High in oleic acid, olive oil helps create a long-lasting soap with gentle cleansing and can help soften skin.

Coconut oil can add cleansing, hardening and skin-loving properties to soap including rich lather and moisturizing effects. It is comprised mainly of saturated fats, like lauric acid, which can help rid skin of bacteria.

Natural palm oil is high in vitamin A and E which can help keep the skin nourished. In soap making it's provides great lathering and hardening properties.

There is a lot of controversy regarding the topic of palm oil. The product I use comes from a supplier that's part of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.

Goat milk is rich in both saturated and unsaturated fats. Saturated fats can increase soap’s lather while unsaturated fats can provide moisturizing and nourishing properties. Naturally it contains nutrients, like lactic acid, which can exfoliate, help skin stay healthy, and maintain a good microbiome.

Lye is a key ingredient in soap making because it reacts with fats and oils to create soap. This process is called saponification and once the reaction is complete there is no lye left in the soap. Without lye and this process, the oils would stay and no soap would be rendered. During the process, lye can be dangerous (Trust me...I've had to make a trip to the Emergency Department!) and if too much lye is used or soap is used too soon it could seem harsh.

Castor oil creates bubbly lather and can help draw moisture to the skin.

Essential oils

These are oils extracted from herbs, flowers and plants that create a natural scent. They are pure and can provide a wide range of benefits; however, one of the downsides is there are fewer options than fragrance oils.

Fragrance oils

While skin-safe and come in desirable scents, like vanilla, they are synthetic. They may or may not contain natural ingredients.

Additives such as activated charcoal, pumice, oats, coffee grounds, lavender buds, sage leaf, wool roving, to name a few.

Natural Colorants

Natural colorants can come from plants and minerals, like lemon peel, pumpkin powder or turmeric.

Mineral pigment

While some are naturally occurring, like titanium dioxide, others are only nature identical meaning they have the chemical structure of materials found in the earth, but have been created in a lab.