Natural Organic Ingredients For Making Body Soap

Natural and organic ingredients exist for all elements of soapmaking. Read labels to ensure you're buying body soap ingredients derived from organically-raised and processed plants and animals. Soapmakers who opt to start with grated or "melt and pour" soap won't need to purchase the basic oils and fats used in "from scratch" soapmaking. Add natural scents, colors and other additives after melting your store-bought base soap. If you're starting from scratch, add the ingredients after reaching saponification--the solidifying stage--of your homemade soap.

Basic Oils and Fats

From-scratch, or cold process, soapmakers often use at least a quart or a pound of fats and oils for the pre-saponification stage. Choices for natural vegetable oils include almond oil, for a hard bar and moisturizing; coconut oil, which produces a hard bar but may be too drying if used alone; and sunflower oil, a nutrient-rich ingredient that usually requires another oil to prevent an overly-soft soap. Solid fats include lard and beef tallow, both animal products; for a truly organic soap, make sure the fats come from animals fed with pesticide and hormone-free food and processed without by-products. Olive oil is packed with vitamins and results in a mild, creamy soap, but don't buy pomace-grade olive oil, which is a non-organic variety. Also avoid shortening or the liquid oils usually made from non-organic plants, warns Northwestern Health Sciences University, or NHSU. These oils include cottonseed, grapeseed, castor and peanut oils.

Natural Fragrance

Use organic essential oils rather than synthetic fragrance oils. Essential oils are distilled from the leaves, bark, seeds and roots of plants and add fragrance or therapeutic benefits--often both--to soaps. For those who may be allergic to essential oil or seek a less expensive alternative, consider infusing the base oils or water with an herb or flower during the pre-saponification process. The fragrance, however, won't be as intense or lasting as the scent delivered by essential oils.

Liquid Additives

Some natural products add value to soap in the final stage of soapmaking, but aren't used in large quantities. They include aloe vera gel, for healing and moisturizing; carrot root oil, rich in Vitamins A and C and useful for chapped skin; cocoa butter, an emollient; evening primrose oil, useful for irritated or damaged skin; grapefruit seed extract, a natural preservative; jojoba oil, for moisturizing; rosehip seed oil, a preservative and anti-inflammatory liquid rich in fatty acids; honey, a natural moisturizer; Vitamin E oil, a preservative and nutrient and wheatgerm oil, a moisturizer especially useful for sensitive skin. Organic goat's milk may replace some are all of the water in any state of a soapmaking recipe.

Dry Additives

Powdered herbs or flower petals add scent and color while extending the theme used the essential oils. Finely chopped hazelnuts and almonds exfoliate the skin. Use cornmeal to exfoliate oily skin or oatmeal to gently buff dry or irritated skin. Powdered loofah or pumice represent other excellent, all-natural exfoliant choices. Organic powdered cow or goat's milk results in rich, creamy soap. French clay, Kaolin clay and Fuller's earth draw toxins from normal to oily skin. Moisturizing beeswax adds a honey scent to soaps. Borax lends extra disinfecting properties, while blending in finely-ground coffee beans results in soap useful for removing unpleasant odors from the skin.

Natural Coloring

To avoid artificial coloring products, soapmaker Melinda Coss recommends cayenne pepper for a salmon pink color, curry and paprika for peach, turmeric for gold, cinnamon for beige, chocolate for brown and liquid chlorophyll for green. NHSU further lists beets, blueberries, red cabbage and spinach, carrot and tomato powders as safe, organic coloring choices. The university warns that manufacturers produce powdered minerals and oxides at high temperatures, rendering these colorants potentially toxic.