Is Your Soap Irritating You? How Ives & Bees Offers a Safe Alternative By One Down
We rarely question the soap on our sink. It’s just there—something we’ve picked up from the same shelf, the same store, for years. Maybe it smells good, maybe it foams well, maybe it says “for sensitive skin.”
But when I started learning how soap is made—and what ingredients often show up in commercial body cleansers—I realized how little we actually know about something we use every day.
So I looked deeper. What makes one soap different from another? Why do some bars leave your skin dry and tight, while others feel nourishing and clean? And how can a small Filipina-owned brand like Ives & Bees offer something both gentler and more intentional?
🧪 What’s In Your Soap (And Why It Matters)
According to the FDA, most soaps sold in stores are technically synthetic detergent products, not traditional soap. That means they’re made using surfactants—ingredients that help the product foam and cleanse but are chemically different from soaps made with natural oils and lye.
Some ingredients in detergent-based soaps are commonly used to:
Improve lather
Stabilize shelf life
Add fragrance or adjust pH
These can include things like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, or certain synthetic fragrances. These ingredients are legal and widely used, but for some users—especially those with sensitive skin or conditions like eczema—they may cause irritation or dryness .
It’s not about “toxic” versus “clean.” It’s about understanding what’s in your soap, and how it interacts with your skin.
🌿 What Makes Ives & Bees Different?
Ives & Bees takes a low-intervention approach. Their bars are handmade using the traditional saponification process—a chemical reaction between natural oils (like coconut or olive oil) and lye, resulting in what’s known as “true soap” under FDA guidelines.
No synthetic detergents. No plastic. No unnecessary additives.
Instead, they focus on:
Plant-based oils like coconut, olive, and shea butter
Primarily essential oils, with small amounts of CleanScents-certified fragrance oils in select soaps
(These are free of known/suspected carcinogens, reproductive toxins, and other harmful additives.)
Plastic-free, biodegradable packaging
Small batch production for quality control
This matters not just for sensitive skin, but also for people who want a more transparent, sustainable product.
“We started making soap for ourselves, for our families,” says Ivy, one of the founders. “It had to be something we could trust—especially for our kids.”
🛁 The Labels Can Be Confusing—Here’s Why
The word “soap” gets used loosely in marketing, but it has specific meanings under U.S. law. The FDA defines soap as a product made primarily from the alkali salts of fatty acids (i.e., oils + lye), and one that’s used purely for cleansing.
If a product contains synthetic detergents, or if it’s marketed for moisturizing, deodorizing, or treating conditions like acne, it’s actually regulated as a cosmetic or drug. These aren’t necessarily bad, but they are different—and they follow different rules.
What’s refreshing about Ives & Bees is that they don’t blur the lines. Their bars are exactly what they say they are: simple, real soap.
♻️ Clean Body, Cleaner Planet
Packaging is part of the story too. Most commercial soaps come in plastic wrap or boxes coated in film. Ives & Bees bars arrive bare or minimally wrapped, with biodegradable or compostable materials.
Even their candles are poured into ceramic vessels that can be repurposed—designed in collaboration with a Filipina artist. It’s part of a bigger philosophy: use what you need, honor what you make, and reduce waste at every step.
Final Thoughts
Not all soaps are the same. Some are designed for mass distribution and long shelf life. Others, like Ives & Bees, are built for gentleness, simplicity, and care—for your skin, your home, and your environment.
You don’t need to overhaul your whole routine to be more thoughtful. Sometimes, it starts with something as simple as the bar next to your sink.
📣 Ready to Try?
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🧾 Sources
Medical News Today – Harmful Chemicals in Soap
