Pekee Bar

The Pekee Bar has been around since the beginning. It was one of six products that launched Drunk Elephant in 2013, back when Tiffany Masterson was a Houston stay-at-home mom with a blog and a conviction that certain ingredients were causing her skin problems. The bar was part of the original pitch: simple, clean, effective skincare without the 'Suspicious 6.' Over a decade later, it's still on shelves, still sparking the same debate it has from the start — can a cleansing bar really be worth $28?

The short answer is: it depends on what you're paying for. If you're paying for a syndet bar that cleanses effectively at pH 6.5 without the alkaline assault of traditional soap, yes, the Pekee Bar delivers. If you're paying for the innovative, ingredient-forward formulation that Drunk Elephant's other products — Beste No. 9, C-Firma Fresh, Lala Retro — have trained you to expect, the ingredient list might give you pause.

Let's address the elephant in the room. The first ingredient is sodium coco-sulfate. Drunk Elephant's entire brand identity is built around avoiding the 'Suspicious 6,' which includes SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate). The brand's position is that SCS is different from SLS — it's derived from whole coconut oil rather than a single fractionated fatty acid, and research suggests it's approximately 15% less irritating. This is technically accurate. But SCS is still a sulfate. It still has the capacity to strip epidermal lipids from the skin barrier. The distinction between 'sulfate-free' (which the brand implies) and 'SLS-free' (which is what they actually are) is precisely the kind of nuance that ingredient-conscious consumers — Drunk Elephant's core audience — tend to care about.

The supporting cast is modest. Disodium lauryl sulfosuccinate is a genuinely mild secondary surfactant. Wheat starch acts as a binder. Cetearyl alcohol and paraffin give the bar its structure. And then the three hero ingredients: marula oil, honey, and blueberry extract.

Marula oil, Drunk Elephant's signature, provides omega fatty acids and antioxidants that deposit a thin conditioning layer during the wash. In a rinse-off product with a 30-second contact time, the conditioning benefit is real but modest — you're getting a whisper of lipid replenishment rather than a meaningful dose. Honey contributes humectant and antimicrobial properties, drawing moisture to the skin while its natural antibacterial compounds provide a mild clarifying effect. Blueberry extract adds anthocyanin antioxidants. These are all fine ingredients doing reasonable things in a cleanser. They're not doing anything extraordinary.

The pH 6.5 formulation is the Pekee Bar's genuine selling point. Traditional soap bars run pH 9-10, which disrupts the skin's acid mantle (normally pH 4.5-5.5) and can take hours to recover. At pH 6.5, the Pekee Bar is significantly gentler — not quite matching the pH 5.5 of the Beste No. 9, but dramatically better than conventional soap. This means less barrier disruption, less transepidermal water loss, and less of the tight, squeaky feeling that makes people moisturize aggressively after washing.

The texture is genuinely pleasant. The pure white bar lathers into a rich, creamy foam that feels more luxurious than the ingredient list would suggest. It's not the voluminous, cloud-like lather of an SLS bar — the foam is denser, more cushioned, and rinses cleaner. Skin feels smooth and prepped afterward, without the residue that some cream cleansers leave behind.

For oily and combination skin types, the Pekee Bar performs well as a daily cleanser. It removes the day's oil and grime effectively, and the honey's mild antimicrobial action may benefit mild acne. For normal skin, it's a solid, uncomplicated option. For dry or sensitive skin, however, the sodium coco-sulfate can feel stripping despite the pH balance and conditioning ingredients. If you're dry, the Beste No. 9 Jelly Cleanser is the better Drunk Elephant option — four gentler surfactants, more glycerin, and a lower pH.

The bar format has both advantages and limitations. It's naturally preservative-minimal (the current formula appears to need no synthetic preservatives), TSA-friendly, and ecologically leaner than a plastic bottle of liquid cleanser. On the other hand, it requires proper storage to avoid becoming a mushy mess, it's less hygienic than a pump dispenser, and it can't remove heavy makeup without a first-cleanse step.

The paraffin inclusion is worth noting. It's a petroleum-derived wax used as a binder and emollient in the bar, and while it's cosmetically safe, it sits oddly in a brand that positions itself in the clean beauty space. It's not harmful. It's just inconsistent with the aesthetic.

At $28, the Pekee Bar is expensive for what it is. The ingredient list contains eleven ingredients, several of which (paraffin, titanium dioxide, wheat starch) are structural rather than beneficial. The active conditioning ingredients — marula oil, honey, blueberry extract, glycerin — are present but not in concentrations that justify a premium. A 4 oz bar lasts 6-8 weeks with face-only use, which works out to about $3.50-4.50 per week. That's not outrageous, but it's in the territory where you'd expect more from the formula.

The Pekee Bar is a product from Drunk Elephant's earliest days, and it shows. It's simple, functional, and genuinely better than a conventional soap bar. But it hasn't been reformulated or reimagined the way Lala Retro and C-Firma have, and its ingredient list doesn't reflect the formulation sophistication that Drunk Elephant's newer products deliver. It does what it does competently. It just doesn't do enough to justify the gap between its price and its ingredients.

