Anyone use a soap bar instead of shower gel?

NIMAN · 02-05-2019 3:36am #1

I was dandering around the supermarket the other day and saw a Dettol soap bar for sale. Had a sniff and quite pleasant. Didn't buy it yet though.

I haven't used a soap bar in years, last being the Imperial Leather blue sporty one. I remember it always had a distinctive smell.

But like many I'm sure most have been using liquid shower gels for years.

But wondering if anyone here still sues a soap bar, or could recommend one for me to try. Don't mind paying good money for a luxury one either.

bertsmom · 02-05-2019 3:43am

I'm not a guy but I love a bar of soap in the bath for shaving my legs and I really recommend L'Occitane shea butter soaps. They are triple milled so very dense and last ages and don't get those horrible unsightly cracks in the bar.
Shea butter is nice and moisturizing too so skin doesn't feel dry after.

NIMAN · 02-05-2019 3:46am

I'd be concerned about fragrance in that case though, I'd like something maybe aimed more at men.

freshpopcorn · 02-05-2019 3:59am

The only Men's soaps I ever really see are the one's in gifts sets at Christmas. I don't spend ages looking for them tough in boots/etc.
I have a funny brand and a Ted Baker one.
If you Google it tough you get up a few things.

02-05-2019 4:01am

I use soap. Same one for years. Don't like shower gel at all but it's what I used when I was young.

bertsmom · 02-05-2019 4:07am

I know what you mean some soaps aimed at the female market can be heavily fragranced towards a more perfumed end but I think the L'Occitane one has just a fresh and clean aroma not really perfumed at all.
However I'm sure a guy will be along with better suggestions for you I know myself the next time I'm buying soap I want to buy a more locally produced soap with good ingredients and I've been recommended to try Sophies Soaps based in Westmeath but has an online shop so fingers crossed for her soaps as I've looked up her soaps online and love her ethos and quality of ingredients etc.

NIMAN · 02-05-2019 4:10am

Would love there to be an Irish soap out there I could try, always willing to support Irish firms.

Sorry about that · 02-05-2019 4:59am

There’s a really nice tea tree bar of soap available in pretty much all of the health shops, green cardboard packaging, and it’s lovely. It only costs around €3, but isn’t Irish, nearly sure it’s Australian. My husband settled on this a few years ago and now it’s all he’ll use, even brings it when we go away!

NIMAN · 02-05-2019 5:15am

I see there is an Irish soap, called IRISH SPRING

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Irish-Spring-Deodorant-Original-3-Count/dp/B0014CTST2

liquoriceall · 02-05-2019 6:46am

Not sure where in the country you are but there are loads of Irish soap companies. The Galway market has a lady selling ones she makes and in limerick the same. I'm a woman and like you had only used shower gels for years but there is increased evidence linking liquid shampoos and shower gels to breast cancer in women so I now only use soap bars, shampoo and conditioner bars and face soaps. Several of my friends and family members have switched also and none would go back.

Zorya · 02-05-2019 6:57am

I'm with the gals on here, and glad to see that I'm not the only one. It's one of my little luxuries in life - handmade soaps with lovely smells made using natural ingredients. Really for a couple of bob they bring a lot of pleasure. The smell and feel of them are just lovely, would put you in a good mood. For men, fragrances like sandalwood, cedarwood, bergamot might be popular. Tea tree too, though for me tea tree makes my skin react, but that's just an oddity. I have to buy special soaps now for himself or else he steals mine and uses them all up!

Anteayer · 02-05-2019 7:05am

Those fancier soaps work very well and don't seem to dry my skin as much as some gels.

There's a huge amount of waste involved in plastic bottles of gel.

In general, it's getting a bit ridiculous. Even for household products it's become increasingly difficult to find washing powders. They're mostly liquids all of a sudden and I much preferred the idea of a cardboard box.

Ireland's somehow producing more plastic waste per capita than any other EU country and it seems that the retailers and manufacturers keep pushing more and more towards plastics containers of liquids.

The one thing you do need for soaps though is a proper wall mounted soap dish that lets them drain and dry.

