For gifts, I strive to elaborate the elegance. My preferred approach is to describe my soaps in the body of a letter rather than simply providing a list on a label. It varies with each soap but can include tidbits on the soap-making process & curing; highlights of the oils and their qualities; why you chose the ingredients you did for their soap; challenges in colorants/fragrances/lather; differences between EOs and FOs; your thoughts or experience with the benefits of goat milk/water substitutes/other special additives. You are not selling these so you are not constrained by FDA -- but recall I said elaborate, not exaggerate.
This approach is somewhat time consuming but is especially worth it if you are sending to multiple people or for special occasions. The recipients are no longer receiving just a bar of soap (let alone one they don't need). In fact they may never again look at soap in the same way. Who knows - they may even want more, so you can MAKE MORE SOAP SOONER.
If you do go with a label instead of a treatise, include words or phrases like: "handcrafted with love"... "from oils of x,y,z" .... or "saponified oils of x,y,z"... "essential oils of xxx for fragrance {or xxx fragrance oil for scent}".... and "xxx for colorant". I do not feel compelled to include NaOH on my labels since it does not exist in the finished bar, but if you feel more honest with that route, by all means do it.
My point is, your soap is not just a list or a product. It is a thoughtful gift from your heart that you hope will improve their life in some small way. Like it did yours.
I am super tired and need to sleep. Maybe I'm already dreaming. Can you tell??
