What goes in, and what does not
The full ingredient list sits on each soap's own page. This page explains what it means.
No SLS, no parabens
SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) is the detergent that makes industrial soaps foam so much. Parabens are preservatives. Neither goes into my products.
About lye
All real soap is made with sodium hydroxide - it is the chemical reaction that turns oils into soap. None of it remains in the finished bar - it is used up entirely. That is why it does not appear in the ingredient list: if it is not inside, it does not belong on the label.
For the same reason the list reads Sodium Olivate rather than "olive oil": in a cured bar, the oil is no longer oil either. The whole thing is explained here.
Animal-derived ingredients: said plainly
My bars fall into three groups, and each soap's page says which one it belongs to:
- Plant-based — no animal-derived ingredient at all. Vegan.
- Plant + dairy/honey — no lard or tallow, but they contain goat milk or honey. Not vegan.
- Contains animal fat — and we always say which. I work with pork lard and with beef tallow, traditional soapmaking ingredients that give hardness and a creamy lather. Each soap's ingredient list names exactly which of the two it contains.
Not everyone wants the same thing, and some people cannot use products containing pork, beef or dairy for religious, health or personal reasons. So you can filter the shop to the group that works for you, and it is never buried.
Fragrance and colour
Some bars use essential oils, others use cosmetic-grade fragrance oils. For colour I work with ingredients like cocoa, turmeric, beetroot, activated charcoal and clays, alongside cosmetic-grade micas and oxides.
Batch variation
Because these are small batches made by hand, colour and swirl shift a little from one batch to the next. The bar you receive will not be identical to the photograph, and that is part of it being handmade.