The Most Popular Soap Scents

What are the most popular soap scents?

Lavender: The Soothing Scent of Purple Fields

Soap: Lavender is one of the most popular and beloved soapmaking ingredients. It is extracted from the lavender plant through steam distillation. The plant's clean, soothing, relaxing scent is complemented by its antimicrobial properties, which help maintain clean, blemish-free, healthy skin.

Qualities: Both men and women love the floral, herbaceous, relaxing, clean, heavenly scent of lavender soap. It’s not too “masculine” or overwhelming, and it’s not too ‘frilly” or sweet. Most people enjoy the smell of lavender and lavender soap.

History: Lavender has been cultivated for at least 2,500 years and is still grown in the Mediterranean (Italy, Greece, etc.), Europe (France), the Middle East, and India. The ancient Romans were among the earliest to use lavender in baths, perfumes, and healing tinctures and applications. 

Today, lavender is also grown in some regions of the US, including California and other parts of the Southwest. Sequim, Washington, is known for being one of the US’ most prominent producers, thanks to its mild climate and well-drained soil, which are ideal for lavender cultivation. 

Bulgaria has also become one of the largest growers of lavender. 

Sandalwood: Warm and Woody

Sandalwood is an ancient essential oil still used in incense, traditional medicine as an astringent, perfumes, natural dyes, coloring, skincare as a toner or cleaner, and soaps. 

Soaps: Sandalwood oil, widely used in soaps, is extracted from the heartwood of the sandalwood tree through steam distillation. This essential oil is prized for its anti-inflammatory, moisturizing, soothing, and incredible scent.

Qualities: Sandalwood’s warm, woody, rich aroma is associated with luxury, spiritual or religious 

Sandalwood has been used in incense (aromatherapy), perfumes, embalming, medicines, foods, and soaps for centuries. Most Sandalwood is grown and cultivated in Southeast Asia and parts of India. Buddhists use the scent in many ceremonies, including meditation, to create a mood of relaxation or sensuality.

History: Sandalwood has been used for an estimated 4,000 years and is considered one of the oldest fragrances in the world. In ancient India, China, and Egypt, it was used in religious ceremonies, medicines, and perfumery, and foreign trade helped spread the fragrance and essential oil throughout the globe. 

Sandalwood remains a staple in cleaners, perfumes, and soaps. In addition to its cultivation in India and Tonga, Australia has become the top grower of this valuable ingredient. 

Patchouli: Scent of Sweet Earth

Soaps: Patchouli is a mainstay essential oil or ingredient in many soaps. The sweet, earthy, woody, spicy, sensual smell is recognized as a “hippie” or bohemian aroma. Still, it has been used since ancient Egyptian times and is not a recent ingredient or essential oil.

Qualities: This famous scent comes from a plant that is a member of the mint species and is associated with a sweet, spicy, ambary, slightly medicinal smell with woodsy overtones. Patchouli is used in candles, perfumes, deodorants, laundry soaps, and many more. Patchouli has been used in soaps for its sensual, purifying tones and antiseptic properties, and the scent is very popular. 

History: Patchouli was discovered in Egyptian tombs and used for thousands of years in Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle East until it was exported to Europe for trade. In the 1960s, it became associated with hippies and came to the forefront of the counterculture in America. Today, it’s an established essential oil, ingredient, and keynote fragrance in many products.

Coconut: The Scent of Summer & The Tropics

Coconut is a popular, widely used, and widely cultivated botanical ingredient and scent in many products, including room spritzes, colognes, candles, organic cleaners, shampoos, foods, beverages, and soaps.

Soaps: The “tropical” sweet, alluring, relaxing, rich scent of coconut is only one of the great qualities of coconut. It’s also prized for both its cleansing and lathering properties. Coconuts also contain lauric acid, an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial agent, vitamin E, and amino acids. Most people associate the smell of coconut with the beach, sun, sand, and summer.

Qualities: Coconut oil is an excellent moisturizer. It helps remove dead skin cells and beautifies skin. It also contributes to lathering and a rich, emollient feel.

History: Coconut use and consumption in foods and beverages are estimated to be over 4,000 years old. Polynesians, Pacific Islanders, and many Southeast Asian countries and beyond have been consuming coconuts. It remains a significant staple in soap making, moisturizers, cleaners, foods, candles, and more.

Vanilla: Delicious

For thousands of years, vanilla has been and continues to be used in foods, beverages, candles, moisturizers, personal beauty products, deodorants, laundry soaps, cleaners, and more. Vanilla is everywhere and is as popular as ever.

Soaps: Vanilla has been used in soaps for centuries, primarily for its pleasant fragrance and skin-soothing properties. Early use of vanilla in soaps dates back to the 18th or 19th soapmaking. Soap-making became more commercialized, and fragranced soaps gained soaps and personal care products. Vanilla remains a popular and common ingredient in artisan and commercially produced soaps, although many large producers use synthetic vanilla scents due to price and availability. It’s often blended with other scents like lavender or citrus.

Qualities: Vanilla’s sweet, rich, creamy, pleasant, and inviting scent is typically the primary essential oil or a complimentary scent that blends with and highlights other scents. The smell of vanilla is also associated with food and comfort.

