In recent years, the age-old soap has started a revival. The many natural vegan variants in particular now rightly have many fans. A standard supermarket shower gel is then no match. To make a fair comparison with traditional bar soap, we assume high-quality shower gel with a high percentage of natural ingredients.
Fortunately, the producers have also seen the light here and put a lot of innovation into producing excellent shower gel. As a result, you can now purchase very good natural variants that offer an excellent batch of organic soap bar due to their cleansing and nourishing ingredients.
What are the biggest differences?
Of course there are still enough differences between a soap block and shower gel. Let's put together the most eye-catching.
Block soap
- Not liquid
- Contains hardly any water
- Is made from fat & lye
- Mildly perfumed
- Can be stored indefinitely (if stored in a dry environment)
- Antibacterial
- Many natural (vegan) variants available
- Many scrub and exfoliant versions
- Can provide relief from psoriasis and eczema
- Lasts longer
- Cheaper
Shower gel
- Liquid
- Main ingredient is water
- Stronger scented (sharper/deeper scents)
- Limited shelf life
- (Natural) preservatives
- Thickeners
- Humidity controllers
- Goes up pretty quickly
Which product is better for the skin?
- Liquid
- Main ingredient is water
- Stronger scented (sharper/deeper scents)
- Limited shelf life
- (Natural) preservatives
- Thickeners
- Humidity controllers
- Goes up pretty quickly
Which product is better for the skin?
In general, a soap with chemical ingredients (mass-produced factory soap with sulfates, phthalates, parabens and synthetic dyes) can dry out and damage the skin more. This also applies to chemical shower gel.
A high-quality natural soap, which we are talking about in this battle, can hydrate and nourish the skin in addition to cleaning the skin. Often these are soaps that contain natural ingredients such as olive oil, coconut oil, hemp seed oil, aloe vera, cocoa butter or clay components.
A good shower gel with the right ingredients nourishes, hydrates and protects the skin excellently. These high-quality shower gels often contain a mix of natural oils, essential fatty acids, bamboo extracts, minerals & vitamins. So a good shower gel is not inferior to soap in that regard.
Current Score = 1 – 1
What will last the longest?
Soap lasts longer than a body wash. A good soap bar can only last a month, while a shower gel runs out a lot faster. It sometimes happens that when you put shower gel on your hands, it immediately flows away again. You will immediately lose the liquid soap. Or you just use too much at once and your bottle is empty quickly.
You do not have this inconvenience with a soap block. Incidentally, it is important that you always put the soap on a soap dish because then you will not lose it and it will dry. Unless you use a soap on a rope . You just hang it up.
Current score = 2 – 1 for soap
Which product gives the most foam?
As a rule, a bar of soap generates more and finer foam than a shower gel. That is of course very nice for the feeling. So here too the soap scores points.
Current score = 3 – 1 for soap
Which product exfoliates best?
Without a doubt, it is best to exfoliate the skin in the shower with an exfoliating soap . There are shower gels that have scrub crystals as an ingredient, but they generally disappear faster in the shower drain due to the liquidity. This may be the reason why you choose a scrub soap because then your skin feels silky soft. Another point for the soap.
Current score = 4 – 1 for soap
Which product is more sustainable?
The packaging of a bar of soap is generally much easier to recycle. It is usually a paper wrapper or a cardboard box. Unless you use soap on a rope, although the rope is not always durable. There is soap on a rope with nylon paracord and cotton versions of the famous Portuguese Claus Porto .
Shower gel is actually always packaged in plastic bottles. You also use more shower gel than a bar of soap, so you buy a bottle more often. And that is also less for the environment.
Current score = 5 – 1 for soap
Which product is easier to use?
Well, very honest? That's the vial. Provided you understand the art of not letting all the liquid soap slip through your fingers right away. It's easier to drop a soap from your hands, so you have to bend over more. One point for the body wash!
Current score = 5 – 2 for soap
Which is more beneficial?
You can make it as expensive as you want, but we can generally say that a soap is relatively much cheaper than the bottles with shower gel. That's because you need much less of a bar of soap than of shower gel.
Unfortunately, you use (waste…) a lot more body wash as a rule, which means that the bottle is empty faster. A block of soap lasts up to 2x longer. And that's a lot cheaper.
Current score = 6 – 2 for soap
The winner?
If you look at the points score like that, soap is the glorious winner. However, we do not mean to say that you could not (also) go for a good shower gel. They are available today in excellent qualities, luxurious scents and with refined natural ingredients that pamper your skin. Brands such as Doers of London, Firsthand Supply and Grown Alchemist can therefore be found at the top of our top 10 best shower gel .
In addition to the good cleansing properties, the natural vegan soaps often also have an exfoliating character. This cleanses and removes dead skin cells, which gives a clean and soft feeling. So all in all, the bar soap takes credit. Convinced? Then check out our top 10 best soaps .
Good luck!
Your friends, The Alpha Men.