5 Things You Don’t Need in Your Soap | The Soap Standard

Product packaging often says more about a brand’s marketing than what’s actually inside the bar. Understanding what doesn’t belong in soap helps you make better choices for your skin, your wallet, and the environment.

Here are five common — and often controversial — ingredients we believe are unnecessary in soap.

---

 

1. Plastic in Soap: Unnecessary by Design

Plastic packaging adds waste without adding value. Soap doesn’t need plastic to function, yet it remains widely used, fuelling pollution and overconsumption.

Most plastic, whether marketed as single-use or reusable, is derived from non-renewable petrochemicals and can persist in the environment for hundreds of years as microplastics. These particles contaminate soil, waterways, air, and wildlife, creating long-term ecological harm (Chen et al., 2021; Ziff, 2022).

Plastic also encourages unnecessary consumption, particularly in liquid soap, which are mostly water and requires more packaging, transport, and energy to deliver (Coren, 2023).

Better alternatives

• Choose naked soap bars wherever possible
• Opt for bars packaged in recyclable or compostable materials like paper or cardboard
• Avoid liquid soaps that rely on plastic bottles and excess packaging

Soap can be simple. Packaging should be too.

2. Greenwashing in Soap: Marketing Over Function

Greenwashing misleads consumers into thinking a product or brand is more ethical or sustainable than it really is. Soap only needs to cleanse - it doesn’t need buzzwords or exaggerated claims to be effective.

Vague marketing terms like “natural,” “green,” “eco-friendly,” “detox,” or “clean beauty” often lack definition or evidence, making it harder to make informed choices (Khandelwal, Sharma, & Vinamra, 2019).

Greenwashing undermines genuine sustainability efforts, erodes trust, and allows environmentally harmful practices to continue without accountability.

When it comes to soap, function matters more than marketing. Honest ingredients and transparent sourcing speak louder than labels.

Learn more about our functional soap bars.

 3. Fragrance in Soap: No Added Benefit

Fragrance - whether synthetic or derived from essential oils - is unnecessary in soap. As a rinse-off product, soap only stays on the skin briefly, so fragrance adds no functional benefit.

The fragrance industry is also highly resource-intensive and lacks transparency. Ingredients are often grouped under umbrella terms like “parfum,” making it difficult to assess safety, sourcing, or environmental impact. This opacity limits informed consumer choice.

From a skin perspective, fragrance is one of the most common contributors to irritation and allergic reactions, particularly for people with sensitive or compromised skin (Jindal & Pandhi, 2020; Steinemann, 2016).

Functional soap doesn’t rely on scent. It relies on thoughtful formulation and ingredients that serve a clear purpose.

If you prefer a simpler option, explore our fragrance-free True Coconut Soap Bar for a gentle, effective clean.

Image description: True Coconut Soap Bar on a coconut fibre scrub pad.

 4. Mica (Glitter) in Soap: Ethical and Environmental Costs

Mica is added purely for visual effect and has no functional purpose. In rinse-off products, it’s washed straight down the drain.

The mica industry is linked to unethical mining practices, including child labour and modern slavery, making supply chains difficult to verify.

Even synthetic “biodegradable” mica can contribute to microplastic pollution in aquatic environments (Green et al., 2021; Webb, 2023).

Soap shouldn’t come at the cost of people or the planet. Functional formulations work just as well — without the glitter.

5. Palm Oil in Soap: A Controversial Choice

Palm oil is widely used because it’s cheap, not essential. Many alternative plant oils can create gentle, effective soap without the environmental and ethical impacts.

Palm oil production drives deforestation, habitat loss, and climate change. It also has ongoing associations with labour exploitation and inethical supply chains. Even RSPO-certified palm oil can lack full transparency and traceability (Coca, 2021).

For a product as simple as soap, these trade-offs aren’t necessary. Palm oil-free formulations offer a more responsible alternative.

Explore our palm oil-free, handmade soap bars.

Why Choosing Clean, Simple Soap Matters

Fewer ingredients often mean:

• Gentler care for sensitive skin
• Lower environmental impact
• Transparency in sourcing and ethical production
  
  

At The Soap Standard, our handmade, functional soap bars contain only 3–4 essential ingredients, are fragrance-free, slow-cured, and packaged sustainably. Learn more about our approach on our About page.

---

References

• Chen et al. (2021). Single-use plastics: Production, usage, disposal, and adverse impacts. Science of The Total Environment. Link
• Coca, N. (2021). The everyday ingredient that harms the climate. BBC Future. Link
• Coren, M. J. (2023). Shampoos and soaps are mostly water. Here’s why you should buy them without it. Washington Post. Link
• Green et al. (2021). All that glitters is litter? Ecological impacts of conventional versus biodegradable glitter in a freshwater habitat. Journal of Hazardous Materials. Link
• Jindal, R., & Pandhi, D. (2020) Hand Hygiene Practices and Risk and Prevention of Hand Eczema during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Indian Dermatology Online Journal. Link
  
• Khandelwal, M., Sharma, A., & Vinamra, J. (2019). GREENWASHING: A Study on the Effects of Greenwashing on Consumer Perception and Trust Build-Up. Research Review International Journal of Multidisciplinary. Link
• Steinemann, A. (2016). Health and societal effects from exposure to fragranced consumer products. PMC. Link
• Webb, H. (2023). The Problem With Mica. Ethical Consumer. Link
• Ziff, A. (2022). The Ugly Side of Beauty: The Cosmetics Industry’s Plastic Packaging Problem. Plastic Pollution Coalition. Link