-based diet for several years and making our own many daily use products at home such as soaps, laundry detergent, and even toothpaste; we realized how easy can be to make a positive impact. And then we thought what if more people lived their lives with a sustainable outlook. The impact would be exponentially greater. So, with that new mentality we decided to offer our products to the public. And not just offer a product but also show people how small cumulative lifestyle adjustments can create big changes in our world.

Is the whole process of making soap hard?

Making soap is not difficult. What is difficult, is obtaining specific characteristics in your soaps consistently. This can be achieved by following a recipe but even then, if the mixing temperature is off by too much your batch of soap will harden too quickly for example and will not be pourable into the mold. Making new recipes can be challenging as well. Even if we have the same base, different essential oils can make the reaction move much quicker and limit working time to mix in things like color or botanicals. Having some basic background knowledge in chemistry certainly helps to understand the process and make wise changes to benefit the outcome of our recipe. 

Why was it important to create a sustainable product with biodegradable packaging?

We felt that if our products were eco-friendly then what we ship them in should also be eco-friendly. Otherwise the positive impact we are making would be negated. We also adhere strongly to our motto, always returning what we borrow from the earth. 

Another reason was to set an example. If it’s possible for us to safely ship products in packaging that simply be thrown into your compost, then hopefully others will follow.

How many different scents do you currently have?

Right now, between what is in the online store and what we have curing we have about 10, but we are constantly adding, half the fun is creating new scent combinations.  

Are you looking to sell to local retailers?

Absolutely, we plan to collaborate with local retailers and have our soaps in their stores. We also look forward meeting customers in person and selling at local markets and fairs. 

What can we expect from One Prana in the future?

You can expect a continuous commitment to the planet, raising awareness of the ecological impact associated with the consumption of single use items and of course new products! We are currently testing and developing skin care products that we hope everyone will love.

We also have farmland in Dominican Republic and plan to grow certain plants there so we can distill our own essential oils to be used in our soaps. (I [Manny] studied agriculture/medicinal botany in school and essential oils can be a very adulterated industry so it can be challenging to find something pure). 

We also want to have the majority, if not all products locally sourced within the USA in efforts to keep our carbon footprint down. 

You can purchase One Prana bar soaps on their website at https://oneprana.co/