The 13 Best Vegan, Cruelty-Free Soap Bars and Hand Washes

Arguably the most interesting soap on the list – which I admit still doesn’t sound thrilling – Dr. Bronner’s Almond Soap Bar is a certified organic, fair-trade, subtly scented soap bar.

Packed with organic oils – olive, coconut, jojoba and hemp – the bar is rich and luxurious. Particularly for soap.

• £5.49
• 140g
• Certified cruelty-free
• Certified vegan
• Packaged in 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles – that is also completely recyclable
• Certified B Corporation status

The almond scent is reminiscent of marzipan, so if you aren’t a fan of the sweet treat it may not be for you.

Read our cruelty-free review of Dr. Bronner’s here.

Neal’s Yard Wild Rose Soap is a wonderfully delicate smelling soap that is impossible not to love! It’s even:

• Palm-oil free
• Certified organic
• Nourishing

Palm-oil free products are our bread-and-butter. Particularly in industries that are so dominated by the stuff.

And the wild rose scent is so well balanced with geranium and patchouli essential oils. Combined with the nurturing addition(s) of coconut and rosehip oil and shea butter, you know we’re onto a winner.

The only downside is the small bit of plastic that comes in the otherwise recyclable box.

• £6.50
• 100g
• Vegan
• Palm-oil free
• Recyclable packaging (and product)

Neal’s Yard also have a great Orange and Geranium Soap that is an equally soft, subtle fragrance. Sweet, yet delicate.

Neal’s Yard also feature prominently in our best cruelty-free face cleansers page, so it is doing something right!

The Body Shop have always made great products at a very reasonable price. And the Shea Butter Soap is a cleansing, nourishing soap bar made with fair-trade shea butter from Ghana.

The vegetable-based bar is a real skin-softening product. And whilst it isn’t palm-oil free, the palm-oil is at least sustainable. And there have been multiple studies on shea butter’s effectiveness at treating sensitive or inflamed skin.  

And if you’re in the market for a charitable soap for sensitive skin. This is it. 

• £2.50
• 100g
• Vegan
• Certified sustainable palm-oil
• Recyclable packaging (and product)

There’s also a lovely mango soap available.

Nip + Fab’s Mandelic Charcoal Cleansing Bar is one of the brand’s hero products from the new Mandelic + Charcoal Fix range!

Complete with 1% activated charcoal for cleansing (you don’t need much, don’t worry), coconut oil for enriching and nourishing your skin and mandelic acid to gently strip away impurities and blemishes. 

This makes it ideal for exfoliating, absorbing excess oil and fighting acne or blemishes.

• £7.95
• 125g
• Vegan
• Recyclable packaging (and product) – plastic-free

And whilst charcoal is everywhere in beauty aisles these days – toothpastes, mouthwashes et al – and whilst the science doesn’t entirely support the cleansing claims, it’s fun and there is anecdotal evidence to suggest it absolutely works for some!

The Soap Tree Yorkshire Sandalwood Soap is a wonderful cruelty-free, vegan soap from made with high quality, nourishing ingredients including: shea butter, olive oil, castor oil, distilled water and kaolin clay.

An (almost) endless list of luxurious, high quality ingredients that give the soap such a silky texture. A little really does go a long way.

And it’s even free-from palm oil, parabens, sulfates, animals products – of course – and SLS. 

• £4.25
• 100g
• Vegan
• Palm-oil free
• Recyclable packaging (and product)
• Paraben, sulfate, SLS, detergent and pthalate-free
• Manufactured in the UK

And isn’t it nice to support a home spun business.

Superfly’s Sensitive Soap is a wonderful handmade, vegan soap where the beauty is in it’s simplicity. 

This plastic-free, fully compostable soap has only 4 ingredients: coconut oil, olive oil, shea butter and avocado oil.

Each of which fantastic is for sensitive skin and so nourishing. And as the prduct is free-from colourants, palm-oil, animal products and sulfates, SLS and parabens. It’s wonderful for the skin!

And supporting local, handmade businesses is so important. Particularly now. 

• £4.00
• 100g
• Vegan
• Palm-oil free
• Recyclable packaging (and product) and plastic-free
• Paraben, sulfate, SLS, detergent and pthalate-free

Lush have a great range of vegan soaps. Our favourite is the Olive Tree Soap.