Eire Go Brach · 02-05-2019 7:15am

I have been using soap for years. Ever since I got my mortgage. One of my cost savings things at the time.

Now I just prefer it.

It’s cheap
It’s not cold like shower gel
Not wasting a lot of plastic
I don’t really see the point in shower gel. Sure you spill a lot as well.

I just use dove. Nothing fancy.

dastardly00 · 02-05-2019 7:28am

NIMAN wrote: »

I see there is an Irish soap, called IRISH SPRING

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Irish-Spring-Deodorant-Original-3-Count/dp/B0014CTST2

That's made by Colgate

Anteayer · 02-05-2019 7:32am

Irish Spring is a US soap brand. It's nothing to do with Ireland and wasn't ever produced here.

Marketing wheeze based on Irish landscapes being fresh etc.

ArthurG · 02-05-2019 7:51am

NIMAN wrote: »

Would love there to be an Irish soap out there I could try, always willing to support Irish firms.

Why not just google it then :rolleyes:

https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&source=hp&ei=tZLKXLvEIZClUv3GsoAG&q=irish+made+soap&oq=irish+made+so&gs_l=psy-ab.1.1.0l3j0i22i30l4j0i22i10i30j0i22i30l2.644.5098..7232...0.0..1.258.1351.10j3j1......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..35i39j0i131.9JPOACgJbic

noby · 02-05-2019 7:56am

Find myself starting to go back to soap, for a few reasons - less plastic packaging being one.

I had shaving soap that lasted me years, need to get another one now.

texas star · 02-05-2019 8:11am

I'm also big soap fan Dove for years oh and imperial leather.I always wash my daughter in it too nothing beats smell of soap of her skin for a cuddle at night before bed.Buy a soap dish with a lid otherwise keeps melting in shower.

circadian · 02-05-2019 8:20am

NIMAN wrote: »

I was dandering around the supermarket the other day and saw a Dettol soap bar for sale. Had a sniff and quite pleasant. Didn't buy it yet though.

I haven't used a soap bar in years, last being the Imperial Leather blue sporty one. I remember it always had a distinctive smell.

But like many I'm sure most have been using liquid shower gels for years.

But wondering if anyone here still sues a soap bar, or could recommend one for me to try. Don't mind paying good money for a luxury one either.

Aye I usually wash with dove or something not very strong smelling first then a quick blast with some shower gel afterwards. I find the bar of soap seems to do a better job of making me feel clean.

As for Irish soaps, try this https://marblehillonline.com/product/soap-off-cuts/ you might find something you like in their off cuts and you can't get much more local than that!

skallywag · 02-05-2019 8:52am

Keep it simple lads, the green Palmolive is the way to go. Lovely lather, nice scent.

Now, going back a bit, my grandparents would have had this red bar of soap at their home, which would have been a modest small farm in rural Ireland. This particular soap was found in a lot of homes at the time I remember, it was red in colour with a somewhat antiseptic smell. I wonder if anyone else knows/remembers what I mean, I'm trying to recall the name ...

homer911 · 02-05-2019 8:53am

Eire Go Brach wrote: »

I have been using soap for years. Ever since I got my mortgage. One of my cost savings things at the time.

Now I just prefer it.

It’s cheap
It’s not cold like shower gel
Not wasting a lot of plastic
I don’t really see the point in shower gel. Sure you spill a lot as well.

I just use dove. Nothing fancy.

Same here, except for the mortgage

noby · 02-05-2019 8:56am

skallywag wrote: »

Keep it simple lads, the green Palmolive is the way to go. Lovely lather, nice scent.

Now, going back a bit, my grandparents would have had this red bar of soap at their home, which would have been a modest small farm in rural Ireland. This particular soap was found in a lot of homes at the time I remember, it was red in colour with a somewhat antiseptic smell. I wonder if anyone else knows/remembers what I mean, I'm trying to recall the name ...

Was it lifebuoy?

skallywag · 02-05-2019 8:57am

noby wrote: »

Was it lifebuoy?

That instantly sounds familiar, may well have been

ike · 02-05-2019 9:03am

skallywag wrote: »

Keep it simple lads, the green Palmolive is the way to go. Lovely lather, nice scent.

