In recent years, the age-old soap has begun a revival. In particular, the many natural vegan variants now rightly have many fans. A standard supermarket shower gel is then no match. To make a fair comparison with artisanal block soap, we assume high-quality shower gel with a high percentage of natural ingredients.
Fortunately, producers have also seen the light and put a lot of innovation into producing excellent shower gel. As a result, you can now purchase very good natural variants that, due to their cleansing and nourishing ingredients, make a fine match for an organic soap bar.
What are the biggest differences?
Of course, there remain plenty of differences between a soap bar and shower gel. Let's list the most obvious ones below.
Block soap
- Not liquid
- Hardly contains any water
- Is made from fat & lye
- Mildly scented
- Unlimited shelf life (if kept in a dry environment)
- Antibacterial
- Many natural (vegan) varieties available
- Many scrub and exfoliant versions available
- Can provide relief for psoriasis and eczema
- Lasts longer
- Cheaper
Shower gel
- Liquid
- Main ingredient is water
- Stronger perfumed (sharper/deeper scents)
- Limited shelf life
- Preservatives (natural)
- Thickeners
- Humectants
- Goes up fairly 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 is also true of chemical shower gel, by the way.
A quality natural soap, which is what we are talking about in this battle, can do a fine job of moisturizing and nourishing the skin in addition to cleansing it. These are often 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 provided with the right ingredients also nourishes, moisturizes and protects the skin excellently. Often these quality shower gels contain a blend of natural oils, essential fatty acids, bamboo extracts, minerals & vitamins. So a good showergel is not inferior to soap in that respect.
Current score = 1 - 1
Which lasts the longest?
Soap lasts longer than a body wash. A good soap bar can easily last a month, while a shower gel runs out a lot faster. It can happen that when you put shower gel on your hands it runs off immediately. Then you lose the liquid soap immediately. Or you just use too much at once and your bottle runs out quickly.
You don't have this inconvenience with a soap block. By the way, it is important that you always put the soap on a soap dish because then you don't lose it and it lies dry. Unless you use a soap on a rope. You just hang those up.
Current score = 2 - 1 for soap
Which product generates the most lather?
As a rule, a soap block generates more and finer lather than a shower gel. This is obviously very nice for the feeling. So again, soap scores points.
Current score = 3 - 1 for soap
Which product exfoliates best?
Without a doubt, an exfoliating soap is best for exfoliating the skin in the shower. While there are shower gels that have scrub crystals as an ingredient, they generally disappear faster into the shower drain due to their fluidity. This may be precisely the reason you choose a scrub soap because then your skin feels silky smooth. 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 cardboard box. Unless you use soap on a rope although the rope is not always sustainable. So there is soap on a rope with nylon paracord through to cotton versions of the famous Portuguese Claus Porto.
Shower gel is actually always packaged in plastic bottles. Besides, you consume more shower gel than a soap block, so you buy a bottle more often. And that, again, is less for the environment.
Current score = 5 - 1 for soap
Which product is easier to use?
Well, to be perfectly honest? It is the bottle. Provided you understand the art of not immediately letting all the liquid soap slip through your fingers. It is easier to let a soap fall out of your hands, which means you have to bend down more. One point for the body wash!
Current score = 5 - 2 for soap
Which is more economical?
You can make it as expensive as you want but we can generally say that a soap is comparatively much cheaper than the vials of shower gel. This is because you need much less of a bar of soap than of shower gel.
You use (waste...) as a rule, unfortunately, much more body wash so the bottle is empty faster. A block soap lasts up to 2x longer. And that's considerably cheaper.
Current score = 6 - 2 for soap
The winner?
If you look at the score, soap is the glorious winner. However, this is not to say that you could not (also) go for a good shower gel. They come in excellent qualities today, luxurious scents and with refined natural ingredients that pamper your skin. So brands like Doers of London, Firsthand Supply and Grown Alchemist can be found at the top of our top 10 best shower gel.
The natural vegan soaps often have exfoliating properties in addition to their good cleansing properties. With this you cleanse and remove dead skin cells which gives a clean and soft feeling. So all in all, the block soap takes credit. Convinced? Then check out our top 10 best soaps.
Good luck!
Your friends, The Alpha Men.