I came to this self-awareness six years ago, living in a tiny studio apartment with radiators so powerful they could heat a barn. The hissing monsters parched my nasal passages and turned my skin into fine-grain sandpaper; while a humidifier appeased my nostrils, no moisturizer could salve my dry, itchy skin. Tiny white flakes would fly every time I scratched.
What's a sensitive guy to do? I high-tailed it my local natural food store's soap aisle. I had stopped using bar soap on my face long ago, and I figured the time had come for the rest of my epidermis.
A decade had passed since I last tried Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap [2]
, but I recognized the bottle's blue-and-white label in all its frumpy glory as it sat there on the shelf, as if ten years hadn't passed. No pictures of bubbles, no graphics of mermaids or country meadows, no promises of luxuriously soft skin—just natural, biodegradable liquid soap wrapped in the rambling, inspirational words of its eccentric, beloved-by-many creator. Generations of peaceniks, environmentalists, vegetarians, and (what were we called in the 80s [3] again?) found comfort and inspiration in the righteous soap-meister's "All-One!" philosophy, respect for "Spaceship Earth," classic peppermint aroma, and legendary multiple uses. Full-strength or diluted, the castile (vegetable oil) soap could clean your body, your teeth, your toilet, your fenders, your clothes, and as I recently found out, even your aphid-ridden nasturtiums [3].Before buying it, I remembered something else about the saponified [4] peppermint wonder—its famous tingle. Hmm…not exactly something I wanted to experience all over, so I poked around at the other bottles. I hadn't realized Dr. Bronner's came in so many scents, formulas, and label-colors: tea tree oil, eucalyptus, almond, lavender, and the unscented Baby-Mild had their own orange, brown, green, purple, and aqua bottles. I'm generally fragrance-free (and have been known to whine like a toddler when I'm itchy), so I grabbed the Baby-Mild (aqua label), and I've been happily showering with it ever since. No more flakes and itches, just supple skin. I save money, time, and packaging by buying a gallon online [5]
for under $30, much less than retail, and I refill my old bottle. Sometimes, for a stress-reducing treat, I'll pour some out and add a drop of essential lavender oil.I recently re-ordered a gallon (my first one in 17 months—now that's economical), and discovered the Baby-Mild formula no longer contains aloe. The ingredient was dropped in favor of other moisturizers shortly after the soaps became USDA-certified organic [5], in late 2004, according to the late doctor's son, David Bronner. "We found the aloe vera wasn't as effective in our rinse-off soaps as simply increasing the olive and jojoba oil content," he said. "I think aloe vera's best in leave-on type products." The full ingredients, which are the same in the scented versions, are: water, saponified organic coconut & olive oils (with retained glycerin), organic hemp oil, organic jojoba oil, citric acid, and vitamin E.
I've tried other Dr. Bronner's soaps along the way, and all but the clarifying tea-tree oil were equally kind to my skin. I'm waiting for my new gallon to arrive, but I'm confident the tingle-free, scent-free, and now aloe-free Baby-Mild liquid soap will still have my back. And the rest of my sensitive-guy exterior, too.
Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, Baby-Mild liquid variety, one-gallon size
Cost: $28.49
Where to Buy: Amazon [6]
Photo: Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps [7]