Aleppo Soap Ingredients: What Is Really in a Traditional Bar

Turn over a bar of Aleppo soap and you might read "sodium olivate, sodium laurelate, aqua, glycerin". It sounds like chemistry, and it is. But behind those names are just four things a soap maker in Aleppo would recognise: olive oil, laurel berry oil, water and lye.

This guide explains each ingredient, how the label names map to them, and what should not be there. If you want the basics first, read what Aleppo soap is.

Key takeaways

• Four ingredients go in: olive oil, laurel berry oil, water and lye (sodium hydroxide).
• Soap and glycerin come out. Lye turns the oils into soap and releases glycerin (Wikipedia, "Saponification").
• EU labels list ingredients largest share first (Regulation 1223/2009, Article 19), so sodium olivate leads.
• The two oils are close cousins, both rich in oleic acid.
• Fragrance, palm oil or colourants mean the bar has left the traditional recipe.

The short answer

Traditional Aleppo soap is made from olive oil, laurel berry oil, water and lye. After saponification and curing, a label usually reads sodium olivate, sodium laurelate (or laurel fruit oil), aqua and glycerin, sometimes with traces of sodium chloride. There is no added fragrance, colour, palm oil or animal fat.

How two oils become soap

Every true soap is made by saponification. Lye (sodium hydroxide dissolved in water) breaks apart the fats in an oil, called triglycerides. The fatty acids become sodium salts, which are the soap, and the glycerol backbone is released as glycerin. Sodium hydroxide gives a hard bar (Wikipedia, "Saponification").

In Aleppo, this happens in large cauldrons during the winter season, then the soap is poured, cut and stacked to cure. Our article on how Aleppo soap is made walks through each step, and why Aleppo soap is cured explains the long drying time.

Each ingredient, one by one

Olive oil

Olive oil is the base of the bar and its largest ingredient. Once saponified, it appears on labels as sodium olivate. Olive oil is mostly oleic acid, typically 55-83%, with smaller amounts of linoleic, palmitic and stearic acids (Wikipedia, "Olive oil").

Laurel berry oil

Laurel berry oil comes from the fruit of the bay laurel tree, Laurus nobilis. Traditionally the berries are boiled and the oil skimmed off the surface; one study of this method in Hatay found it recovered about 10% oil from berries holding about 20% (Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, 2001). That scarcity is why higher-laurel bars cost more.

Once saponified, laurel oil appears as sodium laurelate on some labels, such as Aleppo Soap UK's, while others name the oil itself. The percentage on the bar, from 0% to 40% or more, refers to laurel oil's share of the oils. Our guide to the laurel oil percentage explains what changes from one strength to the next.

Water

Water dissolves the lye so it can react with the oils. Most of it leaves during curing: Najel says its bars lose about 30% of their weight while drying for at least nine months (Najel).

Lye (sodium hydroxide)

No lye, no soap. Sodium hydroxide reacts with the oils and is used up in the process, becoming part of the soap itself. That is why some makers list it as a starting ingredient while others list only the finished soaps.

Glycerin

Glycerin is not added: it is released from the oils during saponification (Wikipedia, "Saponification"). In traditional making it is not separated out, so it stays in the bar and appears on the label.

Salt (sodium chloride)

Some makers rinse the soap paste with salt water to wash out excess lye, which leaves traces of sodium chloride in the finished bar (Najel).

Pro Tip: Count the oils. A traditional Aleppo bar has two: olive and laurel. If the label lists coconut, palm, shea or anything else, you are holding a different soap, even if it is a good one.

Olive oil and laurel oil compared

The two oils are more alike than you might expect. Both are dominated by oleic acid.

A 2021 analysis of laurel berry oil found 55.0% oleic, 13.7% palmitic, 10.6% linoleic and 1.2% lauric acid (Türkmen and Koçer, 2021). Olive oil's typical ranges overlap on every one of those. What laurel oil adds that olive oil lacks is its distinctive scent, which is why the laurel percentage changes how a bar smells far more than how it lathers.

Reading an Aleppo soap label

Under EU rules, a cosmetic label must list ingredients in descending order of weight, and imported cosmetics must state their country of origin (Regulation 1223/2009, Article 19). On an Aleppo bar, that means sodium olivate first, then the laurel ingredient.

Exact names and order vary by maker. Some list the oils and sodium hydroxide instead of the finished soaps; both approaches describe the same bar.

What is not in a traditional bar

• No added fragrance. The scent is the laurel oil itself.
• No colourants. The green interior comes from the oils, and the tan crust from oxidation during curing (Wikipedia, "Aleppo soap").
• No palm oil and no animal fat. The only fats are olive and laurel, so the recipe is vegan and palm-free by design.
• No synthetic preservatives. A long cure leaves a hard, dry bar.

Imitations exist. Back in 2010, a Syrian exporter told The National that industrial copies used chemical colouring and sold for a fraction of the price of traditional soap (The National, 2010). Our guide on how to spot fake Aleppo soap has seven quick checks, and Aleppo vs Marseille vs Castile soap compares the recipes.

Pro Tip: Liquid "Aleppo" soaps are a different product. They are usually made with potassium hydroxide and often contain other oils. See our guide to liquid Aleppo soap before you compare labels.

