What’s Actually in Natural Soap? (And What’s in Ours)
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Let’s be honest, most people don’t really know what’s in the stuff they wash with every day.
You pick something that smells decent, looks good on the shelf, and hope for the best.
The problem is, a lot of “soap” isn’t really soap anymore.
It’s synthetic detergents, fillers, and ingredients that clean aggressively… but leave your skin dry, tight, and needing something else to fix it.
Natural soap is different.
It’s made using oils, butters and a traditional process that’s been around for centuries. When it’s done properly, it doesn’t just clean your skin — it actually leaves it feeling better afterwards.
That’s the standard we build everything around at Bare Bar.
So, What Is Natural Soap Made From?
At its core, real soap is simple.
It’s made by combining oils and butters such as Olive Oil, Coconut Oil & Shea Butter with lye in a process called saponification.
Sounds technical, but all it really means is those ingredients transform into soap following a chemical reaction.
Once that process is complete, the soap batter is poured into moulds, air cured for 5 weeks, so there’s no lye left in the final bar.
What you’re left with is something that cleans your skin properly without stripping it.
From there, it’s all about what goes into it.
And that’s where things start to separate.
👉 Explore our natural soap range
Key Ingredients
COCONUT OIL
A natural detoxifier that’s rich in fatty acids and super efficient at removing grime from your skin. Coconut oil also soothes the skin, helps to reduce inflammation and is ultra hydrating. Go nuts!
OLIVE OIL
A mild oil that’s highly moisturising and has anti-ageing properties. It can help to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and prevent damage from free radicals. Olive Oil is also known to reduce and relieve skin conditions like Eczema and Psoriasis
COCOA BUTTER
A fruit seed butter that's packed with vitamins and fatty acids like Linoleic, Oleic, Stearic and Palmitic Acid – which are all excellent at nourishing the skin. Shea Butter can also help to protect your skin from harmful UV rays
RSPO SUSTAINABLE PALM OIL
We only ever use palm oil that is RSPO Certified Sustainable. It works wonders with coconut oil to produce our iconic rich lather and it helps our bars to last longer. Sustainable Palm farming helps local communities earn a living through good practices
caster OIL
A cold-pressed oil that gives our bars their extra foamy lather. It’s great for your hair and scalp and can help to reduce redness and inflammation. Castor oil is also a humectant, which means it locks away moisture into your skin
CITRUS ESSENTIAL OIL
Essential Oils are the distillation of plants, which provide our products with their scent, they boost your mood and help reduce stress. We add citrus essential oils to our bars for a touch of freshness and some extra zing. Our soaps wouldn’t be the same without them!
WOOD ESSENTIAL OILS
Concentrated oils derived from nature that give our bars a rich, woody musk. From Fresh Pine to heady Cedarwood, these rich, earthy scents are hand selected to awaken your instincts and take you back to your roots
Natural Mineral Clay
We utilise the power of the earth by adding natural clays such as Kaolin Clay & Natural Coloured Mineral Clays to make our products look great, but to also help draw out impurities within your skin, which also helps to balance the moisture of your skin
NATURAL EXFOLIANTS
Oatmeal, Coffee Grounds, Volcanic Pumice Stone and Rock Sea Salt are just some of the Natural Exfoliants we use in our bars. They rid your skin of grim & dirt after a hard days work, but also leave your skin soft & replenished
WATER
Where would we be without magical H₂O? Water is a key ingredient in all of our products because it dissolves the lye and helps to break down the fat in our oils and butters. The water evaporates during curing, which makes our bars longer lasting.
LYE
Otherwise known as Sodium Hydroxide, Lye is a man-made product that is essential to the soap making process. It reacts with the oils during the saponification process to thicken the mixture and help it to set. After 5 weeks of curing, absolutely ZERO Lye is left in our products
Wheat Protein
We use Wheat Protein within our awesome Shampoo Bars. Wheat Protein is able to infuse into the thin strands of your hair due to it's light weight. It can help repair damaged hair follicles by embedding proteins into your hair
🫒 Olive Oil
🥥 Coconut Oil
🫘 Cocoa Butter
🌴 Castor Oil
🪨 Natural Clays & Minerals
🌋 Natural Exfoliants
🌱 Essential Oils
💦 Water & Lye
❌ What We Don’t Put In
How Bare Bar Soap Is Made
We keep things simple, but we don’t cut corners.
Every bar we make goes through the same hands-on process:
- We blend our base oils and butters
- Add our essential oil combinations for scent
- Mix in natural exfoliants like oats, pumice or coffee
- Pour, set, and hand cut each bar
- Then leave them to cure for around 5 weeks
That last part matters more than most people realise.
