There’s a lot more that your skin does than just keep out dirt. As our biggest and most sensitive organ, it’s not surprising that so much of our daily life is affected by what our skin experiences, feels, and has to deal with. All the more reason to take special care of it!
With all the chemicals and substances in our food and daily products, it should come as no surprise that body wash is no exception. Many of the largest, cheapest, and most well-known body washes either don’t work as advertised, or actively harm your skin, impacting your health and daily life. That’s why we looked into affordable, healthy alternatives that you can use to replace the garbage you might already have in your shower right now.
Some of the ingredients you should definitely avoid (which are present in some body washes) include sulfates, parabens, phthalates, formaldehyde, formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, artificial fragrances, triclosan, and polyethylene microbeads. Microbeads are especially harmful as they are tiny plastic particles that have terrible environmental consequences on top of being harmful to human and marine life.
Why Are We Talking About This?
It’s easy to fall into the groove of buying the same products over and over again, especially if they’re the cheapest option. But many of those products are harmful to your body, the Earth, and the people who make them. We could go our whole lives without knowing any better alternatives, and the large corporations that produce the cheap garbage on the store shelves want to keep it that way. That’s why we did the work of finding affordable alternatives to the expensive bottles lining the bathroom aisles.
#1 Plaine Products
- Product: Body Wash
- Size: 16 oz
- Price: $30
Aloe, Green Tea Seed Oil, and Pineapple Fruit Extract help make this formula hydrating and luxurious. Did we mention that it comes in a re-fillable tin bottle? You can return the bottles for free where Plaine Products will wash and reuse them, making them zero-waste. It is free of palm oil (orangutans rejoice), sulfates, parabens, phthalates, silicone, and synthetic fragrances. This formulation is good for all skin types, is hypoallergenic, and is even kid-safe. It is also vegan and cruelty-free.
Plaine Products says that its body wash is so luxurious that it makes a fabulous bubble bath and can be used as a replacement for traditional shaving gel. It also comes in 3 scents: Rosemary Mint Vanilla, Citrus Lavender, and Unscented.
#2 Puracy
- Product: Comfort Body Wash
- Size: 12 oz
- Price: $12.99
Puracy is all about refillable, plant-based products. Its body wash is no exception. Coming in two pleasant flavors; Citrus & Sea Salt, and Coconut & Vanilla. This clinical-grade coconut-based formulation is PH-balanced, naturally derived, and contains no parabens, sulfates, Cocamidopropyl betaine, formaldehyde, phosphates, petroleum, animal by-products, chlorine, dyes, or caustics. Puracy says its body wash is gentle enough for babies and effective enough for athletes. Don’t just throw that bottle away when you’re done, you can buy refills in a variety of sizes.
Puracy is a small, family-owned business that has sold over 20 million bottles so far. Puracy prides itself in being kid and pet-friendly, residue-free, cruelty-free, developed by chemists and PhDs, and is always made from plant and mineral-based formulas. Puracy even has a zero risk 100% satisfaction guaranteed.
#3 Bathing Culture
- Product: Mind and Body Wash
- Size: 8oz
- Price: $20
Bathing Culture delivers its concentrated products in beautiful glass rainbow bottles. Its body wash comes in two Californian nature scents: Meadow Vision and Cathedral Grove. You can also buy one-gallon refills online or visit its store to get your refill.
This certified organic body wash formula uses Aloe Vera, Shea Butter, and Olive Oil with other ingredients that will not bioaccumulate in waterways. All production and shipping emissions are offset to make this brand carbon-neutral.
#4 By Rosie Jane
- Product: Wake the F*ck Up Everyday Body Wash
- Size: 8 oz
- Price: $25
By Rosie Jane’s Wake the F*ck Up Everyday Body Wash helps you do exactly what the name says with its luxurious lemon verbena, grapefruit, and eucalyptus scent. This antioxidant-rich formulation uses organic white tea extract, pine bark extract, and cocoa extract to hydrate, soothe, promote good circulation, and build elastin and collagen.
