Friendly Soap Product Review – Zero Waste Products

I’ve been trying to pick more zero waste products recently for my skincare routine so I thought I would do a Friendly soap product review for the two soaps that I bought earlier this year.

When I bought myself a zero waste safety razor from Jungle Culture I wanted to buy a shaving soap to go with it and that’s when I found Friendly Soap’s shaving soap. I also needed to buy something to remove my makeup so I bought their Shea cleansing bar as well.

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About Friendly Soaps

Friendly Soap was founded in Yorkshire by Rob and Geoff, what’s interesting about their story is that they used to work Suma Wholefoods which is a well known health food company in the UK. Their company Friendly Soap was founded in 2008 and they run their company with ethics before profit.

All of their soaps are vegan and cruelty free and completely biodegradable. The soaps are handmade in Yorkshire using the cold press method, they contain no palm oil, SLS or parabens so they’re great for sensitive skin as well.

They’re accredited by Living Wage Foundation, Fair Tax Mark, Good Shipping and Ethical Consumer Best Buy. Their website hosts have also signed up with Ecologi which helps organisations become climate positive which is pretty cool.

They were recently awarded in 2021 a Green Parent Magazine Best Buy Award for their lavender and geranium conditioner bar.

They’re also associated with Just A Drop and Treesponsibility charities as well.

What I Like About Them

• UK Based Company
• Really affordable prices
• Handmade soaps
• Great quality natural soaps
• Fragrance free soaps available
• Minimal packaging (cardboard that can be recycled)

When you’re trying to choose more sustainable products in the bathroom, it can be difficult to know which products are any good. I’ve written a review of the Lush Argan Facial Oil which might be useful if you’re looking for zero waste skincare.

Is A Soap Bar More Eco Friendly

Soap bars are generally more environmentally friendly than liquid soaps. This is because usually they come plastic free with minimal packaging. It’s also cheaper to transport solid products and there’s less risk of anything getting damaged during transportation for solid soap as opposed to liquid. Solid soaps also last much longer than liquid versions as well making them much more cost effective too.

Of course not all soap bars are created equally, it does depend on the ingredients used in the soap and how it’s packaged. Some solid soaps are sold in plastic plastic and some even contain palm oil.

Palm oil is a very complicated issue which I’ve learnt about over the last few years. It seems that boycotting palm oil may cause more issues as the alternatives to palm oil such as soy, coconut and canola oil all require between 4 – 10 times more land than palm. The general recommendation is to look for RSPO sustainable palm oil if you need to buy something containing palm oil at all.

That-being-said in general buying a soap bar rather than the liquid version is better environmentally and should save you some money as well.

Friendly Soap Product Review

So now I’ll get to the Friendly Soap product review, as you may remember I bought two products, Shea Butter Cleansing Bar and the Fragrance Free Shaving Bar.

Shea Butter Cleansing Bar

I love this cleansing bar, I was a bit concerned that it would dry my skin out as I do have quite dry skin and I bought this at the Winter time as well. However, I was really impressed with how moisturising it was, as you’ll see from the ingredients listed below it’s all very simple moisturising ingredients and no additives.

I didn’t used to use a cleanser at all to remove makeup and sunscreen but I learned a few years ago that it’s actually really important to properly cleanse your skin as makeup and sunscreen can clog your pores.

I do wear quite a lot of eye makeup so I do have to go over my eyes a few times to take it off fully but that’s quite normal for me. This is such a great cleansing bar because it will last me at least 6 months as well. I will be replacing it when I run out because it works great.

It cleanses my skin well and I do feel clean afterwards but no tight feeling of my skin which is great!

£2.70 for 95g

Each bar is handmade with Shea Butter, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, water. And nothing else.

Ingredients: Butyrospermum parkii butter, Sodium olivate, Sodium cocoate, Aqua

Fragrance Free Shaving Bar

I bought the shaving bar at the same time as buying the safety razor. It’s ingredients are very similar to the cleansing bar as it’s quite simple moisturising ingredients again. I really like this shaving bar as well, it lathers really well and works great for shaving.

In all honesty I suck at shaving and regularly cut myself! However, this is just me and is no reflection on the shaving soap. Using a safety razor can be tricky and I haven’t mastered it yet, haha.

It’s worth noting that if you haven’t used a shaving bar before you will need to lather up in small areas as it does dry out if you’re doing a larger area like your legs for example.

This is another great soap bar and I full recommend giving it a try, again as it’s a soap bar it will last you such a long time which is amazing!

£2.70 for 95g

Ingredients: Sodium cocoate, Sodium olivate, Aqua, Sodium castorate, Hydrogenated soybean oil, Kaolin (clay), Aloe barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice powder, pH 8-9.

I will also mention that if you live in a hardwater area their shampoo bars might not be suitable for you unfortunately. I noticed this information when I was buying the other products and because I live in a hardwater area I didn’t buy their shampoo.

I hope you enjoyed this Friendly Soap product review, as I mentioned it’s generally more environmentally friendly to use a soap bar rather than a liquid product. So if this is a possibility for you it’s worth bearing in mind for your skincare routine.

For some zero waste bathroom essentials, check out my post for more information.

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