When it comes to daily hygiene habits, many of us are completely on auto pilot. We have developed our routines over time and we go through the same motions every day without giving much conscious thought to what we are doing. We wake up in the morning and immediately jump into our routines. We hop out of bed and brush our teeth, shower, make coffee and get on about our day. Because we’re so used to doing the same thing every day, we can easily get in the habit of using the same products for our daily routines for years without even realizing it! That can be a great thing if we're already using high-quality products, but can be a bit concerning if we have blindly been using low-quality products that may do more harm than good!

This brings us to the question: When is the last time you gave much thought to the soap you’re using? Maybe you’re someone who has used the same soap for years, or maybe you’re someone who loves to peruse the aisles at the grocery store looking for fun new products to try. Either way, taking a moment to learn more about the wide world of soaps could prove to be extremely beneficial and a game changer for your skin!

Looking across the landscape of commercial soaps, there are a plethora of options lining grocery store shelves at any given moment. There are tons of brands with all sorts of pretty packaging and eye-catching names, but if you take a closer look you’ll realize that most of these “soaps” aren’t actually soap at all.

Commercial Soap vs. Natural Soap

As it turns out, many of the commercial soaps available today are actually detergents rather than soaps. These detergent-style “soap” products are mass produced and, as such, cost-effectiveness is the name of the game. The manufacturers do their best to drive down costs and make these "soaps" as inexpensive to produce as possible. In addition, many of the commercial soaps are stripped of their naturally occurring glycerin in the name of increased shelf stability. In place of the natural glycerin, they are stuffed with synthetic foaming agents meant to mimic the natural suds that would be produced by glycerin. Additionally, they are packed with artificially created perfumes and fragrances, as well as more synthetic chemicals and surfactants. While these man-made ingredients do work well at removing dirt, they come at a cost. Detergents are generally harsh and can strip the skin of its good natural oils leaving it dry and irritated. There are also questions surrounding the consequences of regulalry using these synthetic ingredients on the skin. We know that our skin is our largest organ and anything we put on it will get absorbed into the body. I don’t know about you, but we don’t love the idea of putting questionable ingredients on our skin.

In contrast to these detergents and artificial products, natural soap is made with high quality, natural ingredients that you can easily recognize. The ingredients come from sources derived from nature such as plant sources, minerals, and sometimes animal byproducts (honey or milk). The ingredients undergo a process called saponification which converts them into soap. These natural ingredients are not only safe and familiar, but they are also extremely effective. Natural soaps are able to clean your skin incredibly well without stripping it of it’s natural oils or causing irritation.

Why We LOVE Natural Soap

Here at Rinse, we are dedicated to making all natural soaps the old fashioned way, the same way grandma used to (with a few modern improvements like digital scales and refined ingredients!). There are so many incredible benefits of natural soap and we've listed a few of our favorites below!

High Quality Ingredients

Natural soaps are made from high quality ingredients that you can recognize and can feel good about. Ingredients like shea butter, cocoa butter, olive oil, coconut oil, essential oils, and natural color blend together incredibly well to make amazing natural soaps that safely and effectively cleanse skin. These ingredients are naturally moisturizing and leave your skin feeling hydrated!

Free of Chemicals and Harmful Toxins

Just as important as what goes into natural soap is what is left OUT of it. One of the best things about natural soap is that it is free of harsh chemicals and harmful toxins. Natural soaps don’t contain any synthetic preservatives, detergents, or artificial perfumes. It’s important that you can feel good about what you’re putting on your skin and natural soap allows you to do just that! You’ll never have to worry about any negative impacts on you or the environment from harmful toxins.

Gentle Yet Effective Cleansers

Cleaning your skin shouldn’t mean using harsh ingredients that cause irritation and strip it of its naturally occurring oils. Natural soaps have been found to be just as effective as commercial soaps when it comes to washing away dirt and germs. In fact, Janet Woodcock with the FDA has said “Consumers may think antibacterial washes are more effective at preventing the spread of germs, but we have no scientific evidence that they are any better than plain soap and water… In fact, some data suggests that antibacterial ingredients may do more harm than good over the long-term.”

Incredibly Moisturizing

As we mentioned earlier, natural soaps contain many naturally moisturizing ingredients from various plant oils and butters. Some of our favorite ingredients are shea butter, cocoa butter, and coconut oil. These easily recognizable ingredients are unbelievably nourishing to the skin. They infuse the skin with moisture and help your skin retain its good natural oils which helps to further moisturize skin and keep it healthy and glowing!

Full of Glycerin Goodness

The best byproduct of making natural soap has got to be glycerin! It's the key ingredient that gives natural soap its sudsy, bubbly goodness! It helps to wash away dirt and grime without being overly harsh. It also is an amazing humectant that ensures your skin keeps its good oils. It’s non-greasy which means its great for all skin types, including oily skin!

Environmentally Friendly

While the commercial packaging in stores may be shiny and eye catching, it’s also incredibly wasteful. Natural soap allows you to get all the goodness of an effective cleanser without any of the waste that comes from commercially packaged soap products.

