Plant extract
What is Soapwort leaf extract?
Soapwort leaf extract comes from saponaria officinalis, a plant that carries saponins, a class of compounds that foam in water. Formulators put it in cleansers, where it sits alongside the main surfactants rather than replacing them. It is an extract, so how much saponin it brings depends on the supplier.
Which products use it?
Of the 178 products whose labels we have read, 4 put this one on the front.
LAGOM
Gel To Water Cleanser
We checked 13 lines this product advertises against the ingredient list and public documents. 2 of them hold up. The rest are only partly right or have nothing behind them.
2backed7partly backed2overstated2no evidence
See the label check (13 lines)
Claims translated from Korean, originals preserved.
- A gel type morning cleanser
Korean original
젤 타입 아침 클렌저
- Texture: a bouncy gel texture, colourless and transparent.
Korean original
제형 : 탱글한 젤 제형으로 무색 투명해요.
- A bubble-free gel cleanser containing 85% skincare ingredients
Korean original
스킨케어 성분 85% 함유 버블프리 젤 클렌저
- Main functions: ultra sensitive | moisture care
Korean original
주요 기능 초민감성ㅣ수분케어
- Recommended type & texture: dry skin
Korean original
추천 타입 & 제형 건성 피부
- A gel to water type morning moisturising cleanser
Korean original
젤 투 워터 타입 아침 보습 클렌저
- It has completed a low irritation test too, so it will be no burden to use every morning.
Korean original
저자극 테스트도 완료했으니 매일 아침 사용하기에 부담이 없을 거예요.
- Test result: judged non-irritating in a 24-hour/48-hour patch test
Korean original
시험 결과 : 24시간/48시간 첩포테스트 결과 비자극성으로 판정
- Note: it is also good as a first wash for light face makeup or sunscreen. However, for point makeup such as mascara, please use a dedicated remover.
Korean original
유의사항 : 가벼운 피부 화장이나 선크림의 1차 세안용으로도 좋아요. 단, 마스카라 등 포인트 메이크업은 전용 리무버를 사용해 주세요.
- A moisture filling morning cleanser
Korean original
수분 채움 아침클렌저
- Fragrance: close to fragrance free.
Korean original
향 : 거의 무향에 가까워요.
- 85% skincare ingredients
Korean original
스킨케어 성분 85%
- 99% pore impurity cleansing
Korean original
99% 모공노폐물 세정
LAGOM
Micro Pore Cleansing Oil
We checked 8 lines this product advertises against the ingredient list and public documents. None of them hold up on their own. They are partly right at best.
2partly backed2overstated4no evidence
See the label check (8 lines)
Claims translated from Korean, originals preserved.
- A cleansing oil with a light texture
Korean original
가벼운 제형의 클렌징 오일
- Core ingredients: hydroxyethyl urea, soapberry extract, soapwort leaf extract
Korean original
핵심성분 하이드록시에틸우레아, 무환자추출물, 비누풀잎추출물
- From 99% perfect cleansing to pore tightening
Korean original
99% 완벽 클렌징부터 모공 타이트닝까지
- Moisture cleansing oil
Korean original
수분 클렌징 오일
- With fine micro oil particles
Korean original
미세한 마이크로 오일 입자로
- 99% perfect cleansing
Korean original
99% 완벽 클렌징
- 99% cleansing of pore impurities
Korean original
99% 모공노폐물 세정
- Deep cleansingㅣultrafine dust cleansing
Korean original
딥 클렌징ㅣ초 미세먼지 세정
Lagom
Cellup Micro Cleansing Water
We checked 3 lines this product advertises against the ingredient list and public documents. 2 of them hold up. The rest are only partly right or have nothing behind them.
2backed1partly backed
See the label check (3 lines)
Claims translated from Korean, originals preserved.
- After dispensing enough of the product onto a cotton pad, gently wipe makeup away along the grain of the skin from the inside of the face outwards.
Korean original
화장솜에 내용물을 충분히 덜어낸 뒤 피부 결을 따라 얼굴 안쪽에서 바깥쪽으로 메이크업을 부드럽게 닦아 냅니다.
- When cleansing point makeup, press lightly for about 10 seconds to melt the makeup, then wipe gently.
Korean original
포인트 메이크업 클렌징 시 10초 정도 가볍게 눌러 메이크업을 녹여낸 다음 부드럽게 닦아냅니다.
- It is a no-wash type cleansing water that does not require a separate water rinse, but if needed you may finish with lukewarm water or do a light second cleanse.
Korean original
별도의 물 세안을 하지 않아도 되는 노워시 타입의 클렌징 워터이나, 필요시 미온수로 마무리하거나 가벼운 2차 세안을 해주셔도 좋습니다.
Cell Fusion C
Weakly Acidic Pharrier Cleansing Water
We checked 5 lines this product advertises against the ingredient list and public documents. None of them hold up on their own. They are partly right at best.
4likely1no evidence
See the label check (5 lines)
Claims translated from Korean, originals preserved.
- Weakly acidic barrier care even after cleansing
Korean original
클렌징 후에도 약산성 장벽 케어
- Moist skin texture with no tightness even after washing
Korean original
세안 후에도 당김 없는 촉촉한 피부결
- #LowIrritation #NoEyeSting
Korean original
#저자극 #눈시림NO
- A reassuring cleansing water that protects a healthy pH and leaves moisture in full
Korean original
건강한 pH는 지켜주고 수분은 가득 남는 안심 클렌징 워터
- Low irritation, reassuring cleansing with over 96% skincare ingredients
Korean original
스킨케어 성분 96% 이상으로 저자극 안심 클렌징
What does the research actually show?
