Are Natural Soaps Better?

Pesticides. Herbicides. Carcinogens. Toxins. GMOs. PFAs.

It’s a jungle out there.

We wade through a thick swamp of chemicals just by being alive in the modern age, but some of us want a better way.

Consumers wanting to live “clean,” or free of many of these chemicals, are reaching for natural, organic, and sustainable alternatives to their household and personal care supplies. As these consumers gain awareness of healthy, eco-friendly options, they are drawn increasingly to natural soap. The benefits of natural soaps are many, so check out the reasons to go natural below.

Natural Soap is free of harsh chemicals

One of the best reasons to make the switch to natural soap is the chemical-free formula. Most commercial soaps contain harsh synthetic chemicals, artificial fragrances, and irritating ingredients like sulfates. These chemicals dry out the skin, strip it of natural oils, and can even cause inflammation.

Natural soaps, such as pine tar soap, are made with natural ingredients that provide gentle cleansing without the irritating side effects. Ingredients to look out for include sulfates, paraben, formaldehyde, and petroleum-based fragrances. People with sensitive skin should especially avoid these ingredients, as they can cause redness, inflammation, and even trigger eczema, psoriasis, or other skin conditions.

Natural soap nourishes the skin.

Natural soap contains soothing ingredients, such as pine tar, olive oil, or cocoa butter. The natural oils in these ingredients create a protective barrier that locks in moisture on the surface of the skin, keeping it soft and supple. They may also contain beneficial compounds such as vitamins, antioxidants, and fatty acids. These compounds can help prevent aging and promote skin elasticity, keeping you looking younger and healthier.

In contrast, synthetic soaps can often dry out the skin, leaving it more vulnerable to the environment and infection. They can give skin a dull, unhealthy look. Instead of lathering up lotion on ashy skin, try protecting your skin’s natural oils by switching to a gentler soap.

Natural soap is less irritating.

People with sensitive skin can struggle to find soap that won’t irritate their skin and exacerbate their skin inflammation. Natural soaps are a perfect choice for people with sensitive skin, as they lack irritating chemicals that can compromise their skin’s integrity.

Instead, natural ingredients soothe their skin and bring much-needed relief from conditions like psoriasis and eczema. Ingredients like pine tar are well known for their healing properties and have been a natural remedy for skin conditions for centuries. Other natural ingredients like aloe can soothe sun burns and promote healing for small blemishes.

While it’s possible to use big brand soaps and pair them with a steroid cream to manage breakouts, why not skip the medicated ointments and use a soap that keeps your skin healthy to begin with?

Natural soap is sustainable.

Commercial soaps contribute to plastic waste through their production and packaging. Additionally, many of their ingredients are petroleum-based, meaning that each ingredient is sourced from crude oil. That’s the same material used to create gasoline and motor oil (i.e., not something we want to slather all over our bodies).

Meanwhile, bar soaps made with natural ingredients like pine tar can be made entirely from sustainable materials. Packer’s Pine, for example, contributes to a sustainable future by working with organizations such as One Tree Planted, to ensure a forested future for the next generation.

Some natural soaps can even be made with fats that are leftover from dairies, byproducts from chocolate making, or other products that would otherwise go to waste. Not only do these products protect our skin, they protect our environment by ensuring that nothing goes to waste and every ingredient can be sustainably replaced, unlike petroleum.

Natural soaps smell better.

Natural soaps tend to have a more wholesome, authentic aroma than the synthetic fragrances that are common among big brand soaps. Those synthetic soaps come with perplexingly contrived fragrance names like “Cool Sport” or “Chemical Orange.” When Packer’s Pine tells you we smell like “timber,” we mean that it smells like a freshly fallen pine tree, hewn from the forests of the Great White North.

Similarly, other natural soaps with ingredients like coconut milk, cocoa butter, or vanilla have readily identifiable odors that will make your scent recognizable and appealing (instead of recognizable and appalling).

In a world that increasingly alienates us from nature, wouldn’t it be nice to choose a soap that brings us back into balance with our bodies and the earth we inhabit? Natural soaps triumph in their ability to keep our skin and bodies healthy and clean, while maintaining the health and cleanliness of our ecosystems.

Making the switch to natural soap is just one small way you can improve your own life, as well as the world around you. Even better, there’s no need to compromise between great quality and delightful fragrances. Natural soaps clean just as well (if not better) and smell just as dreamy as the ingredients they’re crafted from. Natural soap really is the best of both worlds.