It’s what gives you a harder, longer-lasting bar and a better feel on your skin.
No rushing it. No shortcuts.
Want to try our best selling soap bar? Click here
How it's made
Step 1
Hand blend our base recipe of nourishing and moisturising natural oils
Step 2
Add our unique combinations of natural essential oils to create the wild scents that bring our bars to life
Step 3
Infuse each recipe with natural exfoliants, such as Organic Oats, Volcanic Pumice and Coffee Grounds
Step 4
Cut our bars into their uniquely large size (5 ounces!) and then leave to air cure for 5 patient weeks
Step 5
Slide each perfected bar into our awesome plastic-free packaging, ready for your next shower
The Bare Bar Difference
TRUSTED BY THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS ACROSS THE U.K
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Rated 4.8/5 Excellent from 35,000+ U.K customers
So what does that actually mean for you?
What This Means for Your Skin
When you switch to a properly made natural soap, you’ll usually notice a few things straight away. Your skin doesn’t feel tight after washing, it stays softer for longer, the scent actually lingers, you don’t feel like you need to “fix” your skin afterwards. It’s a small change, but it makes a difference every day.
Got Sensitive Skin? Keep It Simple
If your skin reacts easily, simpler is better.
That’s why we also make an unscented soap bar, with no added fragrance or essential oils.
Same base ingredients. Same performance.
Just without anything extra that might cause irritation.
Natural soap is different.
It’s made using oils, butters and a traditional process that’s been around for centuries. When it’s done properly, it doesn’t just clean your skin — it actually leaves it feeling better afterwards.
That’s the standard we build everything around at Bare Bar.
Explore our full range of 👉 Natural Soap Bars
If You’re Going to Use Soap Every Day… It Should Be Better
Most people don’t think twice about what they wash with. But when you switch to something that’s actually made properly, you notice it. And once you do, it’s hard to go back.
The Bare Bar Difference
There’s no gimmick here.
We’re not trying to reinvent soap.
We’re just making it the way it’s supposed to be made — using ingredients that make sense, and a process that isn’t rushed.
Everything is:
- handmade in the UK
- built around performance first
- and designed to be used every day without wrecking your skin
Begin your Natural Soap journey with us....
Want to learn more about natural products & ingredients? Check out our latest blog posts:
FAQs About Natural Soap
Is natural soap actually better for your skin?
Short answer — yes, if it’s made properly.
Most “soap” you’ll find in supermarkets isn’t really soap. It’s synthetic detergent bars that clean aggressively and leave your skin feeling tight.
Natural soap (like ours) is made using oils and butters that clean your skin without stripping it. You still get that proper clean feeling, just without the dry, itchy aftermath.
What is natural soap made from?
Real natural soap is made from a combination of oils and butters — things like coconut oil, olive oil and cocoa butter — mixed with lye in a process called saponification.
Sounds technical, but all it really means is this:
👉 oils turn into soap
👉 and there’s zero lye left in the final bar
What you’re left with is something that actually works with your skin, not against it.
Does natural soap lather as well as shower gel?
Yes — just differently.
Shower gels use synthetic foaming agents to create instant bubbles.
We use ingredients like coconut oil and castor oil to create a rich, creamy lather that builds as you use it. It feels thicker, more satisfying, and doesn’t disappear in seconds.
Will natural soap dry out my skin?
It shouldn’t.
If a soap leaves your skin feeling tight, it usually means it’s been made poorly or is packed with harsh ingredients.
A well-balanced bar (like Bare Bar) is designed to clean and leave your skin feeling soft afterwards.
Is Bare Bar good for sensitive skin?
Yes — and we’ve kept it simple on purpose.
We avoid harsh additives and unnecessary fillers, and for anyone who wants to play it extra safe, we make an unscented soap bar with no added fragrance or essential oils.
Same performance. Just stripped back.
What’s the difference between Bare Bar and regular soap?
Most regular soaps prioritise cost and shelf life.
We prioritise how it feels on your skin.
That means:
- Better ingredient balance
- Proper curing time
- No shortcuts in the process
It’s a small difference on paper, but a big one in the shower.
How long does a natural soap bar last?
Longer than most people expect.
Because our bars are properly cured and made with solid butters, they don’t melt away like softer soaps.
Used daily, a bar typically lasts 3–4 weeks, sometimes longer depending on how you store it.
Is natural soap better than shower gel?
Depends what you care about.
If you want:
- convenience → shower gel
- better skin feel → natural soap
Most people switch once… and don’t go back.
Bear are you headed?
