First, let's start with the super basic definition of each.
Castile Soap: A fine, hard, bland soap made from [100%] olive oil, [liquid] and sodium hydroxide.
Bastille Soap: Soap made with 70% or more olive oil and other oils or butters.
Super simple, right?
Lol, not at all.
Let me tell you, as a former professional student, this was right up my alley and number two on our top three list of positive things that have happened in 2020!
Check out our Q+A with Go French Yourself to learn more about exactly what that list entails!
Anyway, back to business.
We've taken the liberty of doing the heavy lifting for you when it comes to researching which bar is best for you.
Here goes...
Castile soap is made from 100% olive oil, lye (sodium hydroxide), and liquid (goat's milk in our case). This means that you won't be making any bubble mustaches in the tub if you use one of these guys.
Lol, no thanks.
Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Yes, when lathered, your soap will feel slimy but that is due to the moisturizing and conditioning properties of olive oil. While this is more of a personal preference, it is important to note that with too much lather comes dry skin.
Having the right superfat percentage of oil after saponification determines what kind of soap you'll have (i.e. moisturizing, preventing too much oil, etc.).
So, why did we choose to create a variation of bastille soaps?
Two reasons.
1) Having come from a family that has dealt with severe skin sensitivities, it was important that we made a product that everyone could use.
2) Elephant in the room. Covid-19. I don't know about you, but it was beginning to feel like my hands were going to crack open before EINNIM soaps and hand creams!
So, how could we address both issues in one bar? BASTILLE SOAPS!
Bastille soaps are still made with a high percentage of olive oil allowing for the gentle conditioning feel, but what about the cleansing part?
The additional oils/fats/butters in bastille soaps address just that. Coconut oil, Babassu Oil, Tallow, and many other oils can be added to bastille soaps at a 10-15% ratio providing cleansing, conditioning, hardening and high amounts of lather.
Sold.
So, there you have it. We of course can't decide which is best for you, we'll let you come to that decision yourself.
We'll just leave this here...
References:
#goatmilksoap
#barsoap
#ethicalsoap