Now, going back a bit, my grandparents would have had this red bar of soap at their home, which would have been a modest small farm in rural Ireland. This particular soap was found in a lot of homes at the time I remember, it was red in colour with a somewhat antiseptic smell. I wonder if anyone else knows/remembers what I mean, I'm trying to recall the name ...

I'd say you could be thinking of Carbolic Soap

artanevilla · 02-05-2019 9:05am

Wright's Coal Tar soap. You can get it in Tesco. Can't bate it.

El Tarangu · 02-05-2019 9:06am

dastardly00 wrote: »

That's made by Colgate

Their ads are great though - make us all seem clean and manly (albeit in a somewhat homoerotic way).

Seve OB · 02-05-2019 9:10am

skallywag wrote: »

Keep it simple lads, the green Palmolive is the way to go.

Lol. That's not simple.

I actually keep it simple.

A bar of Simple Soap. No perfume, no smelly crap, just good clean soap.

02-05-2019 9:11am

Soap all the way for me. I find it much handier to use. Cheap too and less plastic to dispose off.

_Brian · 02-05-2019 9:13am

Always use carbolic soap on the hands after farming or gardening.

I’m afraid in the shower its head and shoulders all over.

eviltimeban · 02-05-2019 9:14am

I use Simple soap bar. I find I like to wash all over with that first, especially the face and head (I've a shaved head).

I have a face / beard wash which I use as well, and sometimes use a scrub.

Then I use shower gel, the Radox purple one.

ryaner777 · 02-05-2019 9:20am

Highly recommend https://www.palmfreeirishsoap.ie/ Especially if you are being environmentally conscious

Based down in Clare and incredible value

Have used their https://www.palmfreeirishsoap.ie/online-shop/thyme-travel-shampoo as a shaving soap with a safety razor and it's excellent.

BarryD2 · 02-05-2019 9:24am

Always use soap myself, but some of the stuff they sell in supermarkets is rank. God knows what they put into them to make them stink that way.

If you like more natural stuff recommend you try traditional lavender soap. Not the synthetic efforts from the bigger brands but soap made with lavender. Here's one I like, which you can often come across in health food type shops here: http://www.emmanoel.fr/cosmetique-beaute-soin-bio/fr/product-detail/cat/savonnettes-savons/savonnette-lavande

Doctors room ghost · 02-05-2019 9:30am

Do ye use the soap for washing hair aswell or shampoo

Day Lewin · 02-05-2019 9:31am

A plus-one on the Dettol soap: plastic-free packaging, nice fresh smell that is clean and bright but un-gendered - and totally unlike the bottled Dettol!!

It's our favourite soap but hard to find in shops: so I snap it up by the half-dozen whenever I find a cache.

Shower gels and pump-dispenser liquid soaps make for a lot of packaging waste.

Tabnabs · 02-05-2019 9:39am

Shower gel often contains microbeads of plastic, that's the lumpy little bits you think are added to make you scrub cleaner. If actual balls of plastic you're washing in and then flowing down the drain. They are banned in many countries, Ireland is not one of those places however.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/35261018/why-microbeads-in-shower-gels-are-bad-for-marine-life

02-05-2019 9:59am

Me. Bit harder to wash off residue, that's why I use shampoo not gel instead of soap when I buy it.

Stoner · 02-05-2019 10:00am

NIMAN wrote:

I was dandering around the supermarket the other day and saw a Dettol soap bar for sale. Had a sniff and quite pleasant. Didn't buy it yet though.

I started two weeks ago. I got the blue Dettol soap, bought it on Amazon, didn't know dunnes had it.

I gave up shaving cream 7 years ago too. Was a pain when travelling as getting the little cans was difficult. I've sensitive skin and was struggling to get something that didn't dry my face.

So I bought a shower mirror, never looked back....

Heat the blade under the shower first.

Also clean and dry the blade afterwards
, it last longer

Anyway the soap cuts down on plastic.

Still using plastic for other projects. Roll-on is the most wasteful.

But the soap is working, an Improvement on my skin too, its the one for sensitive skin. The Dettol one is regular cardboard too. Just one bag every 5 bars.

