Hi guys,

Newbie to wet shaving here and I'm looking at a bunch of the different soaps people are recommending and wondering just what the heck is in these things. I tend to be wary of synthetic things with long names (and I don't want to spark a debate as to what additives are good/bad) so I'm wondering whether anyone who knows a bit about soap chemistry would be able to give me a short "dictionary" of commonly used soap ingredients, where they actually come from, and whether they are just modern (probably purified) versions of things used in traditional wet shaving.

Thanks for your help and I welcome any wisdom!