Bar Soap vs. Body Wash: Which Is Better for the Planet? Which Is Better for Your Skin?
Why the eco-conscious choice doesn’t mean sacrificing your skin | By Caitlin Hofmeister.
Here’s a recent shower thought I had: the water coming out of the showerhead is the same water the dinosaurs drank. And I don’t know if dinosaurs showered, but the very first microorganisms did nothing but bathe, and we’re still bathing in that same water!
Behold, the water cycle: For billions of years, all the water on Earth (including the water we can summon with a flick of the tap) has recycled itself through different stages of liquid, steam, and ice in a pretty perfect system.
Speaking of recycling systems, here’s another (less fun) shower thought for you: according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), only 9% of plastics get recycled into new products. And most of those recycled plastics get downgraded into lesser plastics, meaning they eventually can’t be recycled anymore.
Behold… the recycling system: Plastic has been around for less than 120 years, and already there's a garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean twice the size of Texas (that’s three times the size of France, for you purists on the metric system).
These are the kinds of things you think about in the shower too, right? Dinosaurs and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? No? I love that for you. I bet your skin looks amazing.
Let's Dive In: Why Bar Soap Is Better For Your Skin and the Environment
It’s pretty clear that bar soap is better for the environment than body wash. It doesn’t come in a plastic container and it doesn't contain water that adds unnecessary weight when it’s shipped. And, to be honest, that’s enough of a reason for me to use bar soap. I work from home. I live in an outdoorsy town in Montana. I’m willing to be a little bit dirty for the sake of the environment. But, I don’t have to be!
Researching which cleaning option is better for my skin was surprisingly frustrating. It felt like everything I read presented bar soap as a strawperson fallacy compared to body washes. They’ll definitely both get your skin clean, but most of what you see online seems to be comparing body wash and all its additives to plain bar soap, without anything else added.
And yes, bar soap has a higher pH (it’s more basic/alkaline) than bodywash, which means it can break down your skin’s more acidic oils and dry out your skin. But that’s not considering the other benefits of premium bar soaps, soaps you’d actually want to use on your skin (like Sun Basin Soaps), smell and feel nice because they also contain natural moisturizers like coconut oil or shea butter, which nourish your skin.
Another reason people will opt for body wash is that it can contain exfoliants that help scrub your skin. Depending on the body wash, those exfoliants could be synthetic or natural. But you can also get exfoliants in bar soap, from natural ingredients like ground coffee or pumice. Or you could use a washcloth or a sisal pouch.
The one thing that surprised me most was that bar soap tends to be better for people with sensitive skin. Here’s another shower thought for you (and it’s kind of gross): The water in body wash is the same water we all need to sustain life, so bacteria love it. Because of that, all body washes contain preservatives. And those preservatives, as well as fragrances that are often added to body washes, can irritate our skin.
So bar soap seems to be the clear winner for both your skin and the planet. I have dry to normal skin, and I love my bar of Sun Basin Soap. I cycle through all the varieties, but my current favorite is Tisane - Lemongrass Tea.
And I’ll be using it for a long time because I don’t shower every day. (Like I said, I’m willing to be a little bit dirty for the environment.)
