Review: Dr Bronner’s Magic All-In-One Soap
I was so surprised to stumble upon Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap at Guardian over at Suntec City Level 2. I learnt about them through another fellow blogger who had asked me about their availability a couple of months ago.
Dr Bronner is a range of personal care products comprising soap bars, liquid soaps, lotions, lip balms, shampoos all certified under the USDA National Organic Program. But I only saw the soap bars, liquid soaps, body lotion and lip balms at Guardian and end up getting the first 2 items.
Both the bar and liquid soaps are pure-castile, meaning they are all vegetable oil-based. And the difference between the liquid and bar soaps is that the liquid soaps use potassium hydroxide to saponify the vegetable oils, versus sodium hydroxide used to make the hard bar soaps as indicated on their website at www.drbronner.com.
The liquid soap is indeed amazing because you don’t need a lot of it and yet, it foams very well despite the fact that it is oil-based. The soap bar lathers up to a lot of suds too. I think these make good body wash, leaving my skin squeaky skin but I don’t like the feel of it on my face at all. And despite the fact that both items I bought are indicated as lavender, it didn’t smell quite as good.
But surprisingly, my son loves the soap bar and so I’ll most probably continue to buy it for him. I’ll use the liquid soap sometimes as I did feel quite good after the wash despite the lack of sweet smelling lavender.
The soap bar cost S$7.50 and the liquid soap S$9.90. It’s supposed to last quite a bit, so let’s see. And one thing I want to comment is their packaging is really strange with so many words. No offense, but the whole “next to Godliness” stuff made me feel like it’s almost cultish.
But Dr Bronner’s soaps are apparently good for everything I was told, and I can imagine it’s the best thing to bring along if you’re planning a trip. If I have come across it during my years of backpacking, I would have brought it along for sure. It would have made me feel like a hippie all over!
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hi. i love your posts. so informative and easy to pick out the keys points.
just a suggestion, you can add pure essentail oils to the liquid castile soap. usually i buy fragrance-free ones and add the eo to my liking.
also, i wanted to enquire about suncreens. i’ve been hunting for a natural sunscreen for sometime, and found very limited selection. i’m particularly drawn to this prodct by MiEssence, Outdoor Reflect Balm SPF15 (http://www.naturallysafe.com.au/Product/C117/Sun%2B%26%2BSummer/P1745/MiEssence+Reflect+Outdoor+Balm+SPF15). the ingredients listed seems “safe” (as in non-chemical), but i’m doubtful about its effectiveness.
just thought of sharing this info with you. maybe i’ll drop you a note when i’ve tested it out.
a great blog you have! i’ve really enjoyed it.
Yoyo: Hey, thanks for dropping by and your comments are much appreciated. The tip of the eo sounds interesting. That’s definitely something to consider for a fragrance free product!
As for the sunscreen you mentioned, I haven’t come across that brand before. Yes, would love to have you write a review or something if you can. Do send me an email when you’re ready.
Love the liquid version – been using it for years as a body wash and cleaner for everything when we go camping. Just started using it as a shampoo….jury’s still out on that one. Have used it as toothpaste in a pinch, but this is one case where the lathering isn’t really a bonus. holy mouthful of suds.
gab: I’m beginning to appreciate the liquid wash. Very economical! I’m going to continue with this, especially for my kid cos I find that it’s really great. I was also thinking of using on my hair but haven’t dared to venture in that direction. I think I’ll wait for your review! ?
I’d just like to point out that Dr Bronner’s soaps are not TRUE Castile soaps, although I think they use it in a very loose sense to include all soaps made from plant oils.
If you do a google search or wikipedia search on “Castile soap”, you’ll realise that a true Castile soap is one made from 100% olive oil. Dr Bronner’s soaps list their first ingredient as coconut oil! Olive comes in only after palm.
Coconut oil contains lauric acid which when made into soap gives great foams and cleansing ability, but can be harsh as it strips natural oil on skin away. Good soap makers usually do not use more than 20% coconut oil in a soap.
Palm contains palmitic acid, it helps to harden a soap but can be harsh if there is more than 20% of it in a soap too.
The reason palm and coconut are used in larger percentage commercially is because they are cheaper.
If you check out the Castile and Calendula soap on Chagrin Valley website, they state that their Castile is 100% olive!
A soap that is made of more than 80% olive oil is sometimes called a “Bastile” soap.
Nonetheless, Dr Bronner’s soaps are true ORGANIC soaps. Just not true “pure castile” soaps as they claim on the package.
Ah…that’s interesting to know…something I wasn’t aware of. Thanks for sharing!
ok this might sound crazy but i wash my dogs at home can i use this soap on my dogs a couple of them has issues with there skin so i have tryed everything
Dr bronner is a great organic brand. The soaps work extremely well for people with sensitive skin.
Are they still sold at Guardian? I haven’t seen them at the one in Woodlands….
Only the bigger ones. So far saw it at the Suntec branch only.
I use the liquid lavender soap as a body wash ?
That’s a very soothing scent. I was never too thrilled about lavender but of late. has gotten to like it.
Hi, I came across your blog as I was searching for castile soaps in SG. Back in the USA, I use it regularly as a body wash. Their recently released baby mild castile soap are the most moisturizing of the lot and leaves that slippery feeling after rinsing but disappears once you wipe dry.
Lisa Bronner, the granddaughter of Dr Bronner, has a website on how she uses the soap: http://lisa.drbronner.com/ . I found it to be pretty interesting especially that castile soap can dissolve the exo skeletons of insects like ants, aphids etc. And its one of the few soaps allowed to be used for camping in the USA as its biodegradable.
I rather like their soap…but I’ve not gone back to using them for awhile though.
I’ve used these soaps since the 70’s and although I love them – they do contain palm oil. Bronner’s goes to great lengths to convince customers that their palm oil sources are sustainable and environmentally sound but that is at best questionable. It’s unfortunate that they don’t make a product that is free of palm oil.