Bearsville Soap Review: Rugged Charm – Real Soap For Real Men

This is my post, Bearsville Soap Review. I’ve seen a lot of praise for Bearsville soap while surfing the internet and social media, but you have to look hard. It’s underground and not as well known as other soap brands, but those who use it swear by it. Often, these people would say it is one of the best soaps out there. So naturally, I went out and purchased some of their soaps to review them on my website and give my first-hand experience and opinion on the soap as well as the scents they provide in this Bearsville Soap Review.

Let’s see…

What Is Bearsville Soap?

Bearsville Soap is a premium men’s soap that is handcrafted and cold-processed to retain natural glycerine. This glycerine is great for nourishing the skin and is a natural moisturizer that other big-name commercial brands strip out. This removal of glycerine can dry out the skin instead of nourishing and hydrating it. You won’t find any unpronounceable chemicals listed in their ingredients. It’s just easy to understand wholesome ingredients.

This company is based in Bearsville, New York, located in the Catskill Mountains.

Bearsville soaps are sold in 5-ounce bars and measure 3.25″ wide x 2.5″ high x 1″ thick.

What Else Do They Sell?

They also make shampoo bars, moisturizers, beard oil, beard balm, and candles.

Soaps For Sale At Bearsville

Bearsville has a large variety of different scents available for purchase on its website. They have currently for sale a total of 18 different scented soaps.

• Bourbon & Oak
• Cedar Scrub
• Forest Fir – Organic ingredients used.
• Campfire Charcoal – Organic ingredients used.
• Pine Tar & Lemongrass
• Cedarwood & Citrus – Organic ingredients used.
• Eucalyptus Spearmint
• Fresh Citrus & Herbs – Organic ingredients used.
• Iced Lager
• Cypress & Mint Scrub
• Spiced Charcoal
• Vanilla Incense
• Orange & Spearmint
• Summit Air
• Sandalwood & Myrrh
• Tobacco Blossom
• Smoke & Clove
• Woodland Musk

What Is In The Soaps (Ingredients)?

Each soap has its own unique list of ingredients, but there is a baseline of ingredients.

• Olive Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Shea Butter
• Lye
• Sunflower Oil
• Water
• Palm Oil
• Essential Oil

My Opinion On Using Their Soaps & Scents

I purchased five Bearsville soaps in order to review their soap. I purchased what I thought I would like for scents the best out of their line of 18 soaps. Here is what I purchased: Forrest Fir, Eucalyptus Spearmint, Sandalwood & Myrrh, Pine Tar & Lemongrass, and Summit Air.

All of the soaps I have bought really make my skin feel softer after using them. It doesn’t dry out my skin after using their soaps. There is a more noticeable pleasant slickness to the soaps as compared to commercial mass-produced soaps. I would assume this is the result of all the natural oils used in its ingredients. The soap lathers up really nicely, and you don’t have to work hard to get the bubbles going.

The soap is a medium-density soap that is a nice, comfortable size to fit in the hand. I also love the simple natural ingredients used to make Bearsville Soap. A few of the soaps (4) are organic; see below for which ones are, but even if they are not organic, they use only simple ingredients the old-fashioned way. This, I believe, is healthier as well as produces better results for your skin.

Scent Profiles

I found every different scent profile I received either highly enjoyable or acceptable. Some left me blown over with positive praise, and others were just okay. This is to be expected as most people don’t like every scent. I love that natural essential oils were used in the ingredients for the fragrance in Bearsville Soap. I can not stand synthetic fragrance oils, and thankfully, none are used in any of their soap lines. Cheap fragrance oils smell synthetic. This makes it a high-end soap in both performance and fragrance.

My Favorite Soaps

Eucalyptus Spearmint – This is such an invigorating scent and clean scent. Yes, it smells a little like Wrigley Spearmint Gum with Eucalyptus added, but it is a great scent to use in the morning in the shower to help wake you up. It’s like a shot of espresso but for the nose and will help shake the morning sleepiness off of you. The eucalyptus is blended well with the spearmint and helps add more depth to the scent profile.

