If you are anything like me, you have probably seen the adverts for Dr Squatch soap bars. Probably about forty times this week! Dr Squatch is probably one of the most aggressively marketed soap brands on the internet, and fair play to them, they know how to advertise their product, but after you’ve been served the same ad for the hundredth time, you start to wonder… is it actually any good, or is it all marketing BS?
Well… you know me by now. I bought a bar to find out. The short answer is… It’s fine. Long answer is that I only gave it a 4/10 (You can check out my main soap bar page where I test out ALL the mens soap bars and give them an honest review). One of the main reasons that I only scored them 4/10 was the price. It worked out at t £1.10 per wash, and the bar literally crumbled by wash seven… I was not happy!
So naturally, I went looking for alternatives (which is why I ended up doing the soap comparison page!). Now that I’ve tested loads more men’s soap bars, I can actually tell you what is worth your money!
Why I thought Dr Squatch was poor
You probably already have your own reasons why Dr Squatch was a poor experience, but just in case you haven’t tried them and and just curious. I really wanted to like Dr Squatch more than I did. The marketing grabs you in and makes you want to try their soaps… They are really, really good at convincing you that their soap is awesome… but it’s really not. The scent range is really impressive (20+ options at time of writing, plus limited edition drops), and it didn’t leave that tight, dry feeling you get with cheap soap bars, but at £11 a bar (including £4 shipping), and getting only 10 washes before it crumbled into pieces, it’s just terrible value for money!
The thing that really started the experience off poorly for me was the weight. The bar is advertised at 142g. I weighed mine when it arrived and it was only 131g. For a premium product, at a premium price, that’s just not good enough.
Customer service was also a massive disappointment. I was mis-sold a product by their support team, and when I followed up with them, they confirmed that what they told me before was not accurate… they didn’t even apologise! For a brand that leans hard into the “premium” space, that is just taking the p*ss.
So, in a nutshell, Dr Squach are an okay soap brand who are amazing at convincing you that their average soap is the best soap in the world… The good news though, is that there are other brilliant soap brands out there that have amazing value for money and a much, much better product!
| Company | Why? |
| Bare Bar | Small UK company, great range, great customer service, fair price (£0.55 per wash) and amazing product! |
| Scottish Fine Soaps | Small UK company, great range, fair price (£0.63 per wash) and the soap is brilliant on your skin. |
| The Black Stuff | Irish company, fair price (£0.46 per wash), but the soap wasn’t great on my skin. |
Bare Bar
Bare Bar is an English brand that features a happy bear in a shower as their logo. They are a really small company, so it appeals to me that I’m helping out an individual, rather than the corporate machine!
I’ve had an excellent experience with Bare Bar. The customer service is second to none, their soap bars are amazing and as a bonus, their deodorants are outstanding too!
If you want a more in depth review, visit my mens soap bar main page here.
Pros
- Small UK Business – I am big on supporting small UK businesses, rather than the corporate machines
- Value for money – £0.55 per wash, compared to £1.10 per wash with Dr Squatch
- Transparency – The soap bar weighs what it is supposed to, compared to Dr Squatch, that was a lot lighter
- Smell – Bare Bar’s soap actually smells nice. It’s not overpowering, but not under scented like Dr Squatch.
Cons
- Variety – It was difficult to think of any negatives in comparison to Dr Squatch. The only thing that I would think of was the number of scents available. Bare Bar has a load of scents, but not as many as Dr Squatch (But a spin on this is that Bare Bare cares more about quality, than quantity).
You can visit their site here – https://www.bare-bar.co.uk/collections/natural-soap-bars-for-men
Scottish Fine Soaps
Scottish Fine Soaps are one of the most premium soap brands out there, but that doesn’t mean that their prices are premium (I was surprised!) This company has 40 employees, has been trading since 1974, and most of their products are made at Ochil Hills in Stirlingshire.
I’ve really enjoyed the experience with this company. The soap bars that I tried were circular, which did slip out of my hand a lot more than a rectangle bar, but the circular shape does make the soap feel more premium, somehow.
If you want a more in depth review, visit my mens soap bar main page here.
Pros
- Small UK Business – I am big on supporting small UK businesses, rather than the corporate machines
- Value for money – £0.63 per wash, compared to £1.10 per wash with Dr Squatch (which is also a bargain for a ‘premium’ soap)
- Transparency – The soap bar weighs what it is supposed to (i ordered 3 and there was only a very small discrepancy both up and down)
- Smell – Scottish Fine Soap’s soap actually smells nice. It’s not overpowering, but not under scented like Dr Squatch.
Cons
- Marketing opt out – This might seem a little bit of nitpicking, but their marketing emails don’t have an unsubscribe button, so you have reply to them to unsubscribe.
- Shape – Another one that might sound petty (I have to really think hard for the negatives, to be honest!), but the shape of the circular soaps (which do look and feel more premium) did tend to slip out of my hand a lot more than the rectangular bars.
- Variety – It was difficult to think of any other negatives in comparison to Dr Squatch. The number of scents available from Scottish Fine Soaps is plentiful, but not quite as much as Dr Squatch (But a spin on this is that Scottish Fine Soaps care more about quality, than quantity).
You can visit Scottish Fine Soaps here
The Black Stuff
The Black Stuff is a small Irish soap company owned by John Larkin and run by a very small team. I didn’t hate the experience with thier soap, but after trying the other companies, it’s just not a company I would revisit.
If you want a more in depth review, visit my mens soap bar main page here.
Pros
- Small Irish Business – Feels better to small a small company, rather than a big corporation
- Value for money – £0.46 per wash, compared to £1.10 per wash with Dr Squatch (which makes it the cheapest, so far)
- Transparency – The soap bar weighs more than it was supposed to (by a fair chunk)
- Smell – The Black Stuff’s soap actually smells nice. It’s not overpowering, but not under scented like Dr Squatch
Cons
- Variety – It’s pretty limited on the number of scents available compared with Dr Squatch (and a load of other companies)
- Feeling on skin – It’s not as bad as the cheap soap, but when I was using it, It kept doing that ‘dry’ tugging, which was not pleasant at all.
- Customer Service – It’s a bit of a bit or a miss. I contacted them and never got a reply, but I contacted them again 9 days later and got a response.
