Zero Waste or almost:

Only in France, 6 shower gel, liquid soap or body wash bottles are sold per second!

I couldn’t find the figures for the USA, but for France, it means that more than 186 billions of plastic bottles are sold each year. They only contain a bit of soap + a lot of water + hazardous substances and are systematically trashed after less than a month. And the worst in that is that only 44% are recycled…

But a bar of soap can be plastic-free. Most of the time it’s a cardboard box or you can even find some without any packaging.

Safer ingredients List:

You only need few seconds to look at the (so long!) ingredient list of a shower gel or body wash bottle, to see that many ingredients don’t sound natural. Indeed, these products contain surfactants which help creating an emulsion and wash dirt away. But the thing is that these surfactants are synthetic and often derived from petroleum. Whereas the surfactants obtain in a cold processed bar of soap come from a chemical reaction between fatty acids (vegetable oils) and sodium hydroxide (lye), the traditional way of making soap, also called saponification (here to read my article on cold process soap).

Be careful tough! Even with traditional cold processed bars of soap you need to check the ingredients list (also called INCI).
I often see soapmakers using palm oil which is an ecological disaster responsible of rainforest deforestation, greehouse gas emissions, child labor, hard working conditions for women, endangered animal species…
And as for the manufactured soap bars, be aware that the only oil even cheaper than palm oil is … animal fat! Vegan be careful!

Moreover, shower gel, body wash and liquid soap contain mostly water! And because of that, it needs a lot of preservatives to keep the product free of germs and bacteria. And these preservatives (again synthetic) are the sadly famous paraben and endocrine disruptors responsible for cancer.

Environment-friendly:

Did you know that shower gel, liquid soap and body wash all contain tiny plastic beads? Flushed into the rivers, seas and oceans, these micro-beads are magnets to toxins such as pesticides. They threaten marine life as they are eaten by fish and thus contaminates the whole food chain.

Whereas soap bars are completely biodegradable and safe for the environment.

Better for the skin:

If you read my former article on cold process soap, you know that hand made soaps are naturally glycerin enriched, which is a perfect moisturizing and softening agent for all kind of skins.

Generally, cold process soaps are also superfatted, which means that the soap maker adds more oil to nourish your skin when using the soap.

A cold process soap is a real skincare in itself!

Easier for traveling: 

How many times did you have to throw away your too big plastic bottle for your cabin bag at the airport security checks? With a bar of soap you can now travel easily without being scared of missing your flight because the security agent is checking your bag.

Support craftsmanship:

Finally, by purchasing bar soaps from a soap maker, you support this traditional craftsmanship.
Because it’s always better to value the know-how instead of fattening multinational companies which just don’t care about both your health and the environment.