In an age of rampant commercialisation, finding products made from natural ingredients might seem like a daunting task. So, well, we capitulate and eat processed food, wear overpriced mass-produced shoes, and even bathe using chemical-laden soaps. However, if you were to make an effort and look beyond your local store, you’ll find a fair share of alternatives that can, frankly, alter your life for the better. Do you really have an excuse to revert to those chemical-infused products anymore?
Handmade soap-makers from across the country use fresh & natural ingredients like goat milk, aloe vera, shea butter, olive oil, patchouli, jasmine, vanilla, coffee, chocolate, lavender, cocoa butter, etc to make nourishing, lush soaps and other bath & beauty products.
1. Aks
The thing about commercially produced soaps is that they usually contain chemicals in various proportions. Aks’ handmade soaps, on the other hand, contain no chemicals, and are made using 100% natural ingredients. These range from oatmeal, honey, and lemon to even chocolate, coffee, and green tea! The brand also makes customised soaps and even takes bulk orders, so it’s a nice big tick in all boxes, really.
Engrave recommends: Eucalyptus Orange and Ginger Soap
2. Alanna Naturally Beautiful
The brand’s tagline is ‘Naturally Beautiful’ — and that’s exactly what Alanna aims to promote. Alanna provides you with ‘pure, flawless, and blemish-free’ skin, and its aim is to nurture and pamper you with its wide range of natural skincare products created from the owner’s grandma’s age-old manual!
Engrave recommends: Alanna Festive Pack
3. Anuved
If you’re pious or simply intrigued by Hinduism, Anuved’s range of soaps is your best bet. Enriched with Gangajal, the soaps are made from natural ingredients and do not contain animal fat or alcohol and help you start your mornings with the perfect holy bath.
Engrave recommends: Ashtagandha Soap
4. Aroma Essentials
Bangalore based Aroma Essentials creates a variety of freshly handmade products that form a part of your daily skin care regimen. Their bathing products are made from completely natural products that lack any form of adulteration.
Engrave recommends: Coconut Milk Soap
5. Aster Luxury
Every human has a different skin type — and the folks at Aster Luxury recognise that. The luxury soaps created by the brand caters to numerous skin types by retaining the numerous benefits of herbs and oils used to create their range of soaps. They have a massive variety, too — so finding one that suits your skin isn’t difficult at all.
Engrave recommends: Coffee Soap
6. Auraa
Based in Coimbatore in Tamil Nade, Auraa makes its soaps from scratch using natural ingredients including vegetable oils and herbs. Apart from handmade soaps, the brand also sells shampoo bars, body butter creams, and a range of other bathing products as well.
Engrave recommends: Rose Soap
7. Bubbles & Squeek
Founded in 2013, the Bangalore based brand with a rather catchy name is known for its luxurious soaps and other bath products that simply aim to make every bathing experience a ‘beautiful one’.
Engrave recommends: Papaya Soap
8. Bubblove
Hand-stirred, hand-cut, and hand-wrapped — that’s the precision with which Bubblove works. No harsh detergents or synthetic materials are added to the bars — they’re prepared in small batches and contain soothing natural ingredients that bring out the best in your skin.
Engrave recommends: Lavender Butterfly Soap
9. Butter Tub
Delhi based Butter Tub produces a variety of soaps that are ‘aged’ to perfection. The brand makes hand-made designer soaps, glycerine soaps, and even soaps that you can use as gift hampers!
Engrave recommends: Strawberry and Lime Orange Muffin Soap
10. Do Bandar
Bangalore based Do Bandar takes responsibility for its actions that affects the environment — so it uses recyclable material to package its range of body care products that are made using the most ancient techniques in the world. They draw inspiration from Ayurvedic techniques that they claim have been perfected over generations of use.
Engrave recommends: Cocoa Butter Soap
11. Flower of Life
The brand makes a variety of handmade luxury soaps, but the one that caught our eye is the Panchagavya Soap. Made using the five gavyas obtained from cows (milk, ghee, curd, urine, and dung), the brand works on the belief of Vedic scriptures that it has immense medicinal properties. Apart from that, they make body butters and oils as well.