Two lists, taken from published studies on this ingredient. The first is what those studies support. The second is what they do not, which is where advertising most often runs ahead of the evidence.
Was this exact ingredient the one tested?
This is the load-bearing section.
The INCI name is Saponaria Officinalis Leaf Extract.
What the evidence supports
- Soapwort root extract is milder than common anionic surfactants on skin-mimetic models, within a defined concentration range.
- In HaCaT normal keratinocytes, the soapwort extract did not meet the cytotoxicity criterion up to 0.039% dry mass, in contrast to all four tested synthetic surfactants (SOA-S1).
- Sources: 1
- That mildness has a ceiling, and it is stated in the same source.
- SOA-S1 reports the threshold twice and not identically: its results text says the cytotoxicity criterion is met above 0.02% dry mass, while its conclusions say no cytotoxic effect on HaCaT up to 0.039% dry mass.
- Sources: 1
- Soapwort is a credible natural surfactant raw material.
- It was named among the six best potential saponin sources for surfactant applications out of 45 screened plants (SOA-S4), and saponin-rich Saponaria extract functioned as an emulsifier producing droplets of about 50 to 120 nm in a hempseed oil emulsion (SOA-S5).
- Sources: 4, 5
- Exfoliation and irritation data exist for a seed-derived callus scrub, not for a leaf extract.
- In a patch test in 30 healthy volunteers run to the ICDRG six-grade scale, the callus scrub gave a mean irritation score of 0.28, reported as no signs of irritation; in 21 volunteers the skin desquamation index fell by a statistically significant 44.07% after use (SOA-S3).
- Sources: 3
What the evidence does not support
- Claim: soapwort LEAF extract does anything.
- No source located tests a leaf extract of Saponaria officinalis.
- Every characterized source used root, rhizome or seed-derived callus (SOA-S1, SOA-S2, SOA-S3).
- Sources: 1, 2, 3
- Claim: soapwort soothes or calms skin, or is anti-inflammatory.
- The anti-inflammatory result (suppressed nitric oxide, reduced iNOS, COX-2, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-6) was obtained in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages, a mouse macrophage line, using a callus extract (SOA-S3).
- Sources: 3
- Claim: soapwort exfoliates, brightens or renews skin because of its saponins.
- The 44.07% desquamation index reduction was produced by a physical scrub made of freeze-dried callus particles (SOA-S3).
- Sources: 3
- Claim: soapwort is a gentle, skin-safe natural surfactant.
- Partially contradicted within its own supporting source.
- Mildness holds only below a concentration threshold; above it the soapwort extract becomes more cytotoxic to keratinocytes than SLS or SLES (SOA-S1).
- Sources: 1
- Claim: saponins are safe because they are natural.
- The saponin literature carries an explicit membrane caution: because of high affinity to membrane lipids, especially cholesterol, some saponins display various levels of hemolytic activity (SOA-S1).
- Sources: 1
- Claim: soapwort has cleansing efficacy demonstrated on skin.
- The surfactant evidence is model lipid monolayers, liposomes, zein and albumin tests, and foaming measurements (SOA-S1, SOA-S2, SOA-S4).
- Sources: 1, 2, 4
- Claim: soapwort extract is confirmed safe for cosmetics by an expert panel.
- No CIR safety assessment covering Saponaria Officinalis Leaf Extract was located.
These lines are quoted from a reading of the published literature on this ingredient, not from testing we ran. Every source is listed below with its DOI or PubMed identifier so you can read it yourself. Findings about treating a medical condition are outside what a cosmetic page covers and are left out.
Do the ad lines about it hold up?
We checked the one advertised line that names this ingredient.
| How it read | Ad lines |
|---|---|
| partly backed | 1 of 1 |
The count is of advertised lines, not products. One product can advertise the same ingredient in several lines, and each line was read on its own against the ingredient list and public documents.
What is it usually paired with?
Ingredients that other products put on the front of the label together with this one.
Which studies is this based on?
Every source cited above, in the order it first appears. Identifiers link to the publisher record or the PubMed entry.
- 1Jurek I, Szuplewska A, Chudy M, Wojciechowski K. Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis L.) Extract vs. Synthetic Surfactants: Effect on Skin-Mimetic Models. Molecules. 2021;26(18):5628.DOI 10.3390/molecules26185628PMID 34577098
- 2Jurek I, Goral I, Mierzynska Z, Moniuszko-Szajwaj B, Wojciechowski K. Effect of synthetic surfactants and soapwort (Saponaria officinalis L.) extract on skin-mimetic model lipid monolayers. Biochim Biophys Acta Biomembr. 2019;1861(3):556-564.DOI 10.1016/j.bbamem.2018.12.005PMID 30579962
- 3Yu GR, Kim DH, Kim H, Lim DW. Evaluation of Saponin-Rich Callus from Saponaria officinalis L. as a Novel Scrub Material with Significant Exfoliating and Anti-Inflammatory Effects. Plants (Basel). 2025;14(10):1535.DOI 10.3390/plants14101535PMID 40431100
- 4Goral I, Wojciechowski K. Surface activity and foaming properties of saponin-rich plants extracts. Adv Colloid Interface Sci. 2020;279:102145.DOI 10.1016/j.cis.2020.102145PMID 32229329
- 5Jarzebski M, Siejak P, Smulek W, Fathordoobady F, Guo Y, Pawlicz J, Trzeciak T, Kowalczewski PL, Kitts DD, Singh A, Pratap Singh A. Plant Extracts Containing Saponins Affects the Stability and Biological Activity of Hempseed Oil Emulsion System. Molecules. 2020;25(11):2696.DOI 10.3390/molecules25112696PMID 32532010