If you've gone looking for cleaner soap, you've seen "vegan" stamped on a lot of bars. Here's what that label doesn't tell you: a soap can be 100% vegan and still be built on palm oil. No animal products, sure, but palm oil is one of the leading drivers of rainforest loss. Vegan on the front, a problem on the back.
We didn't want that asterisk. So every Fresh Suds bar is vegan and palm-free. No animal fats, no palm oil, no exceptions.
Why palm oil is in almost everything
Palm oil is cheap, it's hard, and it lathers, so most soap makers reach for it — including plenty of artisan bars that call themselves natural or vegan. It isn't just a soap thing, either. By some estimates palm oil turns up in around half the packaged products on supermarket shelves, from snacks to shampoo.
The catch is where it comes from. Growing palm oil has cleared millions of acres of tropical rainforest, taking habitat for orangutans and countless other species with it, and it's one of the largest single drivers of deforestation in the world. There's "certified sustainable" palm oil, but the label is murky and hard to trust. We decided the cleanest, most honest answer was to leave it out completely.
Leaving it out means we have to work harder for a firm, long-lasting bar. We get there with 42%+ olive oil, coconut oil, and mango butter instead. More expensive, more effort, no shortcut.
What "vegan" actually does for your skin
Skipping animal fats like tallow and lard isn't only an ethics choice, it changes how the bar feels. Plant oils and butters are lighter and closer to what your own skin makes, so a Fresh Suds bar cleans without that heavy, coated feeling. Add aloe in every single bar, and you get a wash that leaves skin feeling soft, not stripped.
What's not in it
What we leave out matters as much as what we put in. Zero palm oil. Zero animal products. Zero fillers. When your skin reacts to everything, a short, honest ingredient list is the whole point.
So when you pick up a Fresh Suds bar, "vegan" isn't a word we printed to look good. It's the easy half of a harder promise: kind to animals, kinder to the planet, and gentle on your skin.
Backed by our 90-day Worry-Free Guarantee: full refund, and you keep the bar. 1 return in over 3,000 orders, because it works.
Our simplest palm-free bar is Olea — just the essentials. Or if you want something with more character, Forest Sunrise is a customer favourite.
If plant-based, palm-free, and honest is what you’re after, start here:
