Level Up Your Shower Game: 7 Essential Tips for Choosing the Right Natural Soap

Let's be honest: finding the right soap isn't simply about smelling good anymore. It's about skin and its health, how well the soap performs, and finding a bar that can work as hard as you do, whether chasing PRs, logging miles in your boots, or just trying to get through the day without flaking out (literally). Your skin is worth more than cheap body wash.

Here's 7 things we think you need to know to improve your daily ritual of finding the right natural soap for your lifestyle and skin type:

1. Skin Type Knowledge is Power

First thing, what type of skin do you have? Oily? Dry? Sensitive? Somewhere in between? You need to look for natural details that cater to your skin type:

Dry skin: look for soaps with extra shea butter or castor oil (like Vanilla Reserve)

Oily skin: look for soaps with charcoal (like Rubicon Ridge; appropriate for detox)

Sensitive skin: look for bars like the Unscented or Birch Breeze—deliberate minimalists, just the bar itself, no fragrance

2. Align Soap With Your Energy Levels

What do you need—awakening, or winding-down? Choose scents profiles according to your type of day:

Morning energy: Vitamin C-4 makes an awesome burst of citrus to help with awakening

Afternoon pick-me-up: Orange Expedition or Grapefruit Falls

Evening unwind: Vanilla Reserve or Cedar & Smoke is easier and smoother

3. Natural Ingredients

If you can't pronounce it, don't bother rubbing it on your skin. Wild Timber soaps are made using essential oils, plant-derived butters and lye—old-school style (no synthetic detergents; no sulfates; no BS).

4. Choose the Bar that Matches Your Grind

Are you a mechanic? Hiker? Suited up for the office? Your workday should direct your soap choices.

For heavy-duty grit—Pine Tar Ejection or Rubicon Ridge

For heavy-duty use but day-to-day feel—Twin Pines Legacy or Compass Cola

For post workout clean—Vitamin C-4 or Grapefruit Falls

5. Don't Be Afraid to Rotate

One bar can't do everything. Just like your gear you need to rotate your soaps too.

Citrus for summer

Woodsy for winter

Charcoal after a long weekend

6. Consider Scents Like Your Signature

Your soap reflects something—which type are you? Are you the crisp-clean-pine guy, the dark-smoky-mystery man, or the zesty-burst-of-energy type? Scents like Cedar & Smoke, Margarita Mischief, and Spear-It of Adventure are helpful ways to convey your style.

7. Always Go Small Batch When Possible

Handmade is about better process, accountability of ingredients, better scent retention and feel on the skin. When you purchase a bar of Wild Timber soap you can expect that it is crafted by hand—not whipped through a vat.

Are You Ready to Upgrade?

Finding the right soap should never feel like a guess. With a little insight—and the right type of rotation—you should be able to generate a shower routine that works for your body, your schedule, and your standards.

Ditch the plastic bottles, and leap to the bar!