Incredible Scents

Instead of using synthetic perfumes and fragrances, natural soaps are made with natural essential oils that not only provide benefits to the skin but they also smell absolutely incredible!

Limitless Varieties

One of the best things about natural soaps is that there are nearly unlimited options! Some natural soaps serve specific purposes, and some are more general purpose. They can also come in different forms, such as soap sticks which allow you to take your favorite soaps with you anywhere!

Most Popular Natural Soaps

We are really big fans of natural soap and have a wide variety of soaps available to choose from! It's hard to say which one is the best natural soap because they all have unique properties, but some of our best sellers are:

Dead Sea Mud Soap

This is our best selling soap and it’s easy to see why! It contains actual Dead Sea mud imported from Israel. This magical mud is known for its many skin-loving properties. It is incredibly purifying and is great at opening pores and pulling out impurities. It works great as a facial soap as well as a body soap. Many people with skin troubles including eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, and acne have found it to be helpful for dealing with these conditions.

Casteel Soap

This all natural soap is the perfect option for anyone who has extremely sensitive skin. Casteel soap is our most gentle soap as it is made of only one ingredient – saponified olive oil. It’s gentle enough for the most sensitive skin types and even is great for little ones. It’s also a fantastic choice for anyone who has a hard time with scented products. It’s loved by dermatologists and those with skin concerns across the spectrum from eczema to psoriasis!

This soap is the perfect luxurious exfoliator! It combines an invigorating blend of eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils and the soap is poured over a loofah for incredible exfoliating power. It’s excellent for the body and feet!

Tea Tree Soap Stick

As if natural soap wasn’t amazing enough, this soap levels up as it comes in the form of a soap stick! This soap is made with all natural tea tree oil and has an earthy, medicinal smell and is perfect for use as a facial or body soap. It’s great for those who deal with acne and blemish prone skin!

 Delightfully Decadent Natural Soaps

While specialty soaps are amazing for tackling tricky skin issues, we’ve also got tons of options that are just plain FUN! They’re a great way to treat yourself, and they make amazing gifts for those you love! We’ve got so many amazing scents that it’s hard to choose just a few to highlight, but we’ll do our best! Some of our favorite fun scents include:

Coco Kissed

This is one of our newest scents and we are OBSESSED! It has a warm beachy vibe with soft vanilla undertones. It's sweet scent is addicting and it's sure to be a new favorite!

Blue Citrus

Another new scent, this citrusy blend contains hints of orange, lemon, and grapefruit! The cheery scent is bright and fresh, and it may even remind you of your favorite volcano candle!

Lavender

When you need a little rest and relaxation, lavender soap is the way to go! Our soap is made with French Lavender Essential Oil and has lavender buds sprinkled on top for a little extra flair! Great for night time baths for you or your little ones!

Calla Lily

If you’re looking for an elegant, lightly floral scent then look no further than our Calla Lily Soap! It features the clean scents of the beautifully elegant Calla Lily. It’s pure luxury for the skin and the senses!

When is the last time you took a look at the ingredients list for the skincare products you use on a daily basis? That moisturizer you slather on every morning? The soap you use? Your favorite face mask? You might be surprised to find that many of the most commonly available products that are absolute staples of store shelves include long lists of chemical ingredients with questionable reputations! When you consider that the skin is the largest organ of the human body, and that anything we put on our skin gets absorbed, it can make you take pause and think twice about what you choose to put on your skin.   

Many of the chemically-laden products have harmful side effects – both immediate and potential long-term side effects. They have been known to irritate skin, cause dryness, redness, and generally be overly harsh on the skin. In addition, the questions surrounding the internal effects of absorbing chemically toxic products can send a shiver down your spine! It’s no wonder than many people are seeking out clean, natural, and safe alternatives.

We all know the beauty industry is complicated enough as it is, and the idea of transitioning to a natural skincare routine can be overwhelming, but it’s a lot easier than you might think! We recommend starting small to build new habits and then expanding from there. And the best place we can think of to start your transition is by swapping out your facial care products! The skin on your face is some of the most delicate skin of your entire body, and it deserves extra special care!

We’ve rounded up some of our top tips for going natural with your facial skin care. You’re way too pretty to take chances with your skin! Keep on reading for some of our favorite tips and products that can help you successfully transition to a more natural and safe skin care routine.

TIP #1: Slather on the Natural Sunscreen

If we could give you just ONE tip to protect your pretty face it would be WEAR SPF EVERY DAY. NO. MATTER. WHAT. We are super passionate about this because it’s such a simple thing that can make a massive difference in protecting your skin! We all know SPF protects skin from harmful UV rays, it lowers your skin cancer risk, and it helps to prevent premature aging! It’s seriously the MVP of the morning routine! We are huge fans of natural sunscreens that don’t contain a bunch of harsh chemicals. Check out our Organic SPF 30 Sunscreen for an excellent safe and effective option!

