The 4 Reasons Bar Soap Is Better & SAFER Than Body Wash

Skincare Secrets: Episode 10

I used to think that body wash was better than bar soap. Then I started making soap and learning about soap and I realized that I was completely wrong. Bar soap is much better than body wash for the following four reasons.

#1 - Body Wash Contains Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals🧪 

Bar soap is much safer for your health because it's a natural cleanser made from plant oils. On the other hand, body wash is a detergent, a synthetic cleanser made from DOZENS of chemicals, some of which may be known hormone disruptors. Soap and detergent are not the same thing. (Check out this infographic to learn more.) 

Most body washes contain these chemicals:

• Synthetic moisturizers like EDTA
• Skin penetration enhancers
• Fragrances (synthetical chemicals that are the #1 skin irritant). Fragrances are also linked to a number of illnesses including cancer. Source 1, 2
• Phthalates, endocrine-disrupting chemicals linked to a host of illnesses including cancer. Source 1, 2, 3
• Synthetic colors and dyes. Some dyes are known carcinogens. Source
• Sulfates (detergent chemicals such as SLS)
• Parabens and other preservative chemicals. They are endocrine disruptors and are linked to cancer, especially breast cancer. Source

But wait, there's more! Body wash also contains microplastic! Micro-beads and micro-glitter are microplastics intentionally added to body wash.

Microplastics are so pervasive that they have infiltrated the human body including the human brain.  Body wash exposes you to EVEN MORE microplastic.

 

#2 - Bar Soap Is More Nourishing For Your Skin💦

Body washes are detergents and detergents are, by design, harsh, drying and irritating to human skin. Detergents were invented by the Germans in the early 1900's to clean fabrics and surfaces, not human skin.

But in the 1980's, manufacturers realized they could add water to detergent and sell it as body wash. The intrinsic harshness of detergents was mediated by....you guessed it...adding more chemicals—specifically synthetic moisturizers and skin penetration enhancers (chemicals that allow synthetic moisturizers to penetrate deeper into your skin). So if the body wash that you use ISN'T drying, it's because it contains synthetic chemical moisturizers and other chemical additives.

In contrast, bar soap is a natural cleanser made from natural plant oils. 

Yes, many mass market bar soaps are drying, but high quality, artisan bar soaps (like S.M.O.C. Skincare soaps) are highly moisturizing. Also, keep in mind that many mass market bar "soaps"  (like Dove) are NOT actually soap, they are detergent bars. This is why they must be labeled as "beauty bars" or "cosmetic bars," because they're not soap, they're detergent in bar form.

 

#3 - Bar Soap Is Much Better For Our Planet🌍

Plastic pollution is one of the absolute worst things for our environment. Humans have so polluted our oceans with plastic that we created the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a literal floating island of plastic. Every day, birds, dolphins, whales and turtles are found washed up and dead because they have ingested so much plastic. Their intestines were clogged with plastic!

A plastic body wash bottle will take 400 years to degrade. 91% of plastic is NOT recycled. Even if you put it in the recycling bin, it will NOT get recycled because the vast majority of plastic simply CANNOT be recycled. Source. The solution? Bar soap!

• 🐳Bar soap = no plastic! No plastic bottles, no plastic microbeads.
• 🐳Bar soap is made from plant oils. Body wash is a detergent and detergents are made from petro-chemicals, meaning body wash manufacturing fuels global warming.
• 🐳A bottle of body wash weighs more and takes up more space than a bar of soap even though they both last for a similar number of showers. Thus, shipping bottles of body wash generates unneeded carbon emissions. 

 

#4 - Bar Soap Is Less Expensive Than Body Wash💵

Body wash is 80% water. Stop paying for water! You're already in the shower. Don't bring sand to the beach and don't bring water to the shower! 

Moreover, one bar of high quality, well-cured bar soap will last LONGER than a bottle of body wash, so you save money and reduce waste. (S.M.O.C. Skincare soaps are air cured and last 3 to 5 weeks, longer than most body washes.)

SUMMARY

Bar soap is much safer for your health, much better for your skin, much better for the environment and better for your wallet. Protect your health like it's precious because it is. You only get one body and we only get one planet. Switch to bar soap today.

But remember, not all bar soaps are equal. Read ingredient labels and learn about what's in the soap that you're putting on your skin and in your body.

Thanks for reading!

Kal Garcia, founder of S.M.O.C. Skincare 

Are fragrance chemicals affecting your health? Find out in this blog.