Lemongrass & Sage Soap: The Only SoftWell Bar With No Shea Butter

Lemongrass & Sage Soap — $14.99, 4 oz. There is one genuinely useful fact about this bar, and almost nobody would spot it without comparing labels side by side.

It is the only bar in the range without shea butter

Compare the bases:

Bar	Saponified oils
Most SoftWell bars	Olive, Palm, Coconut, Shea Butter
Lemongrass & Sage	Palm, Coconut, Sunflower, Olive

Shea butter is swapped for organic sunflower oil. Shea is a tree nut product, and while reactions are uncommon, people who avoid shea — whether for allergy or because it does not agree with their skin — normally have to skip handmade soap entirely. This is the bar for them.

That is not something we engineered; it is just what the label says. But it is the most useful thing on this page, so it goes first.

The full ingredient list

Saponified Oils (Organic Palm Oil, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil), Lemongrass Essential Oil, Sage Essential Oil.

Six ingredients. No "Fragrance" as an undisclosed blend, no colourant, no additives — both scent sources are named essential oils. Alongside Calming Lavender, it is one of the shortest and most fully disclosed ingredient lists we carry.

What sunflower oil does differently

Sunflower oil is a lighter oil than shea butter. In practice, a sunflower-based bar tends to feel slightly less rich and rinse a little cleaner than a shea-heavy one. Neither is better — it is preference. If you find shea-based bars leave a film you do not love, this is worth trying for that reason alone.

The scent

Lemongrass and sage: bright and herbal rather than sweet or floral. Lemongrass is the louder of the two and does most of the work; sage sits underneath it and keeps it from reading as straightforwardly citrus.

It is a daytime scent. If you want something warmer, Rich Sandalwood is the opposite end of the range.

Worth knowing

• Lemongrass essential oil is a recognised contact sensitiser for some people. If you know you react to it, this bar contains a named amount of it rather than a hidden one — which is at least easy to check.
• This is not fragrance-free. Two essential oils are still fragrance. If you need genuinely unscented, no bar in this range qualifies.
• It still contains palm and coconut oil, so it is not a shea-free bar in the sense of being free of all tree-derived oils — only shea specifically.

Care

Add warm water, work into a lather, cleanse wet skin, rinse thoroughly, and keep the bar dry between uses. A draining dish is the single thing that most extends the life of a cold-process bar. For external use only; avoid the eyes; discontinue use if irritation occurs.

See all SoftWell soaps · What is actually in a handmade soap bar