If you suffer from sensitive skin, you know the importance of regulating everything that touches the surface of your body. This means being careful about which pillowcases you use, how often you wash your towels, and, of course, only applying skincare products made for sensitive skin. One of the most important decisions you must make is which body soap you use in the shower.
There are several soaps explicitly formulated for sensitive skin. But these soaps often include several nasty chemicals. Depending on which skin conditions you suffer from, these chemicals could potentially make existing skin conditions worse or, at the very least, cause your skin to dry out. Natural soaps use plant-derived ingredients and surfactants that are generally more gentle on the skin and are made using manufacturing processes that are typically much more environmentally friendly.
What Is A Natural Soap?
Defining a soap as ‘natural’ can be tricky. For example, the term ‘organic’ is USDA-regulated. It can only be associated with products that are themselves or are made with ingredients certified as organic. However, the title of ‘natural’ is almost entirely up to the discretion of the individual company.
When looking for natural soap, opting for an organic option can help ensure that the ingredients have been vetted. Still, several soaps use the term ‘natural’ that are worthy of adding to your grooming routine.
Natural soap, or ‘true soap,’ is typically made with alkali salts from fatty acids. As noted by Verywell Health, natural or true soap won’t balance the user’s pH levels in their skin, but a pH-balanced soap is not critical to getting skin clean.
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Knowing whether soap is natural depends on the list of ingredients and what users are willing to put on their skin. For those who want a ‘natural’ option, you likely want to avoid synthetic fragrances, colors, hardeners, and surfactants.
Skip the harsh soaps and invest in one of these all-natural soaps for sensitive skin. These are the best body washes and bars of soap for conditions like eczema, rosacea, acne and general redness. Take a page out of Mother Nature’s playbook and start using these soaps for your next bath.
1. Dr. Squatch Pine Tar Soap
BEST OVERALL
Suppose you’re looking for a natural soap that will make you feel like you’ve been in the woods without smelling like you were actually in the woods (portaging is a sweaty business). In that case, Dr. Squatch has a line of natural soaps available in a variety of scents. The soap is formulated with pine extract and includes oatmeal for a natural exfoliant and shea butter, moisturizing the skin. The cold processed soap is made from natural oils and doesn’t include harsh chemicals. The company often releases several fun limited edition soaps, including its Star Wars collection and collaboration with Stone Brewing (we’ll cheers to a bar of soap with IPA), while also including several fan-favorite essentials.
2. Crate 61 “For Him” Soap 6-Pack Box Set
BEST GIFT SET
Not sure what scent you want to try out today? We like the Crate 61 “For Him” Soap 6-Pack Box Set, featuring six scents that both men and women will love. Activated charcoal, oatmeal shea, eucalyptus, peppermint, alpine spice, tango mango, and patchouli lime are included in the box set and can be purchased individually. The vegan bar soap is cold-pressed in small batches and made from organic ingredients and premium-grade essential oils. The body soap bars can also be used as a shampoo and help draw out bacteria that cause blemishes.
3. Amish Farms Natural Bar Soap
BEST MULTIPURPOSE SOAP
Whether you’re heading out on a camping trip and only want to bring one bar of soap, or you want a product that can do it all, the bar soap from Amish Farms should be on your list. The natural and vegan soap is cold-pressed and free from allergens, sulfates and parabens. Gentle on your skin, the smooth bars create ample lather and work as a body wash, shampoo, shaving cream, and even dogs. The moisturizing soap comes in a gentle wildflower scent that is ideal for those with scent sensitivities.
Read More: Best Bar Soaps for Men
4. Beekman 1802
SAME pH AS SKIN
While we mentioned earlier that many natural soaps don’t have the same pH balance as skin, that’s not the case with Beekman 1802. The soap comprises goat’s milk, which has a similar pH balance to human skin and can help keep skin cleaner longer and push off bacteria from forming. Goat milk is also high in lactic acid, a natural and gentle exfoliant, making this an excellent option for acne-prone skin. The Leaping Bunny-certified soap is free from sulfates, parabens, mineral oil, drying alcohol, talc, and synthetic colorants. We like that the moisturizing bar, which you can use on your face and body, leaves a gentle scent of bergamot, coriander and Rosa damascena flower oil.
