Ingredients

Common Ingredients 

Our bar soap formulations are carefully calculated, plant-based, skin-loving concoctions designed to cleanse and nourish the skin.  

Skin Joy Soap products are formulated phthalate free, paraben free, sulfate free, detergent free, petrochemical free, no mineral oil compounds, no PEGS, PPG or DEA, glycol free, gluten free, non-GMO, and are cruelty-free.  While our formulations do not include any animal fats, many of our soap products do include cruelty-free silk and are therefore not suitable for vegans.  

We procure ingredients as close to home as possible, we work with suppliers with common values - high quality ingredients sourced ethically and humanely. 

All of our raw materials are food grade or cosmetic grade as appropriate for the application.  

Although natural ingredients are quite amazing for skin, as responsible soap makers, we do not make medical claims.  Our products cleanse beautifully, but they are not intended to treat or cure medical conditions.

Full ingredient lists are printed on all packaging, and are included on each product page of this website.  Keep reading to learn more about the amazing materials we use to formulate luxurious products:

Olive Oil

A deeply hydrating beauty powerhouse since ancient times, olive oil contains Oleic Acid, Linoleic Acid, Palmitic Acid, Stearic Acid, Linolenic Acid, Polyphenols, Vitamin E, Carotenoids, and Squalene.  Olive oil is the dominant ingredient in almost all of our formulations and we love it because it creates a gentle, conditioning soap.  

Coconut Oil

Naturally antibacterial, coconut oil contains antioxidant vitamins A and E, Lauric Acid, Capric Acid and Caprylic Acid, Linoleic Acid (Polyunsaturated Fats), Oleic Acid (Monounsaturated Fats), and Medium-Chain Triglycerides.  The medium-chain fatty acids are great for acne-prone skin.  We love coconut oil for its ability to cleanse and create bubbles like few other oils. 

Palm Oil

Nourishing, antioxidant rich palm oil contains Palmitic Acid, Oleic Acid, Myristic Acid, Stearic Acid, Linoleic Acid, Carotenoids, Phytosterols, and Vitamin E.  We love palm oil in soap because it creates a long-lasting, conditioning bar that is rich in creamy lather.

Our palm oil is Rainforest Alliance Certified, RSPO-certified sustainable and organic palm oil; we support no-harm producers.

Sunflower Oil

Rich in antioxidant Vitamin A and Vitamin E, gentle sunflower seed oil contains Linoleic Acid, Oleic Acid, Palmitic Acid, and Stearic Acid.  We love sunflower seed oil because it is a light, non-greasy oil that absorbs easily, creating a conditioning bar that is gentle for all skin types.  

Castor Oil

In a league of its own, castor seed oil contains Ricinoleic Acid, Oleic Acid, Linoleic Acid (Omega-6 Fatty Acid), α-Linolenic Acid (Alpha-Linolenic Acid - Omega-3 Fatty Acid), Stearic Acid, and Palmitic Acid.  We love castor seed oil for its unmatched ability to condition the skin and create a beautiful lather like no other soap making oil - this oil is in every bar.  

Mango Butter

A favorite of the exotic butters, Mango Seed Butter contains Oleic Acid, Stearic Acid, Palmitic Acid, Linoleic Acid, Arachidic Acid, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E.  We love mango butter for its skin-loving conditioning qualities while being very low on the comedogenic scale.  

Sodium Hydroxide*

*none remains in the finished product

All true soap is made with lye; if it is called "soap" and contains no lye, it is actually a synthetic detergent, or it is a lie (fun industry humor).  While not a component of our finished products, we do list all ingredients used in the making of our products, always.  Lye, also known as Sodium Hydroxide (bar), or Potassium Hydroxide (liquid), when properly formulated, is combined with water and introduced to triglycerides (vegetable and/or animal fats), creating a chemical reaction called saponification, resulting in the salt of fatty acids, known as true soap.     

 
Coconut Milk

We began incorporating coconut milk into every formulation beginning in August 2020 - we love the lather boost, all the extra nutrients and lux moisture it brings to the bar.  Our pure coconut milk is organic, non-GMO, food grade, does not contain casein or other animal milks, and is not a coconut milk "beverage" product.  We procure our coconut milk from a single-source manufacturer for batch-to-batch consistency.  

Sodium Lactate

Sodium Lactate is a liquid salt derived from the fermentation of sugars found in corn and beets.  While it does have humectant properties, it is primarily used in cold process soap to harden the batch for easier, and often earlier, unmolding. 

Silk Fibers

Silk amino acids help create amazing lather and a smoother bar.  Our silk fibers are cruelty-free. 

Essential Oils and Fragrance Oils

Clean fragrance is our thing - free of phthalates and parabens.  We curate the finest fragrance oils and pure essential oils from reputable suppliers and many of our fragrances are proprietary in-house blends of fragrance oils and essential oils.  Our fragrance philosophy reflects that soap must smell delightful, but it must not interfere with perfume or cologne, it is a wash off product after all.  We strictly adhere to skin safe usage rates specified by the International Fragrance Association.  Learn more about fragrance

Rose Clay

Rose Clay is a type of mild kaolin clay with naturally occurring iron oxides that impart its rosy pink color.  With very gentle oil absorbing properties, this clay is great for normal to dry skin.  We love its beautiful natural color as well as the slip it adds to bar soap.    

Kaolin Clay

Kaolin Clay is a gentle clay with less liquid absorbing abilities than most. This makes it suitable for more sensitive and dry skin.  We also love kaolin clay for its ability to anchor fragrance and essential oils. 

Purple Brazilian Clay

French Green Clay

Sea Clay

Cosmetic Grade Micas

We've devoted a lot of space to this topic because there is so much misinformation out there.

We don’t always add color to our formulations, but when we’re not imparting color with all-natural ingredients (clays, botanical powders, and plant infusions), we often look to skin safe cosmetic micas.  Micas in their raw form are colorless or off white and do not impart color on their own, pigments applied with heat add color to mica particles, think of mica as the substrate or binder.  Sometimes you will hear the terms “mica” or “pigment” used interchangeably, but it is critical to understand the differences if you are particularly concerned about the natural origins of the colorants in your skincare.

First let’s cover mica, the actual particle that serves as a substrate for color.  There are naturally mined micas (muscovite) and there are synthetic micas (fluorphlogopite) -  most of the micas used in soap and cosmetics are naturally mined micas.  Synthetic mica, also known as fluorphlogopite, is superior in purity and color and is much more expensive than naturally mined mica.  We use both naturally mined (ethically sourced) micas and synthetic micas in our products depending upon the color we’re trying to achieve, but you can always tell from the ingredients label.

Inorganic pigments are applied to mica using heat to bind them together.  Inorganic pigments, like oxides and ultramarines, are made by relatively simple chemical reactions, notably oxidation, and are NOT created from petrochemicals like organic synthetic pigments.  While oxides and ultramarines can be found naturally as earths, naturally occurring pigments are NOT approved by the FDA for use in skincare products because they are contaminated.  To meet FDA standards for purity, pigments used to color mica are lab-made, nature-identical, skin safe pigments.  To be clear, oxides and ultramarines are not “all natural”, they are made in a laboratory, but they are elementally the same as naturally occurring earths minus the lead, mercury, etc.