11 Handmade Bar Soap Brands Using Organic Ingredients
When it comes to washing your body it's important to choose a soap that nourishes the skin, is free from harsh chemicals, and makes your skin feel clean & moisturized.
Traditional soaps often feature synthetic chemicals which can be harmful to our skin and aquatic life.
I think switching to bar soap is a great way to reduce plastic in your bathroom, choose a cleaner product, and support small businesses!
This guide highlights some amazing sustainable brands that sell organic bar soap, harmful ingredients to look out for when soap shopping and the benefits of organic soap.
This post does contain some affiliate links which means The Honest Consumer may receive a commission if you decided to purchase. Our commission is at no additional expense to you!
A List of Small Businesses Making Bar Soaps with Organic Ingredients
These handmade soaps are made with love for the planet and our skin.
Shop these socially responsible brands to discover a clean ingredient list, fair trade ingredients, and some of the best soap for smooth skin.
I think buying handmade soaps is a great way to support small businesses too!
UpRoot Design Studio’s Handmade Natural Bar Soaps
Price: $12
UpRoot Design Studio is an artist owned business that crafts beautiful handmade soaps featuring unique scents. These soaps are made with organic ingredients such as olive oil, coconut oil, and cocoa butter. Plus, select ingredients are fair trade!
UpRoot Design Studio’s natural bar soaps come in scents such as Fig + White Tea + Ginger + Grapefruit, Sweet Orange + Lavender, or Fir + Cedarwood + Orange + Spice.
Use the discount code HONESTCONSUMER for 10% off.
EcoRoots Package Free Organic Bar Soap
Price: $12
EcoRoots bar soap is handmade in the USA using organic ingredients.
Their soaps are cold-pressed by hand in small batches, never contain synthetic fragrances or colorants, parabens, sulfates, or animal products.
Their package free bar soap comes in a range of scents including lemongrass, tangerine lavender, spearmint sage, and more.
These soaps are $12 each or feature a discount in price in the soap bundle.
Earth Harbor’s Natural Bar Soap Made with Sustainable Ingredients
Price: $12
Earth Harbor harnesses the natural power of Ocean & Earth to bring conscious consumers safe, ethical, sustainable products.
Earth Harbor’s products are made without synthetic ingredients (artificial dyes, fragrances, synthetic preservatives), GMOs, gluten, soy, toxins, fillers, chemical additives, parabens, phthalates, sulfates, phenoxyethanol, dimethicone, emulsifying wax, nanoparticles, mineral oils, petroleum, and over 2,700 other questionable chemicals found in the beauty industry— including all 1,300+ banned in the EU.
Their soaps features clean ingredients that are certified organic, non-GMO and/or wildcrafted.
Conscious consumers can choose from a few different types of soap including Clay Healing Soap, Mineralizing Soap, and Facial Soap.
Meow Meow Tweet's Plastic Free Skin Care
Price: $12-$14
Meow Meow Tweet is a vegan brand focusing on the production of organic products.
They use cruelty-free practices and make sure that their sources do not harm the animals and their habitat in any way.
Their vegan soaps feature beautiful packaging in a paper box which is recyclable and compostable.
This sustainable soap brand has closed the loop of generating waste.
Discover unique scents such as lavender lemon, grapefruit mint, tangerine basil, and more.
MOON VALLEY ORGANICS: SUPPORTING FARMERS
Moon Valley Organics is a highly effective, affordable organic skin care line that works hard to cleanse, moisturize, heal and protect your skin every single day.
Moon Valley Organics goal is to support organic farms and the people who farm on them by providing a source for high quality, organic personal care products that promote a healthy way of caring for our bodies and the world.
They believe in using simple ingredients from their farm, packaged in environmentally friendly containers, free of any artificial ingredients.
They are committed to self-sustaining and eco-friendly lifestyle and they carry that belief into their business practices.
PRIMALLY PURE: gentle cleansing soap
Price: $12
Founder, farmer's wife, mama bear, matcha lover and bath taker, Bethany McDaniel is the heartbeat and hard work behind Primally Pure.
When Bethany's family spontaneously started a beyond organic livestock farm in Southern California called Primal Pastures, she discovered the power of eating real food and her eyes were opened to a new world of wellness.
Bethany subsequently purged her bathroom cabinets of toxic conventional skincare products and began formulating her own replacements with pure, simple ingredients.
Their Organic Baby Soap Bar gently cleanses and soothes your baby’s skin without exposing them to harsh chemicals or ingredients. This vitamin A rich soap uses goats milk to moisturize and hydrate delicate skin.