Alepo's label

Alepo bars contain only olive oil and laurel oil, saponified and cured. We make four strengths: Pure Olive with no laurel, 10% laurel, 20% laurel and 40% laurel. The laurel percentage is stated on every bar, so you always know what you are buying.

Four ingredients, four strengths. Traditional Aleppo soap with nothing added. See all Aleppo soaps

Dažniausiai užduodami klausimai

Iš ko gaminamas tradicinis Alepo muilas?

Tradiciniam Alepo muilui naudojami alyvuogių ir laurų uogų aliejai, vanduo bei natrio hidroksidas, kuris reaguodamas su aliejais sudaro muilą. ALEPO taip pat siūlo gryną alyvuogių muilą be laurų aliejaus. Aliejų santykis apibūdina pradines žaliavas, o tokie pavadinimai kaip „sodium olivate“ – iš jų susidariusį muilą. Tikrinkite būtent pasirinktos rūšies sudėties informaciją.

Kodėl Alepo muilui gaminti naudojamas natrio hidroksidas?

Natrio hidroksidas – šarmas, kuris muilinimo reakcijos metu reaguoja su aliejais ir sudaro kietąjį muilą. Etiketėje gali būti nurodytos pradinės žaliavos arba susidariusios muilo medžiagos, pavyzdžiui, „sodium olivate“. Vien natrio hidroksido pavadinimas sudėtyje neparodo, kiek laisvo šarmo liko. Saugumas priklauso nuo tinkamos receptūros ir tyrimų, ne vien nuo brandinimo trukmės.

Ar ALEPO aliejų mišinyje yra gyvūninių riebalų arba palmių aliejaus?

ALEPO muilų deklaruojami aliejai yra alyvuogių, o laurų rūšyse – ir laurų uogų aliejus. Gyvūniniai riebalai ir palmių aliejus į šiuos mišinius neįeina. Sudėties aprašymas nėra nepriklausomas veganiškumo ar ekologiškumo sertifikatas; tokių sertifikatų čia neteigiame turintys. Visada tikrinkite konkrečios prekės sudėtį.

Ką reiškia 10 %, 20 % ir 40 % laurų aliejaus?

Procentai nurodo laurų uogų aliejaus dalį aliejų mišinyje, iš kurio gaminamas muilas. 20 % muilui naudojama 20 % laurų ir 80 % alyvuogių aliejaus, o 40 % muilui – 40 % laurų ir 60 % alyvuogių aliejaus. Tai nėra nepakitusio laurų aliejaus kiekis gatavame muile. Gryname alyvuogių muile laurų aliejaus nėra.

Ar 100 % natūrali sudėtis reiškia, kad Alepo muilas tinka visiems?

Ne. Natūralios medžiagos taip pat gali dirginti ar sukelti alerginę reakciją, o trumpa sudėtis negarantuoja, kad produktas tiks kiekvienam. Laurų procentas apibūdina receptūrą, o ne gydomąjį poveikį ar konkrečiam odos tipui skirtą formulę. Vadovaukitės produkto naudojimo nurodymais ir venkite medžiagų, kurioms esate jautrūs. ALEPO nežada gydyti odos ligų.

The bottom line

Real Aleppo soap is one of the simplest products in any bathroom: olive oil, laurel oil, water and lye, turned into soap and glycerin and cured for months. Its label looks technical only because EU rules ask for chemical names.

Read it from the top: sodium olivate first, a laurel ingredient second, then water and glycerin. If anything else appears, ask why. To go further, read about the history of Aleppo soap, the craft recognised by UNESCO in 2024, and where to buy real Aleppo soap.

Compare strengths side by side. Our soap collection puts all four laurel percentages side by side. Free EU shipping over €50.

Related reading: the best Aleppo soap brands, Aleppo soap benefits: what the evidence says and Aleppo soap side effects.

Sources

1. Wikipedia. "Saponification." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saponification
2. Wikipedia. "Olive oil" (fatty acid composition). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil
3. Türkmen M., Koçer O. "Variation of components in laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) fixed oil extracted by different methods." International Journal of Chemistry and Technology, 2021. https://openaccess.mku.edu.tr/items/33f7e399-2530-4ebe-b6c1-59db5670f418/full
4. Hatay Mustafa Kemal University. "Defne meyvası yağ veriminin arttırılması ve bileşiminin gaz kromatografi cihazı ile belirlenmesi" (Increasing laurel fruit oil yield). 2001. https://openaccess.mku.edu.tr/items/c8cfe679-1e0e-47d1-a641-3fa218b1cadb
5. European Union. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products, Article 19. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32009R1223
6. Najel. "Fabrication du savon d'Alep Najel." Accessed 4 October 2026. https://najel.net/en/pages/fabrication-du-savon-dalep-najel
7. Aleppo Soap UK. "Online shop." Accessed 4 October 2026. https://www.alepposoap.uk/online-shop/
8. Wikipedia. "Aleppo soap." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo_soap
9. The National. "Market awash with imitations." 30 October 2010. https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/money/market-awash-with-imitations-1.512005
10. UNESCO. "Craftsmanship of Aleppo Ghar soap." 2024. https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/craftsmanship-of-aleppo-ghar-soap-02132