Natural vs. Organic

"Is your soap natural or organic?" I hear that question a lot, and it's a good one, because those two words get used on soap labels in ways that don't always mean what you'd expect. I'm a chemist by training (Good Earth began as an organic chemistry project in a tiny college kitchen back in 1999), so let me walk you through what's actually in a bar of soap and what to look for.

First, Is It Even Soap?

Here's something that surprises people: many of the bars on store shelves aren't technically soap at all. They're synthetic detergent bars. That's why you'll often see them called a "beauty bar" or a "cleansing bar" instead of soap.

Real soap is made by a simple chemical reaction. Oils and butters meet lye, and together they transform into soap and glycerin. By the time a bar is cured, there's no lye left. It's all been turned into soap. That reaction has been used for thousands of years, and it's still the heart of every bar we make.

Natural vs. Organic: What's the Difference?

"Natural" is about what a soap leaves out. There's no official definition for it on a soap label, so it's worth reading the ingredients. To me, natural means plant oils and butters, real essential oils and botanicals, and nothing synthetic you don't need.

"Organic" is about how the ingredients were grown. Organic oils come from crops grown without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. We use organic ingredients whenever we can. Our bars are made with organic sunflower oil, organic coconut oil and non-GMO organic soybean oil.

So a soap can be natural without being organic, and the best bars, in my opinion, are both.

8 Things I Want You to Know About a Handmade Bar

1. It's made in small batches, by hand

Every bar of soap that leaves Good Earth was made by one of us, here in Green Bay, Wisconsin. From weighing the ingredients to cutting and labeling every bar, we do it all ourselves. You can read our whole story on our Our Story page.

2. The oils are organic where we can make them organic

Organic sunflower oil, organic coconut oil and non-GMO organic soybean oil are the backbone of our bars. You can see what goes into everything we make on our ingredients page.

3. There's no palm oil

Every one of our soap bars is palm free. It's one of the choices we made for the planet, and we've never looked back.

4. The scents come from plants

Our soaps are made without synthetic dyes, and most are scented purely with essential oils. The lavender in our Lavender Soap is Bulgarian lavender, with real lavender buds in the bar. The earthy blend in our Lemongrass Lavender Soap, our all time best seller, is lemongrass and lavender essential oils and nothing else.

5. Color and texture come from the earth, too

When one of our bars has a color or a texture, it comes from something real. Our Cedar Rose Soap gets its color from rose kaolin clay. Sweet Basil Vanilla Soap has glacial marine clay. Tea Tree Oatmeal Soap gets its gentle scrub from real oatmeal.

6. It keeps its glycerin

Remember that reaction? It makes glycerin right alongside the soap. In a handmade bar, that glycerin stays in the bar, and glycerin is a humectant, which means it draws moisture to your skin. It's a big part of why a good handmade bar feels so different from a detergent bar.

7. There are no animal products, and no animal testing

Our soap bars contain no animal products, and we are 100% cruelty free. We never test on animals.

8. It's kinder to the planet, start to finish

Our bars are biodegradable. Many are available unlabeled as a zero waste option. Your order ships with zero plastic: paper tape, a recyclable box and packing peanuts that dissolve in your kitchen sink. Every year we also give back through organizations like 1% for the Planet and One Tree Planted. More on that on our sustainability page.

How to Choose the Right Natural Soap for Your Skin

• For sensitive skin: Lavender Patchouli Soap was handcrafted especially for sensitive skin, with Bulgarian lavender and East Indian patchouli.
• For your face: Rosemary Mint Soap is formulated to be extremely conditioning, which makes it an excellent facial bar.
• For a gentle scrub: Tea Tree Oatmeal Soap, with oatmeal and tea tree, spearmint and rosemary essential oils.
• For a warm, woody scent: Sandalwood Soap or Frankincense & Myrrh Soap.
• For tough jobs: our Kitchen Kleen Soap is a gritty, chunky bar that removes garlic, onion and gas odors from your hands. Gardeners and mechanics love it.
• To try a few without the frills: our Imperfect Bars are the same soap with a missing swirl or a not-quite-square corner, unlabeled, and every bit as good.

You'll find every bar in our handmade organic soap collection.

What to Look For on Any Soap Label

1. Does it say "soap"? If it says beauty bar, cleansing bar or body bar instead, it may be a detergent.
2. Can you read the ingredients? Oils, butters, essential oils, clays and botanicals are good signs.
3. Is the scent "fragrance" or essential oils? "Fragrance" can stand for a long list of ingredients you can't see.
4. Does it list organic ingredients? Organic oils will usually be named as organic.
5. Is there palm oil? If it matters to you, look for it on the label.

Simplicity combined with quality is what we're all about. Less is more when it comes to what we put on our bodies. If you have a question about any of our bars, please send me a note. I'd love to help you find your favorite.

XO Tracy