How to Choose the Right Natural Soap for Your Skin
You’d think using a bar of soap would be one of the least controversial parts of being a human. The internet, naturally, has other ideas.
Bar straight on the body? Lather in your hands first? Washcloth? Loofah? Apparently these aren’t just bathroom habits. They’re identities.
So while we’re here to help you choose the right hemp soap, we may as well settle a few other things along the way.
The Great Debate: how are you actually using your bar of soap?
There appear to be several firmly established camps. We’re not sure when the rules were written, but people have thoughts.
Team Bar-to-Body
No middleman. Bar. Skin. Done.
Efficient, uncomplicated and apparently controversial.
Team Lather First
Soap goes into the hands. Lather happens. Then onto the body.
They would like you to know there is a process.
Team Washcloth
A cloth, flannel or shower accessory enters the situation.
This group may currently be judging everyone else.
Team Put It In A Bag
Soap inside a textured pouch. Wet. Lather. Scrub.
More on these people shortly.
Our ruling? You may continue showering however you wish.
Can a bar of soap actually be “dirty”?
In the clip that sent us down this particular rabbit hole , one comment memorably raised the issue of:
An image none of us particularly needed, but here we are.
Yes, microbes can end up on a used bar. But research into shared bar soap has found that bacteria are not readily transferred to hands during normal washing. Soap still does its job: loosening oils, dirt and microbes so they can be rinsed away.
If sharing gives you the ick, have your own bar. Rinse it, let it drain and dry, and household peace can resume.
Clean doesn’t have to mean stripped
One of the best lines from the recent soap debate was that nothing feels quite as clean as an old-school bar of lavender soap.
We know exactly the feeling they mean — that tight, squeaky-clean finish that practically announces “there is not an oil left on me.”
But that is exactly what we don’t chase with our handmade hemp soaps.
Our bars are made to cleanse properly while leaving skin feeling comfortable afterwards. That starts with the balance of oils we use, with hemp seed oil at the heart of the formula.
So why hemp seed oil?
Hemp seed oil has an unusually useful fatty-acid profile for skincare. It is naturally rich in linoleic acid (omega-6) and alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3), with smaller amounts of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA).
Those fatty acids are closely connected to the lipids that help support the skin’s natural barrier, hold onto moisture and keep the outer layers of skin feeling soft and flexible.
We combine hemp seed oil with ingredients such as shea butter, coconut oil and castor oil to balance cleansing, lather, creaminess and skin feel instead of simply trying to make the strongest-cleansing bar possible.
Its naturally rich balance of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids makes it much more than a token “hemp” ingredient. It is one of the reasons hemp seed oil sits at the heart of so many of our skin-focused formulations.
Which soap personality are you?
Once we’ve dealt with technique, germs and the skin barrier, choosing a soap becomes considerably more fun.
Lemongrass
Bright, fresh and citrusy. A good choice if you like your shower to feel a little more wake-up-and-get-moving.
Lavender
The familiar floral option for anyone who already knows exactly which soap they’re going to pick.
Patchouli & Cedarwood
For those who are less “flowers and citrus” and more “forest floor, but make it nice”.
Cinnamon & Sweet Orange
Warm spice paired with citrus for a richer, cosier scent.
Calendula: the gentlest bar in the family
Our Calendula Hemp Soap is different from the scented bars: it contains no essential oils.
That makes it our most sensitive-skin-friendly soap and our first choice for people wanting to keep things simple, including dry, sensitive or eczema-prone skin.
Dried organic calendula flowers give the bar its distinctive natural appearance and a little texture without adding essential-oil fragrance.
It is also the soap we choose for our eczema care bundle, paired with Hemp Healing Balm for rich moisturising care after cleansing.
Why Calendula?
- No essential oils
- Our gentlest handmade soap
- Our first pick for sensitive or easily irritated skin
- The bar we choose for our eczema care bundle
- Paired with Hemp Healing Balm afterwards
As always: every person’s skin is different. If yours is particularly reactive, introduce new products gently.
Your face may want something different
Your face doesn’t necessarily want the same treatment as your elbows. That’s why we make a separate Hemp Facial Cleansing Bar.
It contains a light natural exfoliating component, so how you use it changes the experience.
Bar on face?
Use light pressure if you want the physical exfoliating action.
This is your face, not a saucepan.
Team Lather First wins a round
For less physical exfoliation, work up the lather in your hands first and apply that instead.
Meet The Everything Bar
We chop pieces from our different handmade hemp soaps and bring them together in one bar, creating a little mash-up of colours, textures and scents.
Think greatest-hits album, except it lives in your shower.
Meet The Everything BarTry the Sample Pack
If a mystery mash-up is a step too far, our Mixed Hemp Soap Sample Pack lets you try a selection before committing to a full-size favourite.
The mix can vary depending on what we have available, which is part of the fun.
Try the Sample Pack
The Hemp Soap Saver Pouch enters the debate
If your usual shower tool is a plastic puff or loofah, our reusable hemp and cotton soap pouch is another option.
Pop the bar inside, wet the pouch and use the textured fabric to build lather. It adds some physical texture, keeps little soap remnants useful, and the drawstring means you can hang the whole thing up afterwards.
So yes, the answer to “do I put the soap directly on my body?” can apparently be:
“No. I put my soap in a tiny hemp bag first.”
And whichever team you’re on, here is the one rule we will defend: let the poor soap dry. A bar that can drain between uses will last much better than one permanently marinating in shower water.
Shop Hemp Soap Saver PouchThe Great Debate remains unresolved
We came here hoping to establish once and for all how a human being is supposed to use a bar of soap.
We have failed.
Rub it on. Lather first. Use a cloth. Put it in a hemp pouch. Choose Lemongrass, Lavender, Calendula or the weird mash-up bar.
What we are opinionated about is what goes into the soap: a proper clean, a balanced formulation and plenty of hemp seed oil.
Shop Handmade Hemp Soap
