Clean Bar Box Subscription Box Review – December 2015

Clean Bar Box is a subscription box that delivers you handmade artisan soaps that are free from preservatives, animal products, petroleum derivatives, parabens, and sodium lauryl sulfate.

This box was sent to us for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

The Box: Clean Bar Box

The Cost: $14.99 (monthly; four 2.5 ounce bars), $19.99 (monthly; two 5 ounce bars and two 2.5 ounce bars), $19.99 (every other month; two 5 ounce bars and two 2.5 ounce bars).  Save with 6- and 12-month subscriptions.

Good to Know: Prices are going to go up about 10% starting in January due to increased postage costs and other fees.  However, current subscribers and anyone who signs up before January 1 will be locked in at the current price.  Also, Clean Bar Box now offers soap dishes made from recycled chopsticks in their shop!

The Products: Four new scents of seasonally-inspired soap every month.  All ingredients are sourced in the USA and handmade in Indiana. 

This is a review of the large box, which you can purchase on a monthly or every other month basis.  I love the eco-friendly packaging inside!

Ships to: US (free).

Note: Lots of other countries are available in the drop-down list in the sign-up window.  I can’t tell how to calculate shipping for those countries, though.  I’d suggest e-mailing them if you are interested and live outside the US.

ACTIVE DEAL: Save $3 off your first box!
CODE: FIRSTBOX

Check out the Beauty Subscription Box Directory for more great bath- and spa-oriented subscriptions!

Each box includes an information sheet with the month’s theme and descriptions of the included scents.  This month, ingredients are also listed on the letter.  This is good since the small bars didn’t come with ingredients labels inside the little bags this month.  Although the ingredients are usually pretty similar.

Cinnamon Latte Soap (5 oz) – Value $7.50

If you’ve read some of my other reviews, you’ll know I’m not a fan of the scent of coffee.  However, it’s not super strong here, and coffee does make an excellent exfoliator.  This soap contains coffee grounds and I actually think it smells pretty good.

Candy Cane Soap (5 oz) – Value $7.50

This has an invigorating peppermint scent, but it’s also festive.  I like the red and white marbling.  If you shower in the morning, this would be a good one to use to help wake up! 

Note: Most of this month’s bars are not yet available in the Clean Bar Box shop, so I’ve just used prices from other full-size bars and linked to the main shop.  You should see them there soon if you are interested in ordering. 

Pine Tar Soap (2.5 oz) – Value $3.75

I don’t think I would’ve known this was supposed to smell like pine tar if I hadn’t read the letter.  It’s one of the more masculine scents for the month and it has lots of great exfoliators (charcoal, sand, ground oatmeal).

French Vanilla Biscotti Soap (2.5 oz) – Value $3.75

There’s always, at least, one soap that makes me hungry and this month, it’s this one.  What a nice dessert fragrance!

In the past, the small bars have come with ingredients lists on pieces of paper inside the canvas bags.  I didn’t see those this month, but the ingredients were listed in the letter that came with the box (and the ingredients are generally pretty similar from soap to soap with Clean Bar Box).

Verdict: I calculated a value of about $22.50 for the December Clean Bar Box.  This is a subscription where you always know what to expect in terms of value.  I think they do a really good job at choosing seasonal scents and I also like the soap; this subscription has got me using a lot more bar soap than I used to!  Prices are similar for handmade soaps on Etsy on a per-ounce basis, too.

I also like that you can get smaller soaps in the small box or choose every other month delivery.  Either would be a good option for a smaller household that doesn’t use quite as much soap.

What did you think of the December Clean Bar Box?  Do you get any soap subscriptions?