Review: Dr Bronner's Magic Soap 18-in-1 Pure Castile Liquid Soap Rose Body Wash/Shower Gel

Update 5 Feb 2013: There is 1 more place that sells Dr Bronner's. I'll tell you for $1. Leave message here.

Update 1 Feb 2013:  If anyone needs Dr Bronner's new flavors and other products, leave a message here.  I can purchase them into SG for you.  Some flavors only for the Asian market, example Cherry Blossom & Green Tea Liquid Soap.  Dr Bronner's has lip balms, soap, gels, lotions etc..


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Update 7 Oct Sun 2012:  Do Not purchase from Taste Original. See review here: http://therevolutioner.blogspot.sg/2012/03/avoid-taste-original-organic-mart.html
Dr Bronner's can be purchased from the Nishino Pharmacy at basement of Liang Court (near the Supermarket main entrance)

Also, Vitacost does not ship out Bronner's. Bronner's has restricted sales to within the US only.
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After ordering the 3 body washes (reviewed below) from a local US spree and while waiting for their arrival, I bought a few more from our local stores.

This purchase of Dr Bronner's was only a few days ago, after the 3 body washes arrived.

Didn't know this brand existed until ... I dropped by Taste Original (direct translation from Chinese) organics store @ Harbourfront. I was just dropping in to see what brands and shower gels they had. Previously, had gone in before but wasn't impressed.

This time...there was something interesting at the end of the store. Strange-looking bottles claiming to be Magic Soap shower gels.

I unscrewed a cap and smelled the rose one. Surprised it was surprisingly nice and robust, not weak or fake. Comparable to Crabtree and Evelyn's rose scent.

So, I looked closer at the bottle. The words "Magic Soaps" is very attractive, though at first, the packaging didn't grab.

As one reviewer blogged, she said it's too full of words. :)

Well, it's true. In this day and age, neat, simple and beautiful packaging attracts. Not a pharmaceutical bottle with a plain wordy wrap of words.

(Now, come to think, the wrap looks familiar... like some kinda polish from Home-Fix or Self-Fix DIY store).

Pharmaceutical is the word, because in those old US days when plenty of things were sold as stuff with medicinal benefits, this shower gel would be touted as having therapeutic, miracle-cure effects.

As I understand from reading here and there, a number of ordinary items as we know now, were sold as miracle cures purporting to cure everything.

So, it's no surprise a body wash like this would need some severe marketing to get people to wow and buy.

The reviewer also mentioned she didn't like the "cleanliness" "godliness" association.

Well, it seems she didn't know that in those days, the US was very Christian. Marketing this as a product approved by God and making a person feel closer to God by using it, was good sales strategy.

As the proverb goes: Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

Dr Bronner certainly made full use of that.

Back to present-day: 

How good is this body wash?

First, it's very reasonably priced at just $11.90. I searched online and while there are SG online stores selling this, they charge more.

$11.90 is the cheapest I've found, at Taste Original.

They have a range of the bath gels. Lavender, Almond, Citrus Orange, Tea Tree, Peppermint... They also have soap bars.

At first, I only looked at the bottles and smelled the rose. The ingredients were clear and free of the usual chemicals (which is what I was looking for).

However, I walked out because no expiry date on the bottles. Even though the price tag looked newer than those on the bottles of the others scents (indicating new stock), I'd still like to see the expiry date.

Went home, checked Dr Bronner's online, found that Rose is a new scent (confirming the stock is new), and decided to return.

The Rose costs more than the other flavors, probably because it's a new scent.

After buying it, used it. It is indeed quite good.

First, it comes out as a watery liquid. Don't underestimate this.

Upon spreading it on the hair and rubbing, whoa...!! Plenty of suds! Excellent lather!! Surprising! Love it out of all the shower gels I recently bought.  Just a little is enough, let alone my center-palm-sized filled amount. Hahaha...

As the bottle says, this is an 18-in-1 uses wash. So, using it for the hair is nothing. The back of the bottle says use it on the car, pets, dentures, baby, silk, wool.... for shaving and as an aftershave, as a deodorant... (am I to assume it really has 18 uses?).

*nodding* Magic.

Lathering goes well for the hair and body.

It gets the skin very squeaky clean. For fanatics of clean clean... this is really squeaky skin after rinsing.

Rinsing is easy, easily washed off.

Unfortunately, not moisturizing. Not drying either. It just washes very clean. :) But the suds are lovely. And a bottle should last quite a while.  Taste Original also sells the big bottles (946ml) for those who really love this brand and scents.

The bottle I have is 8 fl.oz.(236ml).

The rose fragrance doesn't last on the skin after bath.

While picking the rose, I also got a whiff of the Lavender and Almond. There's a sign that says not to open cap, otherwise considered sold. But I can't buy if I can't smell it.

Strangely, while all the bottles have a seal under their caps, the Lavender bottles that I checked have no seal. For the rest with seal, there is no need to open/break the seal since the scent is detectable once the cap is unscrewed.

Later back home, I found that the seal on my rose bottle actually lifts together with the cap when it's unscrewed. That explains why the scent can still be detected just by unscrewing the cap. The seal is not sealed.

Didn't buy the Lavender or Almond, but between the 2, the Almond smells better, sweeter (the soap bar smells even stronger). The Lavender scent is surprisingly weak/faint. Was thinking of going back for the Almond after the Rose.

But...will probably not be buying any more of this brand. While it lathers great, it's still soap in liquid form and not really keen on the squeaky clean. The scent also doesn't last on the skin. It's just an Ok squeaky clean bath liquid that doesn't dry out the skin, but nothing else.

Just last night, while looking at iherb website, thinking whether to order and searching for reviews, I came upon someone (a guy) mentioning Vitacost in a woman's blogspot. He said prices are cheaper.

Checking it out, I found it's true, prices are even lower than iherb. And with even more reviews of products.

Vitacost also ships overseas, including SG. So I'm thinking of buying from there.

Some people who bought from iherb said the items they ordered never arrived. Haven't checked reviews of ordering from Vitacost yet.