It’s described as a skin-softening olive oil soap that is floral and spicy in nature – petitgrain, rose, and cypress oils give a real flavour of The Med. 

Handy as we can’t go anywhere at the minute.

With it’s eco-friendly packaging and olive oil sourced directly from Palestinian farmers, it gives you an opportunity to support people who need it. 

• £10
• 100g
• Vegan
• Palm-oil free
• Recyclable packaging (and product) and plastic-free

Ecover – one of our all-time favourite cruelty-free brands – has a fantastic range of hand washes and the Lavender and Aloe Vera version is our soap choice.

The scent combination is nigh on perfect. Lavender is well-known for it’s calming, restorative properties. And when paired with moisturising, restorative effects of aloe vera, it makes for an excellent soap.

And you always need a good soap. Particularly in the current climate.

• £3.35
• 250ml
• Cruelty-free
• Vegan
• Paraben, triclosan and phthlate-free
• Suitable for septic tanks
• Sustainable palm-oil
• Biodegradable

There’s also a 5l refill option which we would highly recommend as it really does save on packaging and your overall carbon footprint. And, a brand new hand wash from Ecover’s Zero Range.

You can find out more information whether Ecover is cruelty-free here.

It can be really tricky to find a soap-pump solution that isn’t really awful for the environment. Particularly a cruelty-free one.

But Method’s Botanical Garden Foaming Hand Wash is fantastic. And beautifully, ethically packaged.

(And also features on our sustainable, cruelty-free products page).

It sits neatly – and beautifully – by our kitchen sink. And the plant-based handwash is vegan, biodegradable and made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic.

• £2.45
• 354ml
• Vegan
• Paraben, sulfate, triclosan and petrochemical-free
• 100% Recycled plastic (and recyclable)
• Biodegradable

And, in a beautiful gesture, this soap soap is part of Method’s Designed For Good Range which aims to raise awareness for the fair treatment of animals. All of Method’s Foaming Hand Wash is great.

Read our cruelty-free review of Method here.

Dr. Bronner’s Organic Liquid Castille Soap is a vegan, cruelty-free, certified organic soap that is so gentle on hands.

The organic citrus oils are so fresh. When combined with good quality, plant-based carriers – coconut, hemp, olive and jojoba – the quality citrus scents really come to the fore.

• £7.65
• 237ml
• Certified cruelty-free
• Vegan
• Paraben, SLS, triclosan and phthlate-free
• Certified B Corporation – business that balance profit with environmental and social responsibility
• Fair trade
• Organic
• Sustainable palm-oil

Because all Dr. Bronner’s pure soaps are made from certified vegetable oils, none of the products contain any synthetic detergents.

All the oils, carriers and essential oils and certified organic by the US National Organic Standards Program.

Another one of our favourite cruelty-free companies, Jason is a chemical-free, planet-friendly option. For all of it’s products.

And the Rosewater Liquid Hand Soap is a gentle cleanser that smells incredible. I don’t think we’ve ever bought a product that contains but rose and grapefruit extract.

They don’t feel like natural companions, but it’s a really fresh, unique scent.

• £5.99
• 473ml
• Certified cruelty-free
• Vegan
• Recyclable packaging
• Paraben, SLS, SLES triclosan and phthalate-free
• Palm-oil free

It’s fantastic to see soaps embracing a palm-oil free mentality. Palm oil has long been the plant-based alternative to tallow (yugh!) due to its solidity at room temperature and ability to increase product shelf-life.

Unfortunately it is so detrimental to animal habitation, utilising sustainable palm-oil is the bare minimum.

Has there ever been a more important time in history to have a sanitising hand wash?

Almost certainly yes there has been. But certainly not in our lifetimes. And Bio D’s Sanitising Hand Wash fits the bill nicely.

HINT: get the refill option too.

And organic, cruelty-free, vegan hand sanitising solution that smells great. Bio D really got the scent choice spot-on. Rosemary and thyme really evokes cleanliness.

Such an outdoorsy, naturally fresh smell.

• 500ml
• £4.43
• Cruelty-free
• Vegan
• Organic
• Sustainable palm-oil
• Paraben, triclosan and phthalate-free
• Manufactured in the UK

Thanks to certain standards we should adhere to in 2021, the fact that this soap neutralises 99.9% of harmful bacteria including E Coli, Salmonella and MRSA is ideal.