Trader Joe's Pure Castile Soap
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free skin care · Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:31 pm

Generous 16oz. and very reasonably priced Peppermint Castile soap is truly one of my better TJ's treasures. There are so many uses,I tend to keep a few bottles stashed around different areas of my home. Yep, I would really be lost without Trader Joe's!! Very Happy

1. Hand soap - I pour into a pump dispenser and keep it next to kitchen, bathroom sink.
2. Bath/shower gel. I switch between this and other shower gels.
3. Use to handwash my delicate apparel.
4. Shampoo once a month to remove pollutants and hair products. If my hair weren't so dry, I'd likely use it more often.
5. All purpose cleanser when camping/traveling
6. I include a small amount in my DIY anti-oxidant/cooling mist concoction
7. Mix with distilled water, neem oil and cayenne powder for a home-made, organic insecticide - this is a relatively new recipe, not sure about the long-term effects! Laughing

Short but complete list of simple, elegant ingredients:

Water, potassium cocoate(derived from coconut), potassium tallate(derived from pine), glycerin, olive oil, peppermint oil, aloe vera.

free skin care · Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:17 pm

I use Dr. Bronner's pure Castille soap for the same purposes! I like the peppermint, too, it's probably very similar. Love it! It's also good for washing dishes. Smile

free skin care · Fri Jun 22, 2007 1:44 am

It's exactly the same thing... TJ private labels Dr. Bronners!

I adore it too, haven't been able to live without it for at least 10 years!

--avalange

free skin care · Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:54 am

I love the stuff too, but I find that it's kind of irritating in hand soap dispensers because it tends to either clog the opening, or jet-stream out of it and soak you with soap, or both! I do use it for other purposes too, though.

Avalange, are you sure it's literally the exact same stuff, and if so, do you know if TJs bottles the version that uses organic oils? Dr. Bronner's uses organic oils but only in some sizes (weird, I know) - other sizes use standard. I'm just curious because I'd rather pay a tad more and have it be organic - plus I sometimes prefer non-peppermint odors. It can get COLD using the peppermint stuff in the winter!

free skin care · Sat Jun 23, 2007 11:14 pm

yeah, i remember trying to compare the ingredients of the TJ's version and Dr.Bronners, and the ingredients were a little different.

my friend made me some shampoo from dr. bronners and i loved it as it doubled as body wash, was foaming and left skin and hair really soft.

free skin care · Sun Jun 24, 2007 2:10 am

skincareaddicted wrote:

yeah, i remember trying to compare the ingredients of the TJ's version and Dr.Bronners, and the ingredients were a little different.

my friend made me some shampoo from dr. bronners and i loved it as it doubled as body wash, was foaming and left skin and hair really soft.

Yes but TJ's "brands" are always original small companies that enter into a business relationship with them and sacrifice their own name in order to be relabeled as TJ, and sell greater volume. Sometimes TJ requests that they change this or that slightly, but it is always essentially the same product. I saw this entire transition take place with my fave tomato sauce, Mario Batali's TJ sauce. First it has his name on it, then it disappeared (and the TJ employees placated me by telling me the above story) and it came back as TJ sugo or some such thing. It WAS changed but ever so slightly. It's a weird practice but it works for business on both ends!

Also, Dr. Bronners' has changed their formulations over the years as well.

Can you tell I'm a lifelong devotee? I make my boyfriend bring me huge vats of it to France. Smile

--avalange

free skin care · Sun Jun 24, 2007 3:16 pm

Awesome to hear. I am gonna get the TJ's brand next time then.

Miss A, you do know a lot and i appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

~K

free skin care · Sun Jun 24, 2007 5:44 pm

This is fascinating to me - that's very cool that you got the inside info on what happened with TJs brands. I've always wondered a bit about seemingly VERY similar products like that! Now I won't feel bad buying the mass brand instead of the small company brand, at least for this item. Smile

Thanks for sharing the info!

free skin care · Mon Jun 25, 2007 1:00 pm

If the oils TJ used were organic then I can almost guarantee that they would print it on the label since it makes their product more desirable. Is the TJ version cheaper than Dr. Bronner's?

free skin care · Mon Jun 25, 2007 1:06 pm

Since I know Dr. B's makes two versions, one organic and one not, I can only assume the TJs one is not organic if it doesn't say so, you're right. The only reason I ask is because the size they carry is the same size as Dr. B's organic version (it's so weird how they do it; only half the sizes get organic oils, go figure). But I bet TJs just buys and markets the cheaper version.

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