I used to think soap was just soap, and now I somehow have opinions about texture, scent, how quickly a bar gets soft, and whether it leaves that weird feeling on your hands.

It's funny how ordinary things become more noticeable when you use them every day.

I don't need anything fancy, but I definitely understand now why some people have strong preferences. A small everyday thing can make a routine slightly more enjoyable, which apparently is enough for me to become unnecessarily picky about it.

I came home and it was like this :(

I bought this soap to help treat my ring worm. It's been helping so far but now it's all cracky and it has yellow spots. It is the KATIALIS SOAP Sulfur Zinc Oxide Salicylic Acid Anti Fungal Anti Bacterial Soap 90 grams.

Two soaps can feel almost identical in use but create completely different experiences because of their scent.

Some scents feel refreshing in the morning, while others seem better suited to the end of the day. And sometimes a scent that smells great in the store becomes something you don't actually enjoy using every day.

Choosing soap can be surprisingly personal for something most people use without thinking much about it.

Guys I bought this soap in Shanghai randomly but OMG I love the scent!! I live in the UK and I need it. I bought and I didn’t realise how nice the scent is. It was really cheap as well. Can someone please help me. I’ve been trying for ages. I don’t know who to ask. I’ve looked online but I can’t find it.

Can you guys tell me your favourite and least favourite body washes?

For context, I've just moved to a place that has year round warm climate. I'm looking for body washes that work well in the heat, lasting scent without being obnoxiously high scented. A product line with a wide variety of scents to choose from would be a plus because I love having different scent options in the shower.

Thank you!

I’ve noticed there are now a lot of men’s soaps and body washes, but I’m curious what actually matters to men when choosing one.

If you could change ONE thing about the soap/body wash you currently use, what would it be?

And what matters most to you:

• Fragrance
• Cleaning
• Not drying the skin
• Skin benefits
• Long-lasting freshness
• Price
• Something else?

Hey everyone, my skin has been looking so dull and sun-tanned lately, and using regular chemical products just dries it out further. I've been looking into traditional botanical options like the Royalveda De-Tan Body Polishing Soap for gentle exfoliation.

Has anyone here tried Ayurvedic soaps for tan removal? How was your experience? Would love some recommendations!

(Product link for reference if anyone needs it:https://royalveda.in/product/royalveda-de-tan-body-polishing-soap/)

https://reddit.com/link/1w0jgp6/video/kzdpwrigf2mh1/player

I recently got Man Made Wash Sweet Tobacco and I like the smell a lot, but the product does not feel like a real body wash. It's too thin and claims to be a "3 in 1" product that also conditions, which I don't think is a real thing. It made my skin too dry. I was wondering if there are any other brands you can think of which might smell similar.

It's a very strong, sweet smell, it smells like an expensive candy made out of rare honey, whisky, spices, vanilla and woody smells. According to Google it smells like Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille.

I only got into soap recently and I have Wood Barrel Bourbon from Dr. Squatch, which smells great, but it does not smell as strongly sweet. I also like Neutrogena Rainbath Original and Baylis and Harding Oud Cedar and Amber.

We use the same bar of soap and somehow mine has always gone way before his.

I rub mine directly on my skin. He lathers his between his hands first.

Never really thought about it until now, but I guess the way you actually use a bar probably makes a pretty big difference.

How do you use yours?

My favorite soap was limited edition, and now I can’t find it anymore. I’d like to make a batch of cold process soap as close to the original bar as I can. I know fragrance blends tend to be proprietary, but is the only option trial and error until I find a scent that’s close enough?

Soap bar is Three Sword Surge from Dr Squatch.

What are your favourite essential oil soap scents? Looking to try something new!

I hope I can reach out to the community with a silly question. Over the last few years, I've noticed that more and more places such as public restrooms and stores will stock foaming soaps. Before, at least prior to the late 2010s, the soaps that I have commonly seen and used were the bar and liquid soaps. I didn't really see foam soaps unless it was in a hospital setting, so I thought it was "specialised" soap. Even then, I have seen surgeons scrubbing in with bar soaps. Is it just me or are foam soaps becoming the more dominant form of soap, at least in the US, today? What are the advantages and disadvantages of foam soaps over other types of soaps, from both scientific/effectiveness and economic standpoints, and why does it seem that it is more common in the market and wider public today?

