What’s in Your Sun Basin Bar Soap?

Breaking Down the Oils, Butters, and Everything Else in Sun Basin Soaps | By Caitlin Hofmeister 

When my daughter was born, I did what I think many new mothers do: I got really intense about what types of materials and chemicals came in contact with her newborn baby skin. It’s so soft! It’s so prone to rashes! Nothing but silk and angel kisses should touch baby skin! 

And, while the hyper vigilance of new parenthood is frequently terrible, I discovered that I really love geeking out about the ingredients in cleaning supplies and self-care products. So whether you’re on a mission to protect newborn baby skin or just want to be able to pronounce all the chemicals you let into your house, please allow me to share some of what I’ve learned. In this post, I’ll focus on soap.

What the heck is saponification? 

This is a fancy (Latin) way to say “soap making.” You’ll see this word alongside an oil, like “Saponified oils of sunflower and coconut.” Saponification is the chemical reaction between a fat, like sunflower or coconut oil, and a strong base (as in basic, opposite of acidic), like lye. When the two react, the base breaks the bonds between the fatty acids and glycerol. The fatty acids in the oils and the lye react to become soap, and the glycerol byproduct is a humectant (another fancy Latin word for you), which is a fancy way of saying it’s a natural moisturizer. Some soapmakers remove the glycerol, but many leave it in for the moisturizing benefits.

What do the different types of oils do? 

Soap is made with a fat (like an oil) and a base (like lye). But there are different types of oils. Which are good for soapmaking and what do they do to skin? Sun Basin Soaps are made of sunflower, coconut, and sustainable palm oil, and each one brings something different to the bar.  

• Sunflower Oil is a popular soapmaking ingredient because it’s lighter and more shelf stable than olive oil, and the environmental impact of sunflowers is lower than oils like olive oil. It’s rich in vitamin E and linoleic acid (an Omega-6 fatty acid), making it nourishing for skin. 

• Coconut Oil is another popular soap and lotion ingredient because it’s naturally moisturizing and gentle on all types of skin. Because it’s solid at room temperature, coconut oil contributes to bar soap being a bar.

• Sustainable Palm Oil is what gives soap its lathering abilities. A quick aside about sustainable palm oil: The RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) is a global non-profit organization that works with members through every step of the supply chain to ensure their palm oil complies with strict rules that protect the environment, people, and wildlife of palm producing countries.
  

And what about essential oils? Are they basically just vibes? 

I took a class on making your own cleaning supplies once (I said I’m a nerd!). I asked the teacher what an essential oil was and it sounded like she was describing how a specific type of magic works in a fantasy novel. I’ve since looked into it more and it’s not just vibes, but it is kind of hard to describe. It’s a bit similar to an extract in that it’s a liquid pulled from a plant during a process involving a solvent. There are different methods but one way to think about it is that it’s a liquified plant that’s been super distilled so all that’s left is the “essence.” It’s hard to study if essential oils provide specific benefits but many are thought to. But for the purposes of soapmaking, it seems to mainly be about adding natural fragrance.

So that’s oils, but what about butters? 

Now that my daughter is older, we get to do projects together, and one of our favorites this time of year is to make lotion bars and lip balm for holiday gifts. The main ingredients in the lotion bars are shea butter and cocoa butter, the same butters in Sun Basin Soaps. When we first started making the bars, I thought the main difference was that one smelled like chocolate and the other didn’t. But there’s actually more to it than that!

• Cocoa Butter, like chocolate, comes from the cocoa bean, so it smells delicious. It’s also hard at room temperature but softens easily in your hand, making it great for soaps. It provides a protective barrier, preventing skin from losing moisture.

• Shea Butter is extracted from the nuts of the Shea tree, and contains vitamins A and E. It helps to repair already damaged skin by acting as an emollient (a fancy way of saying “softening and smoothing”).

And what about extracts? Are they just booze? 

Not exactly. The vanilla extract brewing in my basement is predominantly vodka, but extracts can also be made with glycerin. The alcohol or glycerin pulls (or “extracts”) some of the properties of the plant out into the liquid, so it can then be added to other things, like soap! Similar to essential oils, they add scent and ideally lend some of the properties of the plant to the soap. For instance, rosemary extract smells delicious and has antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. 

Finally, what about the extras? All that dirt and honey? 

When I was a kid, my sister and I loved this tea my mom used to get that we called “Dirt and Honey.” The makers of that tea probably would have hated us, but we meant it as the highest compliment. It tasted like honey, how it tastes like every flower within a 20-mile radius. I feel like Botanie (the soapmakers behind Sun Basin) would get it. They’ve literally mixed earth and flowers to several of the Sun Basin Soaps! But what do those ingredients add? Let’s look at a few.

Calendula petals in a bar of Daydreamer - Cinnamon Citrus and wheatgrass in a bar of Snowmelt - Fresh Peppermint are both gentle and nourishing on sensitive skin and dry skin. While pink clay in the Daydreamer - Cinnamon Citrus and charcoal in Enigma - unscented and Heartwood - Charcoal Tea Tree detoxify by absorbing dirt and oil from pores. And then some ingredients are added to gently scrub the skin, like the ground coffee in a bar of Forager - Spiced Pinyon of the pumice in Navigator - Eucalyptus Mint. 

Lastly, there are no artificial dyes in Sun Basin Soaps, but there is some coloring provided by ingredients like the brick red oxide in Garden Party - Spiced Citrus and the Bremek powder, which comes from a medicinal plant and gives Navigator - Eucalyptus Mint its otherworldly purple color. 

I mentioned that I’m a nerd and I love reading about this stuff. But I would LOVE to interview a soap scientist from the Sun Basin team someday. If that’s something you’re interested in, please let me know!