True soap is made by reacting oils and butters with lye (sodium hydroxide). In a finished bar no lye remains: it has become soap and glycerin. That is why soap labels often list ingredients such as "sodium olivate" or "saponified coconut oil" instead of the original oils.
Bars are mostly oils, butters and botanicals, with little or no water and usually no need for preservatives, so ingredient lists tend to be short.
Reading the label
- Saponified oils
- "Sodium cocoate" is coconut oil turned into soap; "sodium shea butterate" is shea. The name tells you which oil the bar started from.
- Face and body bars
- Some bars are marketed for the face as well. Whether a soap suits your face is a matter of skin type; the seal only covers what the bar is made of.