Engrave recommends: Pancahgavya Soap
12. Gulnar
Goa based Gulnar soaps is known for its splendid products that are hand-cut, hand-made by the many artisans in the villages. Produced in small batches, the brand makes luxurious bathing soaps using nothing but the finest high-quality natural ingredients.
Engrave recommends: Coffee Vanilla Cake Soap
13. Ida Naturals
Ida means comfort in Sanskrit and it was created in an effort to produce handcrafted and biodegradable products. The brand’s tagline is ‘crafted top care’ and it aims to create quality products like cold soaps, body butter, and solid shampoo without wasting any material whatsoever in a bid to preserve the environment.
Engrave recommends: Chocolate Orange Mousse Soap
14. Indulge Handmade
Another one of South India’s gems is Indulge Handmade. Based in Tamil Nadu, the brand believes in Aromatherapy, and creates all its products from scratch. The ingredients used are all 100% natural too — including rainwater, for that extra touch of purity!
Engrave recommends: Carrot & Silk Soap
15. Inner Being
Supported by high-end technology and top-notch agricultural practices, Inner Being’s products aim to ‘nurture your inner spark’. They have a variety of handmade soaps at reasonable prices, which include Lavish Blue, Lavender Mellow, and Lemon.
Engrave recommends: Lush Lemon Soap
16. Kama Ayurveda
Authentic and traditional, Kama Ayurveda says it ‘believes in delivering a promise, not hope’. The ingredients used in their products are collected from rural tribes and then transformed using the traditional ayurvedic methods to create a magnificent end product that has won numerous awards over the years.
Engrave recommends: Vanilla & Oatmeal Soap
17. Kan's Natural Beauty Care
Using traditional recipes, Kan’s products are created for both for men and women. The brand uses natural herbs and its mixtures to create products that are not only environment friendly but are also ethically created. They’re based in Chennai but provide global shipping too.
Engrave recommends: Rose Milk Handmade Soap
18. Maati
Made using the cold press method, Maati’s soaps are a product of natural essence. The soaps are 100% vegetarian, hand made, and have no artificial colours of any kind added to them either — and are quite reasonably priced too!
Engrave recommends: Himalayan Neem Soap
19. Mishikrafts
A wonderful Bangalore based brand, Mishikrafts makes splendid homemade soaps and other products that can double up as gifting items. These range from soaps, bath salts, and body butters as well.
Engrave recommends: Strawberry Soap
20. Neev Soaps
Working out of Jamshedpur, Neev Soaps is not just a health and beauty brand but also a means for scores of rural women to earn a dignified living. The brand produces some of the highest quality herbal products which include handmade soaps, shampoos, and body washes, to name a few.
Engrave recommends: Almond Rose Soap
21. Neysa
Handmade, customisable, vegetarian, and cruelty free — Neysa’s soaps have ticks in all the right boxes. The Mumbai based brand promotes the idea of a healthy skin, and thus uses no harmful chemicals or ingredients in its soaps and other bath and body products.
Engrave recommends: Goat Milk Soap
22. Nyaasa
Nyaasa is a Sanskrit word that loosely translates ‘healing through touch’, which is exactly what the brand aims to do with its products. Using handpicked ingredients, Nyaasa makes an exclusive range of luxury products that both look and feel great on your skin.
Engrave recommends: Vanilla & Dry Fruit Luxury Soap
23. Only Handmade
As the name suggests, Only Handmade creates, well, only handmade products. These include a fantastic range of soaps that, apart from being hand-cut, are air-dried and aged for a minimum of four weeks for a lasting effect.
Engrave recommends: Sea Minerals Soap
24. Passion Bubbles
Passion Bubbles wants you to pamper your skin like a baby using its handpicked, hand-packed soaps. Their natural handcrafted artisan soaps are tested first on friends and family so as to fix the flaws and make only the most perfect products available to you.