History: Vanilla, native to Central America, was prized by the Aztecs and introduced to Europe by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. Its popularity and use have spread worldwide, and it has been an essential ingredient in the US for centuries.

Mint (Peppermint and Spearmint): Refreshing

There are more than 30 types of mint in the world, and they have been consumed as a food, a highly-used ingredient in foods and beverages, toothpaste, mouthwashes, medicine (stomach upset), balms, and soaps for thousands of years, and all over the world.

Soaps: The use of mint, primarily peppermint, corn mint, and spearmint, in essential oils and soaps, shampoos, and natural cleaners. The mint family's antiseptic, antibacterial, stimulating scent and properties make it a natural element of popular soaps. Some users also can help soothe dermatitis and eczema. Some users also find it helps clarify the skin and protect against acne breakouts.

Qualities: Mint has a clean, cooling, purifying, rejuvenating, and natural scent that most people find relaxing, stimulating, and refreshing. It also causes a pleasant tingle or cooling sensation on the skin, which enhances relaxation or awakens the senses. 

History: Mint has been cultivated since ancient times and used in Greek and Roman baths for its refreshing properties. Early herbalists documented its medicinal uses. It was mentioned in ancient Greek writings circa 375-350 BC, cultivated, used, and referenced in Europe and the Middle East, and is found almost everywhere on the globe, including in many US states. 

Rose: From a Kiss

Few flowers are as famous, popular, and widely known as the rose. There are over 30,000 varieties of roses, and they come in colors including black, pink, yellow, red, and every shade in between. The most popular rose scents are described or classified as musk, myrrh, old rose, fruit, and tea. Roses are used in everything from perfumes to room sprays, candles, potpourri, flower arrangements, and dishes. Ecuador and Columbia are the two leading countries for rose cultivation and export. Some of the best roses are cultivated in Bulgaria, Holland, India, Israel, and the US (Hawaii, California, and Florida).

Soap Use: The oil and petals of the rose are used in soaps for their rich, sensual, floral scent and soothing, anti-inflammatory properties. 

Qualities: Rose oil and rose petals have a distinctive, popular, inviting, and relaxing floral scent associated with love, luxury, romance, sensuality, and relaxation. 

History: Roses have been cultivated and used for over 5,000 years and were thought to have originated in China. The ancient Persians (modern-day Iran) and Romans used rose oils and petals in baths to scent their hair and body. 

Eucalyptus: Inhale

There are over 700 flowering eucalyptus species, most of which are either trees or shrubs. 

Eucalyptus oil, which is found in the leaves (green, gray, silver) of Eucalyptus trees, is a prized essential oil used in everything from cleansers, foods, beverages, antiseptics, insect repellants, medicinal uses as a treatment for respiratory issues, industrial uses, and perfumery. Eucalyptus trees are native to Australia but are grown and cultivated all over the globe. 

Soap use: Eucalyptus is essential for soaps because of its antibacterial, antifungal, and cleansing properties. Its scent is also prized for being unparalleled, pure, and cleansing. 

Qualities: Eucalyptus's sharp,camphor-like scent and cooling sensation calm, cleanse, refresh, and relax muscles, making it a widely used ingredient in many of the finest soaps and bath gels. 

History: Indigenous Australians have used eucalyptus and its oil for medicinal purposes for thousands of years, and its use and popularity spread to Western medicine in the 19th century when it began to be exported to treat respiratory ailments, muscle aches, and relieve headaches. Eucalyptus grows in the wild and is cultivated commercially in many countries, including southern parts of Europe, The US (mainly California, Florida, and Hawaii), Australia, Tasmania, and Indonesia. The Eucalyptus Tree was introduced to California when Australians came to the new land during the Gold Rush. 

Citrus (Lemon, Orange, Lime, Bergamot, Grapefruit): Fragrant Fruit

One thousand citrus fruits grow in many countries, especially those with plentiful sun, rich soil, and adequate rainfall. Most people think of oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruits, and pomelos when they have delicious, edible, sweet, and tart tastes in foods and beverages and as a snack or food staple in a healthy diet. The essential oils, flowers, fruit, seeds, and more are used in vitamins, cleansers, grease cutters (solvents), pet dips, insect sprays, air fresheners, shampoos, and more.

Soap: Essential oils derived from citrus are prized and popular in commercially produced artisan soaps. Citrus contains natural antibacterial properties.

Qualities: Citrus oils' cheery, uplighting, energizing, sweet, and delicious scent makes them a natural ingredient for creating universally popular and excellent soaps. 

History: Citrus originated and was cultivated hundreds of years ago in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Australia. As trade routes developed, citrus varieties made their way to Europe, and today, citrus crops are produced in the US (Florida and California), Brazil, Mexico, China, Italy, Spain, India, and more. Citrus varieties grow best in climates with temperatures between 60 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, well-drained, rich soil, and lots of sunshine. 

These are just a few essential oils used in small-batch, cold-pressed natural goat milk soaps produced on our farm and in our kitchen soap laboratory. We love soapmaking and share our knowledge and output with you, the valued customer.