Response to my sister: Part 1
She sent me the following link extolling the purity of Dr. Bronner's soap

Note that the other products have a substantial amount of ingredients and chemical names. I chose to focus on Dr. Bronner first and then get into interpreting the other brands later when I have more time.

This is my email in response:

Not everything with a chemical name is bad for you and not everything without a chemical name is good for you.


Coconut oil saponified: sodium cocoate
Olive oil saponified: Sodium olivate
hemp oil:
43-62%Linoleic acid (LA) Omega-6*19-25%Alpha Linolenic acid (LNA) Omega-3* 7-9%Oleic acid Omega-9* 2-4.5%Gamma Linolenic acid (GLA, not shown)1-2%Stearidonic acid (SDA, not shown))8-10%Saturated Oils
jojoba oil:
* Eicosenoic Acid 66-71%
* Docosenoic Acid 14-20%
* Oleic Acid 10-13
peppermint oil and mentha arvensis (similar):
Menthol, menthone, 1,8-cineole, methyl acetate, methofuran, isomenthone, limonene, b-pinene, a-pinene, germacrene-d, trans-sabinene hydrate and pulegone.

Also note that Dr. Bronners does not have a preservative that prevents the rapid growth of bacteria or mold. You may want to throw it out after a few months. However, I absolutely love it for backpacking since it does not impact the environment very much. Caveat: I used a lot of it one time and it burned my eyes.