Olive Oil
Olive oil is a classic conditioning oil that creates a mild bar with gentle, creamy lather. Because it is high in oleic acid, high-olive formulas often benefit from a longer cure for best hardness and performance.
Soap Ingredient Glossary
This glossary explains common oils, butters, and additives used in cold process soapmaking. Each ingredient contributes a different fatty acid profile, which influences hardness, lather, cleansing power, and conditioning.
Note: Many traditional soap recipes use palm oil or animal fats such as tallow for hardness and longevity. In our formulations, we prefer to build structure using plant-based oils and butters such as shea butter, cocoa butter, and mango butter instead. While our soap recipes are primarily botanical, some formulas may include ingredients like honey, so they are not strictly vegan.
For a deeper dive into our ingredients, learn more about each in our library.
Quick Jump
Olive Oil Coconut Oil Castor Oil Rice Bran Oil Avocado Oil Sunflower Oil Shea Butter Cocoa Butter Mango Butter Honey Oat Milk Coconut Milk Essential Oils Fragrance Oils Clays Activated Charcoal Spirulina Titanium Dioxide Mica Colorants Oatmeal Walnut Shell Powder Salt Sugar Sodium Lactate Sodium Citrate
Base Oils & Butters
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil boosts cleansing power and produces large, bubbly lather. At higher percentages it can feel more drying, so it is typically balanced with conditioning oils and butters.
Role: Cleansing / Bubbly • Typical Use: 15–30%
Castor Oil
Castor oil is used in small amounts to stabilize lather and improve bubble persistence. It contains ricinoleic acid, which supports a creamier foam and helps lather last longer.
Role: Lather Support • Typical Use: 3–8%
Rice Bran Oil
Rice bran oil is a conditioning oil that can often substitute for olive oil. It contributes mildness and a pleasant skin feel while supporting stable, creamy lather when paired with structural oils or butters.
Role: Conditioning • Typical Use: 10–40%
Avocado Oil
Avocado oil adds extra mildness and a richer skin feel. It is often used in luxury-style formulas as a partial substitute for other high-oleic oils.
Role: Conditioning • Typical Use: 5–15%
Sunflower Oil (Standard vs High Oleic)
High-oleic sunflower behaves more like olive oil and is easier to balance for shelf life. Standard sunflower is more linoleic—very conditioning, but best used in moderate amounts to support bar longevity.
Role: Conditioning • Typical Use: 5–15%
Shea Butter
Shea butter adds structure, hardness, and a dense creamy lather. It is a reliable way to create a longer-lasting bar in palm-free recipes while keeping the feel gentle and substantial.
Role: Structure / Hardness • Typical Use: 5–20%
Cocoa Butter
Cocoa butter increases hardness and contributes a smooth, creamy lather. It helps create a durable bar and is often used to give a more polished feel to the finished soap.
Role: Structure / Hardness • Typical Use: 5–15%
Mango Butter
Mango butter supports hardness and creamy lather with a lighter feel than some other butters. It is an excellent structural butter for palm-free formulas and helps improve bar longevity.
Role: Structure / Hardness • Typical Use: 5–15%
Additives
Honey
Honey is often added to support a more luxurious lather feel. Because it contains natural sugars, it can deepen color and contribute to extra heat during saponification, so it is typically used in modest amounts.
Role: Lather feel • Warm tone
Oat Milk
Oat milk is sometimes used to create a creamy, soothing bar. Like other milk soaps, it can darken slightly during saponification due to natural sugars, and it often contributes a softer, more comforting lather character.
Role: Creamy lather • Skin feel
Coconut Milk
Coconut milk is often used in place of some or all of the water in a soap recipe. The natural fats and sugars can contribute to a richer, creamier lather and a more indulgent feel in the finished bar.
Role: Creamy lather • Luxury feel
Essential Oils and Fragrances
Essential Oils
Essential oils are concentrated aromatic extracts from plants. In soapmaking they provide botanical fragrance, and each oil can behave differently in cold process soap, so safe usage rates and testing for performance are important.
Role: Botanical fragrance
Fragrance Oils
Fragrance oils are formulated scent blends designed for stability in products like soap. They are used to create complex, long-lasting scents that may not be achievable with essential oils alone.
Role: Fragrance • Scent stability
Colorants
Clays (Kaolin, French Green, Rhassoul, etc.)
Clays are used to add slip, a smoother skin feel, and a more refined lather texture. Different clays vary in feel and color, but they are generally used in small amounts to enhance the sensory profile of the bar.
Role: Slip • Texture
Activated Charcoal
Activated charcoal is used for color and a “clarifying” feel. It is best used in balanced amounts to avoid excess color transfer and to maintain a comfortable, non-drying feel in the finished bar.
Role: Colorant • Character
Spirulina
Spirulina is a blue-green algae powder used for natural green tones and botanical visual interest. It is most often used as a colorant in small amounts to create soft, earthy greens.
Role: Natural colorant
Titanium Dioxide
Titanium dioxide is a white mineral pigment used to lighten or whiten soap. It is often used to brighten natural tones or create contrast in swirls and designs.
Role: Whitening pigment
Micas
Micas are mineral-based pigments used to add color to soap. They are widely used for swirls, decorative designs, and vibrant color palettes, and are a staple in artisan soapmaking.
Role: Colorant • Design element
Exfoliants
Oatmeal
Oatmeal adds a gentle, comforting feel and can provide mild exfoliation depending on grind size. Finely milled oatmeal keeps the bar smoother while still adding a soft, soothing character.
Role: Comfort • Texture
Walnut Shell Powder
Finely ground walnut shells are used as a natural exfoliant. They add noticeable scrub and texture, making them popular for gardener or workshop-style soaps intended for hands.
Role: Exfoliation
Helpful Additives
Salt (Sodium Chloride)
Salt can increase hardness and change lather character, often making it creamier. Because it can affect trace and texture, it is usually used with a specific formula goal in mind.
Role: Hardness • Texture
Sugar
Sugar is often used to encourage bigger bubbles and improve lather, especially in formulas higher in butters. It is typically dissolved before use and used in modest amounts to keep the batch well-behaved.
Role: Bubble boost
Sodium Lactate
Sodium lactate is commonly added to cooled lye solution to help create a harder bar and improve unmolding, especially when using silicone molds. It can be especially helpful in recipes that are high in soft oils.
Role: Hardness • Easier unmolding
Sodium Citrate
Sodium citrate is a chelating agent used to help reduce soap scum in hard water. It binds minerals in water so the soap can rinse more cleanly and feel smoother on the skin.
Role: Chelator • Hard water performance