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Our Product Review - Soap

Brand Name: Beebalm & Basil
Product Name: Cinnamon Clove Soap
Cost: $3.95 for 3.5oz
Where did we get it? Where have we seen it?: Planet Botanix
Tester: Tamey
Rating (out of 5): 5.0
Comments:I enjoyed the cinnamon and clove scent of this soap; it had a very comforting feel to it. Best of all were the ingredients. With the exception of the essential oils I could cook with the ingredients listed in this lovely soap! Does not dry out my skin but does clean it. Apparently it is good for shaving too - but I must admit that I did not share with my husband.

Ingredients: Saponified oils of olive, canola and coconut , vegetable shortening, spring water, cinnamon, essential oils of peperita and clove

Brand Name: Honey Pie
Product Name: Mint Soap
Cost: $5.00 per bar
Where did we get it? Where have we seen it?: The Collective Conscience, Honey Pie
Tester: Tamey
Rating (out of 5): 5.0
Comments: This soap is a definite treat - in my house it's a "Mom only" soap. The ingredients are wonderful and it does have a nice "wake me up" scent. Not only can I pronounce all the ingredients but I know what they are! I think I'll try the Oatmeal, Chamomile and Honey soap next - I can't wait.

Ingredients: extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, water,lye,beeswax, mint, spearmint essential oil

Brand Name:Nature Clean
Product Name: Nature Clean Unscented Bar Soap
Cost: $3.00 per bar
Where did we get it? Where have we seen it?: The Collective Conscience, Natural health food store
Tester: Tamey
Rating (out of 5): 4.5
Comments: This made in Canada soap is what my whole family uses everyday (well the kids only 3 times a week). It does the job without drying our skin and lasts a long time. It is also listed on The Guide to Less Toxic Products "best list".

Ingredients: SODIUM PALMATE, SODIUM PALM KERNELATE, WATER, GLYCERIN, SORBITOL, PALM, KERNEL ACID, SODIUM CHLORIDE, TETRASODIUM ETIDRONATE

Brand Name: Ivory
Product Name: Classic Ivory Bar Soap
Cost: Can't remember, but not much
Where did we get it? Where have we seen it?: Grocery Stores, Drug Stores
Tester: Tamey
Rating (out of 5): 3.0
Comments: I was fairly happy with this soap for many years - I did have dryer skin but nothing outrageous. It had a great price point and I felt that it was tried and tested. The Skin Deep Database rates the soap a 3 (really due to fragrance), so not too bad. However, there are so many soaps out there with a much lower rating that it just did not make sense to continue to use something everyday that has any ingredients of concern listed.

Ingredients: Sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate, water, sodium chloride, sodium silicate, magnesium sulfate, and fragrance.

Brand Name: The Soap Works
Product Name: Evening Primrose Oil bar soap
Cost: $ 1.99 for 110 grams
Where did we get it? Where have we seen it?: Natural health food store
Tester: Patti
Rating (out of 5): 4.0
Comments:The Soap Works is a "local" Canadian company based in Toronto and makes "traditional soaps using old-fashioned techniques that are not used by the big companies." I generally buy 2-3 types: Evening Primrose Oil, Chamomile and Cucumber & Comfrey. They have a nice scent - which appears on the ingredient list as parfum but in brackets lists the natural oils. I requested the list of ingredients from the company via email and received a quick response. This soap lathers nice, holds in shape when waterlogged and generally feels good. It's a reasonable price too.
The Guide to Less Toxic Products lists The Soap Works glycerin bar, Goats Milk, Olive Oil, Chamomile, Hemp Oil as a "good" choice but to "Note that their other soaps may contain fragrance.

Ingredients: Sodium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Palm Kernel Acid, Glycerin, Sodium Chloride, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Beta Carotene Colour, Parfum (Cedarleaf, Citronella, Clove, Lemongrass, Orange essential oils)

Brand Name: The Guelph Soap Company
Product Name: Pure & Natural Soap - Apricot & Citrus Glycerin, Oatmeal, Goatmilk and Honey Vegetable Soap, Lemonlime Burst Glycerin Soap
Cost: $1.29 for 90 grams/3.2 oz
Where did we get it? Where have we seen it?: Natural Health Food Stores and large food store (like Superstore in their Natural Food Store)
Tester: Patti
Rating (out of 5): 4.0
Comments:This is a vegetable-based soap - so no beef or sheep tallow included. That's a good thing if you're looking for vegetarian soap products. The Guide to Less Toxic Products lists some Guelph Soap Co. soaps - particularly the unscented glycerin as a "best" choice. You can see the differences in the ingredient list between the 3 types of bar soap from the same brand. By looking at the label, you can discern between a "cleaner" type soap. Also, their website states that the "aromatic soaps are scented with fragrance or essential oils" - so some types may have synthetic fragrance in them. How do they perform? - My hubbie has used this brand for a few years and we find that they last in the shower, as glycerin is a harder soap - no melting!

Ingredients: Apricot & Citrus Glycerin: Translucent glycerin soap with apricot oil, lemon oil, lime oil, and orange oil. Oatmeal, Goatmilk and Honey Vegetable Soap: Sodium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Water, Palm Kernel Acid, Glycerin, Sodium Chloride, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Meal, Goat Milk, Honey, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Parfum, Yellow 10, Iron Oxides (and) Talc Lemonlime Burst Glycerin Soap: Translucent glycerin soap with citrus oils and eucalyptus oils

Brand Name: Dove
Product Name: White Bar Soap
Cost: $ 4.19 for 2 bar package - each bar 120grams /4.25 oz
Where did we get it? Where have we seen it?: Natural Health Food Stores and large food store (like Superstore in their Natural Food Store)
Tester: Patti
Rating (out of 5): 3.0
Comments:I have been using various versions of the Dove soap for years - the unscented bars on the kids and the basic "white bar" for me. It has never given a rash or provided skin irritations. As Tamey and I started really looking at the products we use, I wanted to know what was in my bar of soap. I contacted the Dove people via email and they were very responsive by providing a list of ingredients. I looked up the ingredients in our handy "Consumer Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients" and none are reportedly that bad (except the parfum and BHT). So … do I still use Dove? Nope. I decided to find more natural soaps that have fewer ingredients (which I can pronounce) and a bonus is if they are local and handcrafted. These usually are more expensive - so it's balancing the cost with the purpose.

Ingredients: Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Coconut Acid, Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Isethionate, Aqua, Sodium Stearate, Cocamidopropyl, Betaine, Sodium Cocoate or/ou Sodium Palm Kernelate, Parfum, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, BHT, CI 77891


 

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Last Updated: 2007-09-04