I was looking into camphor soaps, but vicks also has eucalyptus and menthol. I love that medicated smell. Bonus points if it’s strong. You smell it on your skin after and smells up the whole room, lol. I use these Vicks vapo crystals in the shower and it’s so cozy to me.

I, like many of you have suffered the tragedy that has become of ivory soap. After using it for nearly 30 years the recipe change gave me an itchy rash. Is there anything similar that anyone has found that has a mild scent and does not break the bank?

I spent probably four years cycling through body washes promising to help with the dry, itchy patches on my arms in the winter, sulfate-free, fragrance-free, the works. Nothing actually stuck. What finally helped wasn't a fancier body wash, it was ditching liquid soap altogether. I switched to a bar with oatmeal and honey in it about two months ago (a small brand called Monsuri makes the one I use) and it's the first thing that's calmed the itching down without leaving my skin feeling stripped after. I lather it in my hands first instead of scrubbing it directly on, which apparently matters a lot more than I realized. If you've been fighting the same thing, the oatmeal milk honey bar is the one that worked for me, but honestly even just switching format (bar vs. wash) might be worth trying before you buy anything new.

Sometimes it's the smell, sometimes the texture, sometimes just the way the bar feels in your hand. I've realized that soap is one of those everyday things where the little details actually affect the experience more than you'd expect. A perfectly ordinary shower can feel slightly nicer when everything about the soap feels right.

It's such a minor thing, but I understand why people get very particular about their favorites.

Is there anywhere in the US to get legit donkey milk soap? I found the BEST in Greece but none in the US. My skin was so soft and it smelled so good.

I'm a Gen X-er who REFUSED to jump on the body wash bandwagon when it became all the rage back in the 90s, and have stubbornly held onto bar soaps throughout the decades. And I'm SO pissed that all of the classic bar soaps that we knew and loved have been reformulated beyond recognition. Soaps that always had the reputation of performing WELL and always SMELLING like their distinct scent are no longer the same. Based on my personal experiences, some of these soaps include:

• Ivory. Biggest brand tragedy ever, IMO. It doesn't lather anymore; it no longer floats; and it doesn't leave you squeaky clean, and instead leaves a layer of grease that won't come off no matter how much you rinse, causing clogged pores and pimples. Even its iconic scent is off, and the bar stops smelling like ANYTHING about halfway through anyway. I have like a 100 bars of this trash that I have no idea what to do with. I wouldn't even donate them because THEY DO NOT WORK AS SOAP. What would be the point?
• Zest. This actually performs A LOT like the new Ivory. Insufficient lather, leaves a disgusting slimy layer on your skin that's impossible to rinse off. Also, the scent is sooooo watered down.
• Pears. This used to smell so HEAVENLY about 20 years ago, and now smells like a bar of Listerine lol, and has ingredients like ALCOHOL and SLS. The original formula did NOT have these ingredients.
• Dial in the white bar. It looks like melted, disintegrated chalk when the water hits it!!!!
• Lever 2000: Different performance, and its scent just a hint of what it USED to be!!

I notice that many of these soaps have been reformulated leading with PALM OIL when they were once made with TALLOW. Whether right or wrong, I have now been led to believe that palm oil is the reason so many of these soaps now SUCK. And so now I am hesitant to buy ANY bar soap that has Sodium Palmate as the first ingredient. Thankfully, Dr. Bronner's is STILL reliable and so I can continue to depend on them, but I DID once love changing it up every now and then with another soap, a lot of it for nostalgia's sake (like smelling old school Ivory soap in the shower). I won't be doing that anymore. I don't have money to burn on soaps that don't work!

I know this sounds overly dramatic, but I know I am amongst my people on this sub and that you get me, lol.

I call them “enhanced lard bars” and they are 70% lard, supplemented with coconut oil, a little stearic acid, castor oil, jojoba oil, and lanolin plus some sugar, citric acid, and sodium lactate additives. I don’t do swirls and I mold at mashed potatoes so they come out…rustic. But wow these bars sure are skin friendly.