Engrave recommends: Rosemary Shea Butter Soap
25. Petals and Herbs
A cute name with cuter products, Petals and Herbs believes that their natural soaps are best for everyone — especially those with sensitive skin. Devoid of chemicals, their soaps help nourish your skin — which is something commercial bath soaps don’t offer.
Engrave recommends: Milk Soap
26. Pratha Naturals & Handmade
Pune based Pratha Naturals & Handmade’s products are described as ‘elegantly traditional’. The brand’s handmade herbal exotic soaps are second to none and completely natural too.
Engrave recommends: Anti Ageing Raspberry Soap
27. Puriso
A company dedicated to health and wellness, Puriso uses its rich expertise to mix traditions and natural ingredients in a bid to create the best of products. These products, Puriso says, helps make your skin smoother and you mind, calmer.
Engrave recommends: Rustic Grass Soap
28. Rustic Art
A certified organic brand, Rustic Art defines rustic as ‘a life free of harmful toxins, chemicals, and artificial elements’. To aid you with the same, the brand creates a spectacular range of organic soaps and various other bath and body products.
Engrave recommends: Turmeric Soap
29. Samsara
Launched in 2012, Samsara is another brand that uses the cold process method. The brand’s soaps are 100% natural and handmade too.
Engrave recommends: Rose & Pomegranate Soap
30. Santhoos
Bangalore based Santhoos is known for its terrific handcrafted soaps. Created in 2014, the brand’s soaps are a product of natural and organic ingredients that can be customised as per skin type.
Engrave recommends: Coffee & Cocoa Soap
31. Soap Opera
No, it’s not a TV show — it’s definitely a soap brand, and a magnificent one at that. Its exfoliating range is particularly brilliant, and much like TV shows, the brand has products that are suited to all ages and moods.
Engrave recommends: Spice Spearmint Soap
32. Soaps by SanGi
There are many ways to ‘go green’ — using products made by Soaps by SanGi is a small step towards the larger cause. Each product made by the brand uses natural ingredients and is made with great love, care, and effort for the environment.
Engrave recommends: Beer Milk Red Clay Soap
33. Soapy Twist
Gurgaon based Soapy Twist makes the list for numerous reasons. For starters, they're the self-proclaimed ‘bath and body needs’ specialists. Secondly, they produce a massive variety of products, including soaps, oils, body butters, and exfoliants. And lastly, they aim to promote women entrepreneurship and improve sanitation and hygiene in children. Need we say more?
Engrave recommends: Lime and Mint Soap
34. Soil and Earth
Soil and Earth is more than just a brand — it’s a journey of the senses. The well being of the body, the brand claims, is directly dependent on the well being of your soul and its surroundings which can only be achieved through natural and toxic-free products — much like the splendid ones that the brand makes.
Engrave recommends: Tuberose Soap
35. Suganda
Hyderabad based Suganda offers a lush range of soaps and creams that’s perfect for the rather unique Indian skin type and style. The brand also steers clear of harsh chemicals and uses only the best natural products to nurture your skin to perfection.
Engrave recommends: Rose Silk Soap
36. Swati Soap Works
Another Hyderabadi brand, Swati was created in 1991. Over two-and-a-half decades, the brand has perfected the art of soap-making, and creates a fantastic range of natural, aromatic soaps.
Engrave recommends: Rose Soap Set
37. Tiki-ah
Vegan, handmade, and devoid of any chemicals, Tiki-ah’s soaps are custom made to your desires. The Haryana based brand produces soaps and shower gels that help ‘bathing be an experience, not a chore’.
Engrave recommends: Vanilla Scented Soap Shots
38. Twasa
Twasa means ‘skin’ in Sanskrit — and the brand’s products are aimed towards the betterment of your skin itself. Twasa creates a massive variety of soap, skincare, and skin treatment products, and body gels and scrubs as well.
Engrave recommends: Aloe Vera Soap
Choose from a wide variety of natural nutrient-rich ingredients like goat milk, shea butter, patchouli, tea tree, aloe vera, olive oil, rose, lemongrass, coffee & chocolate, etc. Whether it is a glycerin soap bar or beeswax lip balm, oatmeal body scrub or lavender essential oils, there is something here for everyone!