Whispering Winds Shop: Indigenous Owned
Price: $9-$10
Whispering Winds Shop is an Indigenous owned brand. These makers grow and harvest herbs in their own Wisconsin Farms with traditional methods of offerings.
All the products available at their shop are handmade in small batches.
My personal favorite soap is the Fresh Rose Organic Soap. The Roses used in the production are hand-harvested and grown with organic practices.
They use certified organic essential oils to create amazing scents.
Wild Lather's Uniquely Shaped Soaps
Price: $14
Wild Lather soaps feature chic shapes, sophisticated scents, and organic ingredients making this soap a beautiful addition to your routine.
Discover unique scents such as Osaka, Milford Sound, Kyoto, and more.
Little Seed Farm Soap Made with Goat Milk
Price: $10
At Little Seed Farm sustainability is the heart and soul of everything they produce. Their products are packaged in recyclable and reusable materials, they use organic ingredients, and their farms are solar energy based.
They use goat milk as a major ingredient, it contains moisturisers, anti-aging alpha hydroxyl acids, vitamins A and D.
Organic olive oil in the soaps acts as a protective barrier that traps the moisturiser providing long-term hydration to the skin.
Are There Toxic Ingredients in Bar Soap?
While most soaps are considered non-toxic, unless you ingest them, there are some ingredients you want to be aware of.
Unfortunately traditional soaps made from synthetic chemicals are not always good for our skin, aquatic life and a lot of soaps feature plastic waste packaging which ends up in landfills.
Fragrances and coloring made from harmful chemicals in regular soaps can disrupt the ecosystem because of eutrophication.
Along with these ingredients commercial soap can also contain parabens, sodium Laureth Sulfate, triclosan, and more questionable ingredients.
As these are known as carcinogens and endocrine disrupters, these are not the ideal ingredients to be cleansing your skin with.
Sometimes synthetic ingredients can actually dry out our skin more instead of cleaning and moisturizing.
Since organic soaps are made with natural ingredients that follow organic farming practices, these soaps are typically more nourishing to our skin and better for the environment. Let's explore a few of the reasons why organic soap is a good choice.
Benefits of Natural Bar Soap Made with Organic Ingredients
There are quite a few benefits of choosing organic bar soaps for both the environment and for our skin.
Essential Oil Fragrance: Organic soaps typically contain essential oil fragrance like peppermint, lavender, and lemongrass which gives them antibacterial properties. In contrast, regular soaps containing artificial fragrances can have ingredients that are associated with causing cancer, hormonal damage, and problems in reproductive systems. Scents made with pure essential oils are better for sensitive skin types and usually feature relaxing scents.
Better Healing of the Skin: Organic soaps are made from essential oils, herbs, and spices, they are all-natural high quality ingredients and aid in the healing process of the skin. They can help in some other skin conditions like acne, eczema, and sunburn.
Sustainable Packaging: In case you are thinking about the packaging of soaps. Then you need to know that it is good to prefer soap bars to plastic bottle soaps, as paper can be easily recycled. Liquid soaps in a plastic bottle require five times more energy during production and 20 times more energy is required for the packaging in plastic bottles.
Supports Small Businesses: Bar soap made with organic ingredients can commonly be found at local farmers markets and craft fairs. This is a great way to support local makers and farmers in your community.
Made with Organic Ingredients versus Certified Organic Soaps
On select soaps you might see the USDA Organic certification, that means that it has been verified by a third party that the product has been made with 95% of organic ingredients.
You might also see made with organic ingredients which by USDA terms means the product is made with at least 70% organic ingredients.
However, these third party certifications cost time and money that a lot of small businesses and farms don't have.
So if you're shopping locally read the labels and see if you are able to spot any organic ingredients in a bar of soap.
Pin this organic soap guide for later!
Just because a brand or product doesn't have the third party certification doesn't mean they don't use organically grown ingredients.
Hopefully this guide has helped you learn the importance of choosing non-toxic bar soap, key ingredients to look for, and some more eco-friendly soap options.
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MEET THE AUTHOR
Emily Waddell is the founder of The Honest Consumer and an expert in conscious consumerism. She has been in the ethical and sustainable living space for over ten years. Emily has always been passionate about business for good and has a Bachelor degree in Social Entrepreneurship. When she’s not writing, Emily enjoys supporting small businesses, finding locally grown food at the farmer’s market, & practicing slow living.
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