By Rosie Jane is cruelty-free, vegan, recyclable, and climate neutral and is partnered with 1% for the Planet. It’s also packaged in a 100% recyclable thick glass bottle. If regular body wash isn’t luxurious enough for you, check out Rosie Jane’s body milk and body oils. Of course, you can buy refills online.
#5 Ursa Major
- Product: Morning Mojo Bar Soap
- Size: 5oz
- Price: $14.00
Ursa Major takes zero-waste seriously by providing you with a liquid-free soap bar! This peppermint and eucalyptus-flavored bar will energize you while exfoliating, soothing, and hydrating your skin. Ursa Major says goodbye to microbeads and uses volcanic rock for exfoliation. This formulation uses honey, coconut, and shea butter which makes it extra moisturizing.
Ursa Major is certified B Corp that is certified plastic negative, RSPO certified palm oil, vegan, cruelty-free, and uses clean ingredients. Ursa Major is made, “by trailblazers, for trailblazers.”
#6 Ethique
- Product: Invigorating Bodywash Concentrate
- Size: makes 11.83 oz of liquid body wash
- Price: $10.00
Ethique is approaching eco-friendly body wash with its concentrated powder that you add water to at home. This body wash is a gentle plant-derived surfactant with a fresh, citrusy scent. You can put the resulting soap into your own bottle from home, or buy one of Ethique’s. Too many steps? Don’t worry! Ethique also offers cream body wash bars and body wash bars. Ethique was founded by Brianne West in New Zealand. Ethique is a pioneer in plastic-free products.
#7 Hand in Hand
- Product: Cactus Blossom Body Wash
- Size: 10 oz
- Price: $9.99
Hand in Hand is a certified B-Corp that uses clean ingredients with bottles packaged in 100% infinitely recyclable aluminum. And for every body wash purchased, a bar of soap and clean water is donated to children in need. Hand in Hand is also palm oil-free, vegan, and cruelty-free.
#8 Seed Phytonutrients
- Product: Exfoliating Body Cleansing Powder
- Size: 2 oz
- Price: $26.00
This innovative cleansing powder uses walnut and jojoba seed oil to thoroughly cleanse and polish your skin. Simply wet your hands, shake a small amount of powder across one hand, and then rub your hands together and be amazed as it foams up. This is for all skin types and is really light which uses less emissions to ship.
This formulation is paraben-free, gluten-free, silicone-free, Leaping Bunny Certified, plant-based, synthetic fragrance-free, sulfate-free, vegan, and DEA-free. This 2 oz package is the equivalent of one liter of water-based cleanser.
#9 Alaffia
- Product: Authentic African Black Soap All-In-One Eucalyptus Tea Tree
- Size: 16 oz
- Price: $10.59
Alaffia invests in African communities to wild-craft its products. It uses a saponification and sun-curing process that uses fair-trade shea butter and orangutan-safe West African palm oil that uses centuries-old Togolese traditions to bring you authentic African Black Soap. It is for all skin types, vegan, cruelty-free, plant-derived, and sulfate-free, and clarifies and softens skin, body, and hair. Plus, you can even pick it up during your next Target run.
#10 Cleo & Coco
- Product: Coffee Body Scrub Bar
- Size: 6oz
- Price: $18
Ethically sourced, no synthetic fragrances, no parabens, SLS free, low waste, phthalate free, palm oil free, and cruelty-free. Is this what ethical dreams are made of? We think so. Cleo & Coco offers some exceptional body wash bars. Its Coffee Body Scrub Bar has a Rhassoul Clay base from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, sourcing the clay from a small indigenous village.
We also love the size of the bars. Coming in at a whopping 6oz, this is one of the largest body bars we have found. Cleo & Coco is a woman-owned company dedicated to sustainability in every step of the manufacturing and packaging process. Even with products like its deodorant and body powders, any plastic it uses is post-consumer recycled.
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