Read More: Best Shaving Soaps for Men
5. UpCircle Fennel + Cardamom Chai Soap Bar
MOST ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
UpCircle takes its environmental responsibility seriously and uses residual chai spices to create its natural Fennel + Cardamom Chai Soap Bar. Safe for use on the face and body, the essential oil-fragranced bar contains green clay, which helps pull out dirt and oil from pores. A rich base of shea butter infuses moisture into the user’s skin. What’s more? This handsome bar of soap is alcohol-free and vegan, thanks to the non-animal glycerin.
6. SOAPWALLA Activated Charcoal and Petitgrain Soap Bar
BEST FOR COMBINATION SKIN
Oily skin? Dry skin? Combination skin? If you’ve got just about any sort of skin issue, SOAPWALLA’s Activated Charcoal and Petitgrain Soap Bar was designed to help. The soap uses activated bamboo charcoal (from new growth forests only – yay!) to help gently pull toxins from the skin while still leaving users feeling nourished and moisturized. Tea tree essential oil helps calm inflamed skin, while the vegan soap, free from parabens and sulfates and made only with food-grade organic ingredients, won’t leave users feeling dried out.
7. 360Feel Men’s Soap
HANDMADE IN THE U.S.
Many of the soaps on our list are handmade in the United States, including the uber-popular 360 Feel. Available in various fragrance sets, including the Men’s Soap collection, the natural soap uses olive, coconut, soybean, corn, and plant oils, as well as shea butter for moisture. Ideal for normal to dry and sensitive skin, this soap is cold-pressed and can help reduce the appearance of acne. Safe for the face and body, the set comes with various bases, including patchouli, pine tar with charcoal, beeswax and citrus.
8. Black Raspberry Vanilla Soap by Seed Geeks
BEST SCENT
Customers of Seed Geeks can’t get enough of the delicious scents the company creates with their natural soaps. The handcrafted bars are made with cocoa and shea butter to leave the body and hands feeling soft and moisturized. The cold-pressed bars get their fragrances from high-quality essential oils and skin-safe, phthalate-free scents, including black raspberry vanilla and grapefruit mint. The palm-free soaps are gentle on the skin and have a unique marble appearance.
9. The Yellow Bird Fragrance-Free Soap
FRAGRANCE-FREE
If you have sensitive skin, one of the best things you can do is use soap without fragrances. Often synthetic scents, as well as some essential oils, can dry out or irritate your skin. The Yellow Bird Fragrance-Free Soap uses plant-based materials with only natural fragrances and dyes. The soap is even mild enough for children. As a bonus, the formula includes shea butter to help further keep moisture in your skin, where it belongs.
Read More: Best Soaps For Kids
10. Seven Minerals Pure Castile Soap
MADE WITHOUT PALM OIL
There’s a good reason castile soap has been used to clean bodies as far back as the 11th Century. The natural healing properties work to soothe inflammation and nourish the skin, thereby treating eczema, psoriasis and acne breakouts from oily skin. But we all can use castile soap for so much more than just cleaning our bodies. It also works as a shampoo, dish soap and hand soap. Plus, this Seven Minerals Pure Castile Soap is good for the environment as it contains no palm oil.
11. Southern Natural Goat Milk Soap
GREAT FOR ROSACEA
For decades, sufferers of sensitive skin have been using goat milk soap with fabulous results. This particular version is made using all-natural ingredients, including goat’s milk, olive, coconut and palm oils, and lavender essential oil to provide a cleaning agent that’s gentle on the skin and smells great at the same time. If you have psoriasis, eczema, cracked skin or rosacea, the Southern Natural Lavender Goat Milk Soap Bars might be the soapy answer for you.
12. Puracy Natural Body Wash
BEST NON-BAR OPTION
Not all soap for sensitive skin comes in bar form. Puracy Natural Body Wash is gentle on the skin and doesn’t include any nasty chemicals that can easily be found in other body wash. The formula itself is coconut-based to create a rich, luxurious lather that moisturizes, purifies and balances the surface of your body. It is also available in a citrus and sea salt scent reminiscent of sun-ripened citrus groves and ocean air.
13. Aspen Kay Naturals Organic Turmeric Soap
INCLUDES ANTISEPTIC PROPERTIES
Turmeric is one of nature’s wonder ingredients. In terms of skincare, it boasts remarkable anti-inflammatory properties that work to treat several common skin conditions, from reducing redness to calming eczema. It’s also ideal for battling acne, thanks to its antiseptic action. Get all of these advantages in one natural soap with the Aspen Kay Naturals Organic Turmeric Soap. This 4.5-ounce bar is all-natural and organic.
Read More: Best Antibacterial Hand Soaps