Dr Bronner Pure Castile bar vs. Ethique Body wash bar

Before diving head first into the world of body wash bars, I wanted to do a little research as to established brands in the market. This research led me to two pretty well known brands, Dr Bronner and Ethique. Dr Bronner appears to have a pretty “die-hard” following that advocate for the effectiveness and multi-use applications of their liquid soaps, whereas Ethique has a well-established line of products that I have been aware of for a number of years, after first spotting them in a branch of Holland and Barrett.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I cannot just buy one item at a time. I get super impatient and want to try a couple of products at any given time for comparison purposes (or so I tell myself). So, for my first foray I plumped for two soap bars, Dr Bronner’s Pure-Castile Bar Soap in Lavender scent, and Ethique’s Orange & Vanilla Bodywash bar.

Dr Bronner’s Pure-Castile bar

So first to my experiences with the Dr Bronner’s soap bar. This was my first experience using a Castile Soap product, and I have to admit, even after a bit of research and “You-Tubing” I had no idea what to expect, so I tried to keep my expectations a little in check.

Let’s start with something that is particularly important to me when choosing and using bodywash-style products, scent. I found the scent of the bar pleasant, albeit fairly subtle. For my own personal preferences I could stand for the bar to have a stronger smell, particularly with a scent like Lavender, as I enjoy the therapeutic aspect of such scents. So while this was slightly disappointing, I decided not to let it be the overriding factor on how I felt about the bar.

The next important topic was it’s ability to lather. While the bar did lather, it didn’t lather as much as some other bar soaps I have tried, which I think would appeal / not appeal in equal measure for different users. Where some people find products that lather extensively irritating to their skin, others may be disappointed with not having a luxurious lather to work with. Myself? while I would prefer if the soap bar lathered a little more, this didn’t entirely put me off.

Another important aspect, longevity. Now, I don’t necessarily take a bath every night, I am more of a shower person for the most part, so I estimate probably taking 2 baths a week. With that in mind I expected this bar of soap, which I decided to keep on the side of my bath for use only while bathing, to last an absolute age. The bar itself is fairly large, coming in at 140g, which is between 20-40g larger than many well known bar soaps on the market. So colour me surprised when this bar only lasted about 7 weeks(!). The bar itself cost me £5.49, which is pretty pricey when compared to many other soap bars on the market, albeit not all of those options come without unnecessary plastic wrapping, which was one of the things I was actively trying to avoid.

Ethique Vanilla and Orange bodywash bar

I found the scent of Ethique’s offering to be pretty disappointing. I felt the scent itself wasn’t strong enough and heavier on the orange than the vanilla. I was expecting a scent reminiscent of a combination between orange and cream soda, which unfortunately this just didn’t deliver.

Now, considering I had decided to use Ethique’s bar for use in the shower, I discovered a new challenge…. how was I going to be able to use a bar soap in the shower without dropping it every 20 seconds, and my bar becoming a soggy, bashed to pieces mess? Introducing Tabitha Eve’s Soap Saver…

If you haven’t already seen my post about my experiences with the Tabitha Eve soap saver, check it out! https://www.lianneblogs.com/?p=104

Now that I had the ability to keep a hold of my soap bar, I put it to the test with regards to “latherability” (yes I do believe I have made up that word… but it works so let’s roll with it…).

I was pretty pleased with the way this bar lathered up. It produced a pretty rich foam, even when encased in the soap saver pouch, however this seemed to be the compromise as the bar itself was used up pretty quickly, in under 4 weeks. The bar came in at 120g, 20g less than the Dr Bronner’s Pure-Castle bar, yet was priced the same at £5.49.

One thing to note is the Ethique bar, with it’s smaller shape and square profile, was much easier to fit into a Tabitha Eve soap saver, whereas the larger Dr Bronner’s Pure-Castle bar with it’s larger rectangular shape was a bit of a squeeze, verging on not fitting at all. So if you are a “shower person” and want to make use of the Tabitha Eve soap saver, a slightly smaller bar might be more fit for purpose.

Final Thoughts….

After trying both the Ethique and Dr Bronner’s offerings, I decided to that I preferred the Dr Bronner’s bars for a number of reasons;

There is a wider variety of scents available in the Dr Bronner’s range, some more fresh and others more soothing, meaning I was bound to find a bar suitable for invigorating showers and soothing baths
The Dr Bronner’s bars are slightly bigger, and as such, I get a little more bar for my buck
Dr Bronner’s releases limited edition scents on occasion, which is certain to add a little more variety once I’ve made my way through the permanent line up.
I was unfortunate during the UK lockdown 2020 to develop extremely sensitive / aggravated skin around my eyes and on the back of my hands. After extensive allergy testing, it isn’t inherently obvious as to the cause of my newly sensitive skin, and so in the interest of reducing potential triggers, I decided to maintain use of Castile soap due to it’s suitability for sensitive skin.
Dr Bronner’s is committed to creating not only environmentally responsible products, but also focus on social responsibility and impact
Their cosmic principles speak to me as a company not only interested in their profit but to also be a force for good and change in the world, which I think we can all agree the world could use a little more of…

Since this trial concluded, I have since gone on to purchase an additional three bars of Dr Bronner’s Pure Castile soap in Almond, Citrus and limited edition Cherry Blossom scents. So I think we can officially agree that I am All-One for Dr Bronner’s!

If you’ve tried either Dr Bronner’s Pure Castile bars or Ethique’s bodywash offerings, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!