TIP #2: Say Goodbye to Dirt & Grime with Natural Cleansers

Okay, now that we’ve covered that important point, let’s move to one of the most basic but important products we need for our facial skin: cleansers! As you already know, the skin on the face is typically more sensitive than skin elsewhere on the body which means it’s important that we use a cleanser that is both gentle and effective. We never recommend using your shampoo, body wash, or a commercial grade soap on your face! We hate to break it to you, but most of the commercial “soaps” in the soap aisle aren’t actually soap at all. Most of them are labeled as “beauty bars” or “detergents”. These products are known for stripping the skin not only of dirt, but also of the natural and beneficial oils that we actually need!

Instead of reaching for the commercial stuff, look for products that are more natural. One of the key features of a good natural soap is one that contains “glycerin” which is a humectant that attracts moisture from the air to your skin. A well formulated natural bar of soap is going to cleanse the top layer of dirt, and simultaneously leave your skins naturally occurring oils.

Two of our favorite facial soaps are Dead Sea Mud Soap and Casteel Soap. Both are natural, glycerin-containing soaps that are excellent for using on your delicate facial skin!

Our Dead Sea Mud Soap is made from 100% naturally derived ingredients including mud straight out of the Dead Sea in Israel! This soap is a game changer for anyone with tricky skin issues. The minerals from the Dead Sea mud are incredibly purifying and help to give the skin a deep cleaning without being harsh. This soap is our best-selling soap and is known to be a great option for anyone with eczema, psoriasis, or rosacea. Check out our Dead Sea Mud blog for all the details about the incredible benefits of Dead Sea mud!

Another fantastic facial soap is Casteel Soap. This is one of the most gentle cleansers you could use. In fact, it’s made simply of saponified olive oil. It’s perfect for the most sensitive of skin types. It cleans well, but won’t cause any irritation!

TIP #3: Mask Up to Reveal Your Best Skin Ever!

Now that we’ve covered how to naturally clean your skin, let’s talk about how to naturally treat your skin to a little TLC! One of the best ways to do that is to mask up! No, not that kind of mask 😉

Using a natural face mask is an excellent way to treat your skin and see some incredible benefits as a result! We all have different skin types which means we have different concerns and needs when it comes to a face mask. Luckily, Rinse has something for everyone! Our DIY masks give you the ability to customize them specifically for your skin type! Dry skin? Mix them with something rich and creamy like honey or olive oil. Normal or combination skin? Mix with water or milk. Oily skin? Try mixing with tomato juice, witch hazel, or any slightly acidic fruit.

Check out our facial mask lineup to find something perfect for your skin!

• Oatbrasion Mask: This DIY mask is made with powdered pumice, colloidal oatmeal, and powdered honey. Each carefully chosen ingredient plays a critical role in this mask! The powdered pumice makes for a super fine physical exfoliant, while the colloidal oatmeal works for sooth the skin and reduce redness. The powdered honey provides the skin with natural hydration so that you are left with some of the softest, freshest skin you’ve ever experienced!

• Café Mocha Mask: This DIY mask is like an espresso for your face! It’s made with antioxidant and slightly caffeinated ingredients such as cocoa powder and coffee which both work to exfoliate your skin and wake it up! It also features powdered honey for some added hydrating effects.

• Charclay Mask: Enjoy the benefits of the perfect blend of Activated Charcoal and Bentonite Clay that work together beautifully to freshen and soften your skin, all while purifying it leaving it squeaky clean and refreshed!

• Yogurt Mask: This unique mask features enzymes that help to clear away impurities all while leaving you with skin that is soft and nourished! It’s made with powdered yogurt to moisturize the skin, as well as kaolin clay to smooth the skin. In addition it features powdered honey which gives it an extra moisturizing boost as well as antimicrobial properties!

• Dead Sea Mud: We’ve already mentioned the phenomenal benefits of Dead Sea mud in soap form, but it’s also amazing as a face mask! It’s purifying, nourishing, cleansing, and soothing! Perfect for all skin types, it’s a dream come true!

TIP # 4: Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize!

Our last tip is to find a natural moisturizer for your face! There are an endless number of moisturizers on the market and trying to find the “right one” for you can feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack. While the beauty industry does it’s best to over complicate it, we actually think moisturizing your skin can and should be quite simple. Using a high quality natural soap that won’t strip the skin in combination with using a facial mask that helps to hydrate the skin can go a long way towards keeping your face moisturized.

When it comes to using a daily moisturizer, we’re huge fans of Squalane Oil. It’s a light, scentless, and quickly absorbing non-comedogenic oil that is loved for it’s ability to promote cell elasticity, cell regeneration, and even help to fight fine lines and wrinkles! It helps to keep skin clear and healthy thanks to it’s antioxidant properties, and it’s gentle and safe for all skin types! Squalane is quickly gaining in popularity thanks to it’s many benefits! Check out our blog on Squalane Oil to learn even more!