Dr. Bronner's killer soaps (and some other things)

I found Dr. Bronner and his Magic Soaps quite by accident. Literally. Back in 2006, some of you might remember I spent nearly 2 months in Alaska, working the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. While out there, I accidentally smeared a bunch of grease on my hands in the dressing room next to the sauna. There in the shower stall sat a bottle of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Liquid Soap. I used it to clean my hands and enjoyed the scent, immensely. After asking around, I discovered that one of the Marine Mammal Watchers (people that sit up top and watch for whales, while talking about birds and drinking herbal tea) left it when departing the ship early. A few days later I tried it in the shower after a sauna. Good shit, mon.

Reading the label while showering, I became quite baffled and intrigued. The stuff was the best damn soap I've ever tried (beside those oatmeal orange peel bars you used to get me, honey), but the writing bordered on the truly bizarre. Quasi-religious in nature and at times nonsensical, it seemed the writing of a madman and no explanation was given as to why the entire bottle was covered in dozens of these phrases, crammed all over in small text. Can you read all that tiny text in the blown up image of the label?

Curiosity piqued I hit the Interwebs and found the website and the story of Dr. Bronner-a real, live dude. Except he passed away a while ago. I won't give away the whole story and it's not mine to tell, but he invented the soaps out of a desire to stick to a certain and all-natural method of soap-making and used his money to do some very good things, despite having a slightly skewed vision of the world (in my humble opinion). Suffice to say he was cool cat, who made killer soaps and did some righteous deeds.

I've been using his soaps ever since and have found that while they have MANY uses, I prefer them as soap and shampoo (it not only works great, but saves me room and weight when traveling to have my soap and shampoo in one and CONCENTRATED, to boot). The liquid soaps come in sizes ranging from 2oz to 1 gallon and are also available as bar soap (For my regular readers: as in a bar of soap, not the kind of soap you find in the bathroom at the bar!). You can dilute the soaps and use them for just about anything, including brushing your teeth! For a list of uses and dilutions, you can hit FAQ's and there will also learn about the term "castille", why organic is great, ingredients of their various products and why they are used. There is so much information on Dr. Bronner's website, there is just too much too list.

To wrap this up, I highly recommend all of Dr. Bronner's products as a safe and healthy alternative to washing your hair and body with chemicals you cannot pronounce. They make liquid soaps, bar soap, lip balm, creams, gels and even snacks (though I think you can eat, or drink everything they make. Really) The all-natural ingredients make these products especially safe and healthy for your children and I can tell you, LP LOVES the peppermint!! The company itself is still run by family, is refreshingly concerned about the environment and takes good care of it's employees. They also are actively involved in charitable activities around the world and in general are very socially responsible. Their products are also all reasonably-priced and if not available at your local hippie and eco-warrior supply store, can be purchased online from their website.

For the record, I brought out an 8 oz bottle of Dr. Bronner's Citrus Liquid Soap and had the remains of my last 16oz bottle of peppermint already onboard. As an example, here's the ingredients for the Citrus Liquid Soap:Water, Saponfied Organic Coconut Oil*, Saponified Organic Olive Oil*, Organic Glycerin, Organic Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil, Organic Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Organic Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Organic Citrus Medica Limonum

And for those you from the toke em up generation, did you notice it's got Indinca's western-hemisphere cousin inside the bottle? Good times:)

UPDATE: I've just recently used the Citrus Liquid Soap I brought out as soap and shampoo. IT ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!! I've also just tried two new uses: First, the Liquid Citrus soap as a shaving cream. Dyn-o-mite! I was much better than the Edge(TM) I always use. Yet another product to be replaced by Dr. Bronner's after one trial use. Next, I tried the Peppermint Liquid Soap as toothpaste! Well, I have to say it did an especially good job, I felt I had squeaky-clean teeth. However, the taste was rather bland, unlike the smell and for some odd reason the aftertaste strongly reminded me of hash oil and it was hard to get rid of:( Nonetheless, Dr. Bronner's is the ticket, folks.