Benton Dear My Best Friend Bar Review

 

I was pretty chuffed to be chosen by Benton to try out their new Dear My Best Friend Soap Bar.

Containing a whopping great 8 different vegetable oils, this face and body bar is suitable for blemished skin, sensitive skin and even dry skin (which is somewhat surprising as it's hard not to equate soap with stripping and drying properties).

It's a naturally derived cold press soap.

The soap comes with a lathering net.

 

So let's look at these fulsome ingredients:

 

Cocos Nucifera (coconut) Oil, Elaeis Guineensis (Palm) Oil, Olea Europeaa (Olive) fruit oil, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Macadamia Integrifolia Seed Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Oryza Satvia (Rice) Bran Oil, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Ocimum Basilicum (Basil) Extract, Avena Satvia (Oat) Kernel Flour, Citrus Unshiu Peel Extract, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Powder, Calamine, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Moringa Oleifera Leaf Extract, Papain, Hamamelis Virginia (Witch Hazel) Leaf Extract, Honey, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Extract, Propolis Extract, Kaolin, Centella Asiatica Extract, Laminara Japonica Extract, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Chamaecyparis Obtusa Oil.

 

 

I was a bit surprised to see Coconut oil as the first ingredient as I had thought of this as a comedogenic, even though Benton say that the soap is suitable for blemished skin. Likewise the inclusion of the Olive and Avocado oils. But I'm guessing that because these are such rich oils these are included for the moisturising side of the claims - however, if I had acne prone skin, I may be cautious about using a product like this on my face.

 

Check out the CosDNA website for a closer look at the ingredients.

 

On a brighter note, there are a lot of skin saviours in the ingredients. The Cacao Seed powder is rich in antioxidant polyphenols and minerals which helps to manage sebum and dead skin cells (as does the oatmeal, papain and basil extract). And for sensitivity issues you have the calming ingredients such as Calamine, Centella Asiatica and Chamaecyparis Obtusa Oil.

 

 

I haven't used a bar of soap on my face for years - I'm thinking more than twenty years ago even. The last time was when I used some Clinique facial soap and that was even too drying for my skin. So I was a bit reticent to use this on my face - I was thinking more in terms of the whole family using it for a body bar - particularly as it's recommended for bumpy and rough skin, which is something that the males in my house suffer with.

But if I'm going to test something - I'm going to test it out properly!

 

 

Packaging

 

The soap comes in a cardboard box which is printed up to look like a postcard - I'm guessing the idea behind that is that you are sending your face and body some love and care in the form of soap! Either that or it's so it would make a nice gift for your best friend. The soap also comes with a foaming net (which has a drawstring to hang up in the shower so it doesn't go all soapy-gooey in your soap dish).

 

The bar itself is a nice solid natural and earthy-looking brown colour with a similar postcard design and the product name imprinted on the front of the soap bar.

 

 

Scent and Texture

 

The soap does have a slightly grainy texture so it's not something I would use directly on my face. It has a slightly herbal scent - I can mostly smell the Lavender and Tea Tree. Texture-wise, when using the foaming net, the foam is quite creamy and does foam up well. If you take the soap out of the net you can definitely feel the oils. This does make the soap bar get a lot more squishy and soft, which is something you find with soap that contains more natural ingredients.

 

Application

 

My first use of this product was surprisingly pleasing! I lathered up the soap in the net and used the creamy foam on my face on the first evening after receiving it (I did use a cleansing oil first though). Being a soap bar I didn't put any of the foam near my eyes, but inevitably, some did get in my eyes, and as I suspected, it did sting!

I was ever so slightly amazed that my face didn't have that squeaky feeling that you can get when using soap and didn't feel that it had been stripped of my natural oils.

In fact, I purposefully stayed away from any other skincare products for a good fifteen minutes to see if my face felt tight or dry, which it didn't. It actually felt really, really soft.

The soap bar travelled with me the next day to the gym, where I used it in the shower afterwards, using it inside the foaming net as an exfoliating wash.

And then it made it's way into the family shower where it got it's most uses. I've directed my husband and sons to use it to see what they think about it, but the answers from them have been pretty non-committal!

 

 

Thoughts

Unfortunately, my initial impression after using this on my face turned out to be a bit of an anomaly! When I used it in my morning routine as my first cleanse, I was shocked at the difference in how my face felt afterwards compared to the first test. My skin was all the things I had worried about - so dry and tight, and worse still, it actually caused some angry looking patches of skin on my face. I don't know if it was related, but I got a couple of itchy bumps at the top of my cheeks which is usually where I get a reaction to heat or irritants. So it just proves that you need to keep trying with testing out a new product to get a more honest view of how products might react and work over a period of time.

This fared far better as a body wash. The foaming net worked well as an exfoliating mitt too. When using in the shower the usual expected scent of a body wash was somewhat absent - there was a scent but it wasn't one of the major components in the experience.
Would I choose to use this in the shower over a shower gel or body wash? Probably not - there was something slightly anachronistic about using a bar of soap as the only cleanser in the shower. I don't think the men in my house minded too much as their showering is all about getting in - getting clean - and getting out quickly.
However, I personally expect a lot more of a show in my shower and sadly, for me, this soap bar just didn't have the bells and whistles that I want from a body or a face cleansing product.