Know Your Oils: A Guide to Our Soap Ingredients
📖 Educational Reference Only
The information on this page describes the general characteristics of plant-based oils and butters as ingredients. It is not intended as medical advice, a diagnosis, or a cosmetic efficacy claim. If you have allergies, sensitivities, or a skin condition, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
How to Use This Guide
Each of our soaps is formulated with a specific blend of oils and butters. This guide explains what each ingredient is and its general characteristics, so you can make an informed choice based on what you already know about your own preferences. Look for the ingredient list on each product page and cross-reference it here.
🫒 Olive Oil (Olea europaea)
Origin: Mediterranean fruit oil
Fatty acid profile: High in oleic acid (~70–80%)
In soap: Produces a mild, creamy lather with a soft, conditioning feel. Creates a softer bar that benefits from a longer cure time. One of the oldest soap-making oils in recorded history.
Good to know: Suitable for those who prefer gentle, minimally processed formulations. Castile soap is made with 100% olive oil.
🥥 Coconut Oil (Cocos nucifera)
Origin: Tropical palm-free plant oil (from coconut flesh)
Fatty acid profile: High in lauric acid (~48%), caprylic and capric acids
In soap: Contributes to a hard bar and a rich, bubbly lather even in hard water. Typically used at 20–30% of a soap formula to balance cleansing with mildness.
Good to know: Our formulas are palm-free — coconut oil is our primary source of cleansing lather, not palm.
🌻 Sunflower Oil (Helianthus annuus)
Origin: Cold-pressed from sunflower seeds
Fatty acid profile: High in linoleic acid (~65%) and oleic acid
In soap: A lightweight oil that contributes a silky feel to the finished bar. Often used to balance heavier butters in a formula.
Good to know: High-oleic varieties are sometimes used for improved shelf stability.
🌿 Castor Oil (Ricinus communis)
Origin: Pressed from castor beans
Fatty acid profile: Very high in ricinoleic acid (~90%), a unique hydroxyl fatty acid
In soap: Used in small amounts (5–10%) to boost and stabilize lather. Acts as a humectant in the formula, drawing moisture to itself.
Good to know: A little goes a long way — too much can make a bar sticky.
🧈 Shea Butter (Vitellaria paradoxa)
Origin: Extracted from the nuts of the African shea tree
Fatty acid profile: Rich in stearic (~40%) and oleic (~50%) acids, plus unsaponifiables (triterpenes, tocopherols)
In soap: Adds a creamy, luxurious feel to the bar. A portion of shea's unsaponifiable fraction survives the saponification process and remains in the finished soap.
Good to know: Unrefined shea retains more of its natural constituents and has a characteristic nutty scent; refined shea is neutral in scent.
🍑 Sweet Almond Oil (Prunus amygdalus dulcis)
Origin: Cold-pressed from sweet almond kernels
Fatty acid profile: Oleic (~70%) and linoleic (~20%) acids
In soap: A mid-weight oil that contributes a smooth, silky lather. Often used as a partial replacement for olive oil for a lighter feel.
Good to know: Derived from sweet almonds (not bitter almonds). If you have a tree nut allergy, please check with your healthcare provider before use.
🌾 Hemp Seed Oil (Cannabis sativa)
Origin: Cold-pressed from hemp seeds
Fatty acid profile: High in linoleic (~55%) and alpha-linolenic (~17%) acids; an ideal 3:1 omega-6 to omega-3 ratio
In soap: Adds a nourishing, lightweight quality to the bar. Has a relatively short shelf life, so formulas using it are crafted in small batches.
Good to know: Contains no THC or CBD — hemp seed oil is pressed from the seed only, not the plant flower or leaves.
🫐 Mango Butter (Mangifera indica)
Origin: Extracted from the seed kernel of the mango fruit
Fatty acid profile: Stearic (~40%) and oleic (~45%) acids
In soap: Similar in behavior to shea butter. Contributes hardness to the bar and a smooth, creamy lather. Melts at skin temperature.
Good to know: Refined mango butter has a neutral scent; unrefined has a faint, pleasant aroma.
🫧 A Note on Saponification
All of our bar soaps are made using the cold-process method, which involves a chemical reaction between oils/butters and sodium hydroxide (lye). No lye remains in the finished bar — it is fully consumed during saponification, producing soap and glycerin. The glycerin naturally stays in our bars as a byproduct of this process.
🔍 How to Choose
Rather than recommending a specific soap for your skin type (which would be a medical or cosmetic claim we're not able to make), here's how we suggest approaching your choice:
- Review the ingredient list on each product page and cross-reference the oils above.
- Consider any known sensitivities — for example, if you have a tree nut allergy, you may want to avoid soaps with sweet almond oil.
- Look at the oil profile — soaps higher in oleic-acid oils tend to produce a creamier, milder lather; soaps higher in lauric acid tend to produce a bubblier, more cleansing lather.
- Start with an unscented bar if you're unsure — fragrance is often the most reactive component for sensitive individuals.
This page is for educational purposes only. Nothing here constitutes medical advice or a claim of therapeutic or cosmetic benefit. Ingredient properties described reflect general formulation knowledge. Always patch test new products and consult a healthcare professional if you have concerns about allergies or skin conditions.