Soap Ingredients & Information
In the European Union, soap makers are legally required to list the ingredients of their products on the relevant label. Below, we have listed those INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) names with their equivalent in normal language.
When making soap, sodium or potassium hydroxide is mixed with water to make lye,which is then added to selcted oils. When the oils and lye have mixed together enough, they are converted into soap. This is called 'saponification', and oils that have been used to make soap have been saponified. Their new INCI name is prefixed either with Sodium or Potassium, depending on which hydroxide has been used.
Once the oils have been saponified, there is no lye left in the mixture - it has been chemically changed, together with the oils, into saponified oils.
This is not an exhaustive list of saponified oils, and will be updated when we use other oils. There are many oils and additives which do not saponify (chemically react with the lye). They are added to the soap for fragrance, colour or texture. They have been added to the list below for your information.
| Sodium olivate | Saponified olive oil |
| Sodium cocoate | Saponified coconut oil |
| Sodium shea butterate | Saponified shea butter |
| Glycerin | Glycerine* |
| Sodium castorate | Saponified castor oil |
| Sodium almondate | Saponified sweet almond oil |
| Sodium avocadate | Saponified avocado oil |
| Sodium apricot kernelate | Saponified apricot kernel oil |
| Sodium babassate | Babassu oil |
| Sodium grapeseedate | Saponified grapeseed oil |
| Sodium mango butterate | Saponified mango butter |
| Panthenol | Pro-Vitamin B5** |
| Sodium sunflowerate | Saponified sunflower oil |
| Titanium dioxide (CI 77891) | Titanium dioxide - White Colourant |
| Cinnamomom zeylanicum | Ground cinnamon |
| Eugenia caryophyllus | Ground cloves |
| Laurus nobilis | Ground bay leaves |
| Zingiber officinal | Ground ginger |
| Myristica fragrans | Ground nutmeg |
| Mica | Mica - Colourant |
| Parfum | Fragrance oil |
* Glycerine occurs naturally in handcrafted soap due to the chemical reations of the ingredients. Commercial soap manufacturers often remove this from their soap, and sell it separately.
** Panthenol is also called Pro-Vitamin B5. It's molecule is small enough to penetrate the hair strand. It makes hair shinier and softer, and helps to reduce static. It also helps to hydrate the skin and scalp, improving softness and elasticity.