Sandalwood & Myrrh – I just love anything sandalwood, and this Bearsville soap doesn’t disappoint and is packed full of sacredness. A more subtle scent profile that surely alleviates your mood

Summit Air – This is also a very pleasing light smell, but it is hard to nail down why it smells good. It also has the added benefit of having pumice added to it, which makes it hard to get off dirt or grease a breeze. This, I would call a complex, clean scent that has mass appeal.

Forrest Fir – Smells of fir needles and rugged manliness. I love it.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Made in the USA.
• No GMOs or parabens.
• I love the feel of using this soap compared to commercial brand soaps. It has a slicker feel when lathering up and makes my skin feel better.
• Doesn’t dry out my skin.
• It lathers up decently.
• Cold-pressed soaps! This means that the natural moisture (glycerin) is retained when making it, which is highly praised for its nourishing and hydrating properties. Big soap companies often times strip this away from the soap to make other products with this glycerin, leaving the soap in my eyes inferior.
• I love the minimalistic packaging.
• They are never tested on animals.
• They offer a subscription for soaps with a 10% discount. They offer a 4-pack, a six-pack, and an 8-pack of soaps to help you be fully supplied with soap and never run out.
• Some soaps in their line of soaps have added abrasive materials to help scrub the skin better. I love this as I work with dirt and grease in my full-time job, and this helps remove said debris.
• Free returns. No questions. They have a great return policy. If you are not happy with a scent, they allow you to send the unused item back within 30 days, and they pick up the return postage.
• Some products are labeled with organic ingredients, while others are not. So, they do offer four organic soaps.
• Use essential oils in their soaps for fragrance. I actually prefer essential oils for fragrance over cheap fragrance oils. I love things that smell more natural, and Bearsville surely delivers in this area.
• All the scent profiles I ordered are blended well and are pleasing to the nose.
• They also release Limited Edition soaps during certain times. So please keep your eyes peeled on their website.

Cons

• Since Bearsville soap is made with no harsh chemicals and because of the high glycerin content of the soap, it can break down much easier in the shower if it sits in water or is not allowed to dry fully between uses.
• It is not a good soap for long-term storage or for doomsday preppers as it doesn’t contain any preservatives or harsh chemicals. This is both good and bad as I want natural ingredients, but it doesn’t store for the long term. It is recommended to use within one year for best results.
• Some soaps are organic, and some are not. This makes it confusing to search for organic soaps, but at least they have the option.

How Does This Compare To Other Soaps?

As far as ingredients are concerned, they stack right up next to any other soap company out there in the high-end soap world. They blow mass-produced household-name soap brands out of the water.

As far as the scent profile of their soaps, I would rank them in the middle to high end, depending on the soap. Their blends of different scents are good, but I have seen more pleasing scents from other soap companies.

I love pine tar soap, and if I stacked the Bearsville version of pine tar soap (Pine Tar & Lemongrass) with Dr. Squatch’s Pine Tar Soap, I would easily say Dr. Squatch Pine Tar is way better in scent profile, and having exfoliant added to their ingredients. Dr. Squatch is the best Pine Tar soap out there. I didn’t hate the Bearsville Pine Tar & Lemongrass; I didn’t love it. It was just okay.

Read my full review here: Dr. Squatch Pine Tar Soap Review.

Questions & Tips

Do They Have A Subscription Service?

Yes, they offer three subscription options: four bars, six bars, or eight bars. They also offer you the ability to choose which soaps you can choose from their line of 18 different soaps. You also have the added benefit of choosing how often, either every month, every two months, every three months, or every four months.

Which soaps are organic?

I will list the four soaps below for easy reference if you are looking for purely organic ingredients from Bearsville Soap.

• Forest Fir
• Campfire Charcoal
• Cedarwood & Citrus
• Fresh Citrus & Herb

Which soaps have exfoliants added?

I love soaps with added exfoliants, as these really get hard to get off dirt and grease with little to no effort.

• Cedar Scrub
• Cypress & Mint Scrub
• Summit Air

Does Bearsville Have Sample Soap?

Unfortunately, they do not have a sample soap to try and see if you like it.

The Final Thoughts On Bearsville Soap Review

I highly recommend checking out Bearsville Soap if you are looking for a quality natural soap. Their scents are pretty darn good, but the ingredients they use are amazing.

A must-try!

Any comments or questions are always welcome.