Formula

The Science

The Pekee Bar's primary surfactant, sodium coco-sulfate (SCS), occupies an interesting position in the surfactant safety literature. A 2019 study comparing SLS and SCS found that SCS has approximately 15% lower skin irritation potential than SLS, as measured by cytotoxicity and erythema induction. However, the same study noted that SCS has a stronger ability to interact with epidermal lipids — meaning it may compromise the barrier through a different mechanism than direct irritation. In a cleanser formulated at pH 6.5 with conditioning oils, this lipid interaction is partially mitigated, but it explains why some users experience dryness despite the relatively gentle pH.

The pH 6.5 formulation represents a significant improvement over traditional soap. Research has established that alkaline cleansers (pH 9-10) disrupt the skin's acid mantle, leading to increased transepidermal water loss, impaired antimicrobial defense, and altered enzymatic activity in the stratum corneum. While pH 6.5 is still above the skin's natural range (4.5-5.5), it causes substantially less barrier disruption than alkaline alternatives.

Honey's dermatological benefits are well-documented. Its wound-healing and antimicrobial properties have been studied extensively, with the mechanisms including osmotic dehydration of bacteria, hydrogen peroxide generation, and the presence of methylglyoxal. In a wash-off cleanser, the brief contact time limits therapeutic potential, but honey's humectant properties — it contains approximately 80% natural sugars that attract water — provide meaningful conditioning during the cleansing step.

Marula oil has been clinically evaluated for skincare applications. Komane et al. (Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2015) confirmed its non-irritant profile and moisturizing properties, with oleic acid content of approximately 69% facilitating integration into the skin's lipid structure. In the Pekee Bar, marula oil provides a lipid counterbalance to the surfactant system, depositing a thin conditioning film during the rinse phase.

Blueberry extract's antioxidant activity is supported by research. A 2020 study in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity demonstrated that Vaccinium angustifolium extracts modulate NF-kB and Nrf2 pathways, reducing UV-induced inflammation and boosting endogenous antioxidant defenses. While the contact time in a cleanser is limited, anthocyanins can bind to skin proteins even during brief exposure.

References

1. Safety and efficacy of Sclerocarya birrea (A.Rich.) Hochst (Marula) oil: A clinical perspective — Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2015)

Dermatologist Perspective

Dermatologists generally prefer liquid syndet cleansers over bar formats due to hygiene and pH concerns, but acknowledge that the Pekee Bar's pH 6.5 formulation is a significant improvement over conventional soap bars. Board-certified dermatologists note that for patients who prefer bar cleansers, a syndet bar at this pH range causes substantially less barrier disruption than traditional soap. The honey and marula oil provide modest conditioning benefits appropriate for a rinse-off product. Dermatologists caution, however, that the sodium coco-sulfate may still be too stripping for patients with eczema, rosacea, or severely compromised barriers, for whom a completely sulfate-free liquid cleanser would be preferable.

Guidance

The Pekee Bar was part of Drunk Elephant's original six-product lineup when Tiffany Masterson launched the brand in 2013. Named with the brand's signature playful wordplay, it was designed as a clean-ingredient alternative to harsh facial bars and complicated multi-step cleansing routines. As one of the OG products, it represents the brand's earliest formulation philosophy — though the ingredient list reveals some ingredients (sodium coco-sulfate, paraffin) that sit awkwardly within the 'Suspicious 6'-free positioning the brand later adopted.

About Drunk Elephant Established Brand (5–20 years)

Drunk Elephant was founded by Tiffany Masterson in 2012, and the Pekee Bar was one of the original six products in the brand's debut lineup in 2013. Acquired by Shiseido for $845 million in 2019, the brand built its reputation around avoiding the 'Suspicious 6' ingredients, though the Pekee Bar's inclusion of sodium coco-sulfate has drawn scrutiny from ingredient purists.

Brand founded: 2012 · Product launched: 2013

Myth vs. Reality

Myth

Bar cleansers are harsh and outdated compared to liquid cleansers.

Reality

The Pekee Bar is a syndet bar formulated at pH 6.5 — dramatically gentler than traditional soap (pH 9-10). Modern syndet bars can deliver effective cleansing with conditioning ingredients in a convenient, preservative-minimal format. The key is the surfactant system and pH, not the physical form.

Myth

Sodium coco-sulfate is completely different from sodium lauryl sulfate.

Reality

SCS is derived from whole coconut oil rather than a single fractionated fatty acid like SLS, and research shows it has approximately 15% lower irritation potential. However, it can still interact with and strip epidermal lipids. It is technically a sulfate, and its presence in a brand that markets itself as avoiding sulfates is a legitimate point of tension.

FAQ

Common Praise

"Rich, creamy lather feels luxurious during the wash"

"Skin feels clean and smooth without a filmy residue"

"Fragrance-free and gentle enough for daily use"

"pH 6.5 is significantly gentler than traditional soap bars"

"Convenient, travel-friendly bar format that's TSA-approved"

Common Complaints

"Can feel stripping or drying for dry and sensitive skin types"

"Expensive at $28 for a 4 oz cleansing bar"

"Bar format raises hygiene concerns for some users"

"Not effective at removing heavy or waterproof makeup alone"

"Contains sodium coco-sulfate despite brand's anti-sulfate positioning"

"Bar becomes mushy if not stored on a draining dish"

Appears In

best cleanser for oily skin best fragrance free cleanser best bar cleanser for face

Related Conditions

acne oiliness dullness

Related Ingredients

marula oil honey glycerin