How to Read Our Aroma, Texture & Lather Natural Soap Notes
Soap is a sensory experience — and sensory experiences are highly subjective.
What feels silky or creamy to one person may feel rich or dense to another. A texture that one person finds gently refreshing may feel too rough to someone else.
Aroma, texture, and lather are influenced by individual preference, skin sensitivity, water type, and how the soap is used.
That’s why we describe our soaps carefully and thoughtfully — not to make promises, but to help you choose a bar that feels right for you.
This guide is here if you want more detail — you don’t need to read every section to enjoy our soaps.
Texture & Exfoliation
Soap Texture vs. Exfoliation: What’s the Difference?
Although often used interchangeably, texture and exfoliation are not the same thing.
Texture describes the overall feel of a soap — whether smooth, creamy, lightly textured, or more noticeably gritty — when the bar is dry, wet, or lathered. Texture is created by ingredients added to the soap, such as oat flour, clays, herbs, or botanicals.
Exfoliation describes the function of that texture — the physical action of particles gently scrubbing away dead skin cells to leave skin feeling smoother or brighter.
In other words:
- Texture is the “how” (what the soap feels like)
- Exfoliation is the result (what that texture does on skin)
A soap can have texture without being exfoliating, and not all textured soaps actively exfoliate.
Likewise, exfoliation can feel very different depending on how much lather is present and how the soap is applied.
When Soap Texture Does Not Mean Exfoliation
Some soaps are intentionally formulated with ingredients that add texture to the bar without creating exfoliation during use.
A good example is our Milk & Honey Baby Soap made with oat flour. When the bar is dry, there will be a bumpy texture to the touch due to the fine oat particles suspended within the soap.
This can be surprising at first, especially for a soap designed for delicate skin.
Once water is added, those tiny oat particles absorb moisture and soften, melting into the lather rather than remaining abrasive. During use, the soap feels smooth and creamy on skin, providing a gentle, comforting cleanse without exfoliation.
This kind of texture is visual and tactile when dry, but non-exfoliating in use.
Exfoliation in Soap: It's Personal
The “right” amount of exfoliation is highly individual.
Some people can feel even the lightest touch of a small herb or soft flower and find it too scratchy. Others happily reach for our Loofah Pumice Scrubby Foot Soap for full-body use — and love every invigorating second of it.
Neither is wrong.
Skin sensitivity, personal preference, and even mood all play a role in how exfoliation feels. What one person experiences as a gentle polish may feel too much for another.
That’s why we clearly note whether a soap is non-exfoliating, gently exfoliating, or more scrubby — so you can choose the experience that feels best for you.
How Exfoliation Works in Soap
Not all soaps that contain herbs, flowers, or other natural additions are exfoliating — and not all exfoliating soaps feel the same.
While dried herbs, flowers, or other botanicals can add texture that may contribute to exfoliation, the exfoliating effect depends entirely on several factors, including the size, hardness, concentration, and distribution of those ingredients, as well as how the soap itself is formulated and used.
Some soaps contain visible botanicals yet provide little to no exfoliation during use.
Exfoliation occurs when the soap bar is applied directly to the skin, allowing the textured ingredients to make gentle contact. If you use a bath puff or sponge, those exfoliating bits never really touch your skin — they get caught up in the lather instead.
The Role of Lather
A soap’s lather plays an important role in determining how exfoliation feels in the skin.
A rich, stable lather creates a slippery cushion between the soap and the skin. This protective “buffer” reduces friction when the soap bar is applied directly to the skin, allowing exfoliating particles to glide more gently across the skin's surface rather than scraping it. The result can be a noticeably softer exfoliating experience — even when textured ingredients are present.
How We Describe Exfoliation Intensity
There’s no universal standard for classifying exfoliation levels in soap.
On our soap pages, we describe exfoliation based on both the ingredients used and how the soap behaves during use. Again, this is very subjective.
- Non-exfoliating
- Gentle: Fine, gentle particles that offer a light polish without scratching the skin’s surface.
- Mild: A bit more texture than gentle, but not very scrubby
- Moderate: More noticeable texture that provides a definite scrubbing sensation.
- Strong/Scrubby: Harder, more abrasive ingredients designed for very dry or thick skin, such as heels or elbows. These soaps are not intended for daily use or sensitive areas like the face.
Exfoliation preferences vary widely. Ingredients such as oats, coffee grounds, herbs, botanicals, or salt each create a different feel and level of abrasion — and how your skin responds matters most.
The best approach is to pay attention to how your skin feels after use. If you notice irritation, redness, or dryness, a gentler option may be a better fit.
If a bar ever feels too scratchy when applied directly to skin, try lathering it in your hands, a washcloth, or a bath puff instead. This creates a rich, smooth lather and a much gentler cleansing experience while still enjoying the soap.
Aroma & Lather In Natural Soap Are Subjective, Too
Just like texture and exfoliation, aroma and lather are highly personal experiences. What smells light and comforting to one person may feel quite the opposite to another. The same is true for lather — some people love big, fluffy bubbles, while others prefer a dense, creamy foam.
Our goal is to describe what you can expect, while recognizing that individual perception will always vary.
A Note About Aroma
Soaps made with essential oils will naturally carry a scent from those oils.
For soaps without added essential oils, we try to avoid using the word unscented. That’s because natural ingredients — oils, butters, botanicals, and milks — add their own inherent aromas.
For example, a cocoa butter soap may contain no added scent, yet still carry the warm, familiar aroma of cocoa butter itself. An oat or goat milk soap may smell softly of grains or milk. These scents are typically subtle, but they’re part of the natural character of the soap.
When we describe aroma, we’re referring to the scent created by the ingredients themselves — not added fragrance.
Understanding Lather: Why Soaps Feel Different
Lather is also subjective, but it’s not accidental. Different oils create different types of lather because of their fatty acid profiles:
- Coconut oil, rich in lauric acid, contributes to big, fluffy bubbles and strong cleansing
- Olive oil, high in oleic acid, creates a creamy, lotion-like lather that feels gentle and conditioning
- Castor oil, rich in ricinoleic acid, adds stable, dense bubbles and helps support overall lather quality
Most well-formulated soaps — including ours — blend multiple oils to create a balanced bar with satisfying lather, gentle cleansing, and a comfortable skin feel.
When we describe lather as creamy, bubbly, dense, or light, we’re describing how the soap typically behaves during use — knowing that water type, technique, and personal preference all play a role.
A Note About Soap Puffs, Lather & Skin Feel
If you love a lot of lather, soap puffs and bath sponges can be great. They whip soap, water, and air together quickly, creating big, fluffy clouds of bubbles that many people really enjoy.
When we describe lather and lather feel, we’re referring to the experience of using a wet soap bar on wet skin — either by rubbing the bar directly on the skin or by lathering it in your hands first. This lets you experience the character of the soap itself: how the lather forms, how it moves across the skin, and the way your skin feels once you’re finished.
Using a puff creates a completely different experience. While it excels at producing lots of foamy lather, the soap spends less time in direct contact with the skin.
When a natural soap bar is applied directly to the skin, more of the soap’s naturally occurring glycerin and superfatted oils have the opportunity to remain on the skin’s surface during cleansing. This leaves skin feeling comfortable, balanced, and clean — the kind of "feel" that people expect and a good natural soap is known for.
Neither approach is right or wrong — it simply comes down to what you enjoy most.
How to Use These Soap Notes
Because you can’t touch, smell, or lather a soap online, we include Aroma, Texture & Lather Notes to help bridge that gap.
These notes are meant to guide, not guarantee. They reflect the natural materials we use and the way our soaps are designed to behave — while leaving room for personal experience.