Doctors room ghost · 02-05-2019 10:03am

Can you use the soap on your hair or do you need shampoo

antoswords · 02-05-2019 10:04am

Been using bars of soap for years, i just think you get a much better wash out of it. Using Simple Soap, no scent or anything, its perfect. But a new one has come on the market from bulldog, a men's skincare brand, i use their other products and find them excellent. Soaps look really good.

https://www.boots.ie/bulldog-original-bar-soap-200g-10261604p

Keyzer · 02-05-2019 10:06am

I use Wrights tar smelling soap - it sounds a bit mad but it smells lovely.

Stoner · 02-05-2019 10:06am

Doctors room ghost wrote:

Can you use the soap on your hair or do you need shampoo

In the book I Am David, the main character did and loved it.

However it's not for hair unless there's a shampoo soap, and I guess there must be as this stage.

Mundo7976 · 02-05-2019 10:10am

Cant bate the bar of imperial leather

howamidifferent · 02-05-2019 10:10am

I've only always and ever used soap bars. Shaved head so its all I use. Generally the simple soap, bought cheaply in Aldi or Dunnes or the likes. Never liked shower gels. Dont make me feel as clean, just greasy.

Stoner · 02-05-2019 10:15am

Keyzer wrote:

I use Wrights tar smelling soap - it sounds a bit mad but it smells lovely.

I tried that too, but prefer the Dettol. It's only pretend tar now too, but it is good, a bit industrial.

But I agree soap produces a better wash

Here's a shampoo soap list.
https://www.elle.com/beauty/g22815361/best-shampoo-bar/

I'm going to try one. Was was lashing through Nivia shower gel for years. Most other ones dry my skin. With all the pressure on to reduce plastic, I am back on a separate shampoo (Elave) made in Ireland too. Anyway I started using much smaller amounts and discovered that I was using far too much for years.

CosmicFool · 02-05-2019 10:16am

ryaner777 wrote: »

Highly recommend https://www.palmfreeirishsoap.ie/ Especially if you are being environmentally conscious

Based down in Clare and incredible value

Have used their https://www.palmfreeirishsoap.ie/online-shop/thyme-travel-shampoo as a shaving soap with a safety razor and it's excellent.

Only over the road from me and I've never heard of them. Must check them out.

razorblunt · 02-05-2019 10:21am

I picked up a charcoal face scrub soap bar in TK Maxx recently and I really liked it, I'm considering giving one a go for the shower too.

liquoriceall · 02-05-2019 10:30am

Stoner wrote:

However it's not for hair unless there's a shampoo soap, and I guess there must be as this stage.

Yup loads of them around in markets and health food shops etc way nicer on the head

chillyspoon · 02-05-2019 10:33am

NIMAN wrote: »

I was dandering around the supermarket the other day and saw a Dettol soap bar for sale. Had a sniff and quite pleasant. Didn't buy it yet though.

I haven't used a soap bar in years, last being the Imperial Leather blue sporty one. I remember it always had a distinctive smell.

But like many I'm sure most have been using liquid shower gels for years.

But wondering if anyone here still sues a soap bar, or could recommend one for me to try. Don't mind paying good money for a luxury one either.

Yep - we use Oilatum soap bars for the shower; it has a reasonably neutral scent. It's aimed at those with dry skin but is just a nice soap either way:

https://www.oilatum.co.uk/adult-daily-products-for-dry-skin/soap-bar/

Stoner · 02-05-2019 10:38am

Found a link to an Irish soap maker that has solid shampoo (shampoo soap)

So zero plastic, Irish made. I'll give it a go, good thread inspired me to try something different anyway.

https://www.threehillssoap.ie/product-category/solid-shampoos/

khaldrogo · 02-05-2019 10:40am

I exclusively use proper soap. I find the gels leave a residue. With the soap I just feel cleaner.

Rubberchikken · 02-05-2019 10:41am

we buy the Pure soap bars in aldi. 4 for maybe less than 2 euro.
theyre are 2 in our home with sensitiveish skin that shower gels woukd irritate and these soaps are perfect.
have been using them for a few years now. hope aldi doesnt discontinue them:)

Anyone use a soap bar instead of shower gel?

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