Smelling fresh doesn’t have to mean smothering your pits in animal fats and other crap, cruelty free soap is widely available in multiple shops without having to make that treacherous journey to that all-natural health shop at the arse end of the high street.
I know I know, you have a favourite shower gel and although you don’t want to admit it, you’re not a fan of change, but change can be good, imagine if they never changed the England football team around, we’d have never got to the semi-finals….(if you’re reading this, thinking “When?!” it was 2018 and we’re still hanging onto it)
Enough of the waffle, let’s look at the best cruelty free soap, where to find them, how they perform and how to store them.
The Body Shop have an extensive range of vegan cruelty free soaps available, in fact 7 of their 8 soaps are vegan and cruelty free saving the hassle of having to google each one in-store or even having to ask the shop assistant (introverts will understand). The non-vegan one is called “Almond Milk & Honey”, so it’s pretty obvious anyway.
How do they perform?
The reason The Body Shop is at the top of my list is their longevity is the best I have found. Their cruelty free soaps last around 4 weeks for one person usage, and therefore are the best value for money. They also seem to “store” the best – you know those soaps that just become part of the shower shelf, these ain’t it.
A personal favourite of their cruelty free soap range are the Coconut and Wild Argan Oil, but take a look for yourself on The Body Shop. Their bars work out at £2.50 per 100g.
Ah Lush, the shop you can smell before you can see (in a good way) and if you can handle the overly helpful and friendly shop assistants (scrooge here) Lush is a great spot to pick up most of your vegan products with a 99% vegan range and a whooping 23 cruelty free soaps.
Lush has an amazing game of “finding the product” in-store with their merchandising following no real structure, so I find it easier to shop online, especially when you’ll need to get someone to carve off the soap you want in-store like some kind of soap butcher.
How do they perform?
There’s no argument here, Lush’s cruelty free soap wins the best scent award every year and forever more, buy one product and your bathroom will appear to encapsulate you into a forest of natural scents and glitter.
Apart from smelling fresh as f…everyday, the lush soaps are fun to use with their funky designs and homemade look. Their longevity is somewhat questionable and I find they only last around 2.5 weeks with one person use, which seems to be a theme with the cruelty free soap catalogue.
For me, a firm favourite is their outback mate, similar smelling to their dirty range and I can also vouch for their charcoal cruelty free face soap, which lasts much longer, but then, your face is much smaller than your body. Their bars work out at around £5 per 100g, being the most expensive on this list.
Cute dog right? They also make soaps, no, not the dogs. Bulldog are new to the cruelty free soap and vegan product world relative to the two above, but have a decent range of vegan products you can purchase from your local sainsbury’s making them one of the best options. Sometimes you just want to be able to pick up all your skincare stuff next to your carrots.
Bulldog only have the one cruelty free soap in their range, but have an extensive skin range for men including beard, shaving products and some nice bamboo bathroom accessories.
How do they perform?
Bulldog offer a range of 2-in-1 body and face cruelty free soaps, so great if bathroom space is premium, but remember to wash your face before your balls. One of their cruelty free soaps is also fragrance free which is amazing for sensitive skin.
The soap I tested contains baobab (no idea), oats and willow herb, making it have a vague fresh tone and perfect for smoothing your skin post shave. The Bulldog cruelty free soap lathers up pretty well and is seeming to last the longest out of them all. They also have an oil control cruelty free soap which I have not yet tried, but looks equally as good. Their bars are a whooping 200g for £5 and the more you buy the more discount you get. I also like that their packaging is 100% recyclable.
Baobab – it’s either a fruit or a tree, well it’s both but google doesn’t know which one is in this soap.
How do you store all these cruelty free soaps? Well, just like any other soap, but here’s a few cool nifty ways to keep your soaps in check to ensure maximum usage.
Lush has a range of storage solutions, eliminating the need to ruin the side of your bath. My personal favourite is their vegan wax wrap and metal tins, great for being on the move and ensuring your other bathroom bits are kept dry.
Bulldog also offer a robust bamboo shop dish.
