Good, inexpensive bar soap?

[kehern]

wait, are you talking about washing your body or your face? body soap shouldn't go on your face. Were you washing your face with Irish Spring? I only asked because you mentioned your acne. My skin sounds a lot like yours-- dry on my body to very dry in the winter and I have occasional acne. I can't reccomend from personal use, but the Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing Bar gets good reviews and is SLS free. I use girly stuff that costs a lot more but that's probably not what you're looking for.

As far as a traditonal soap made from saponified oils, I use handmade and I get them from auntnancyssoap.etsy.com. If you want to buy something locally I can't help you there. My skin gets so itchy during the winter I scratch myself in my sleep until I break skin. . . so I have to stick with the good natural stuff. If I had to I'd try KMF Olive Oil soap.

I don't use normal bar soap on my face, I just use the Neutrogena Acne Facial Wash. I had used bar soap a few times on my face, out of curiosity, but it ended up just being very very dry, uncomfortably so. My skin does get entirely too dry in the winter. Normally, I just ignore it, but if I can help prevent it, especially with something as simple as changing my soap, then why not! I'm comfortable enough in my manliness to use girly stuff.

[kingfisher]

Good, cheap soap? Yardley. Mysore Sandal.

[DeusVult]

Kirk's Castile Soap is what I've been using for several years. It's about $1.25 a bar around here. Here's the link:

http://www.kirksnatural.com/

Tremendous lather, even with some significant water hardness. With softer water, unbelievable lather. Very natural. I have dry skin in the winter, but with Kirk's it's much diminished. Scent is excellent, unassuming, very mild. This is real soap, in the chemical sense.

I recommend this soap without reservation to everyone on the board. This is one of my favorite products, actually. I intended to make a special post about it, but since this is the thread, it's appropriate.

I use a "pouf" and lather up with this. Without a pouf or wash cloth, one can still get a great bath/shower. Buy a single bar, and try it out. It's cheap! If you're like me, it will be the benchmark for bar soap performance. As I said, the scent is subtle, but smells "clean". I am sure many here will appreciate it.

[goby]

I don't get the difference in terms, but I do know that Dial, Irish Spring, and harsh soap are like acid on my skin, while triple milled French soaps from Trader Joes smells great without that acid like (detergent) feeling. And Anthony's Logistics is great. The good stuff lasts, and at $3 a bar at Trader Joes, they are a bargain. I just picked up Lemon and Green Tea, and they smell great.

[DeusVult]

Soap, chemically speaking, is the salt of a fatty acid. Everyone who's ever had chemistry should know that acids react with bases to produce salts. Fatty acids, while not necessarily corrosive as we think of battery acid, are still acids. So, when fatty acids (palm oil, olive oil, lard, tallow, etc.) are mixed with bases (lye), the resulting substance is soap, the salt of a fatty acid mixed with a base.

Many people are sensitive to non-soap surfactants. Some people are sensitive to soaps as well. But one thing to keep in mind is that soap is something one can make in his own home. Most non-soap surfactants (detergents) are difficult to make at home. My test for most things I consume or to which I expose myself is, "Can I make this at home?"

[guitar2mw]

I use Kirk's. It's a great soap, and it's cheap. It is coconut based though, and this can sometimes aggravate severely dry skin (as well as eczema and dermatitis). I also like to use Sallye Ander soaps (www.sallyeander.com). They have a variety of natural handmade soaps, and I've found that their Milk and Mint soap is very moisturizing (it also smells just like freshly picked spearmint). They are more expensive ($6.95 for 4 oz bar), but it lasts a surprisingly long time. Just leave their shave soaps alone (horrible).

[stljeff]

I'm getting great results from the Palmolive soap that you can get for 3 for $1 at a number of dollar stores.

[MikeLip]

Pears. Our Dollar Tree has it.

[sanuginz]

Cheap and soaps don't combine well for me. I think Musgo is about as Cheap as I'd go for good results and that comes to about $4 a bar shipped.

[timsclips]

dial gold is ok enough for me. yardley oatmeal and almond is good too.

Another vote for Yardley oatmeal soap, $1 a bar right now at the Dollar General stores.

[quickie-cookie]

http://www.colgate.com/app/IrishSpri...N/BarSoap.cvsp

[SalvadorMontenegro]

Dove.

I use the one for sensitive skin. Someone suggested the cucumber version. You might like it, but the scent was so overwhelming that I literally felt sick. I threw away an entire $10 package of six bars.

[nemo]

I would consider reading the informative 1979 article "ALL THAT LATHERS IS NOT SOAP" by Harold Hopkins.

Much of what we think is soap is labeled "bath bar" or "beauty bar" because they cannot be legally labeled "soap" since they contain a synthetic detergent product. Soap (according to the article) is defined by the FDA as a "product in which most of the nonvolatile matter consists of an alkali salt of fatty acids and whose detergent properties are due to these alkali-fatty acid compounds."

Read it yourself here:
http://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/product.../ucm115449.htm

BTW, Yardley's from USA lists sodium tallowate first and is a "naturally moisturizing bar" and is not labeled soap. Hmm.

[koso]

I like the action of the Palmolive but the sharp peppery scent is a little off-putting to me.

I tend to go with Yardley's from dollar store or sometimes Big Lots. The Dial Basic is good too.

Always have a bottle of Dr. Bronner's around as well.

[Austin]

I have used several of Saintcharlesshave bath soaps which are excellent. I also pick up soaps. They are excellent and expensive but you can find giant bars at TJ Maxx for $4. Lavender is my favorite.

[Jwolf24601]

I use Yardley, Pears, and the "organic" rounds from Whole Foods.

[David in Boston]

Since the weather is getting colder and I have sensitive skin I bought a bar last week for a tryout.



Very mild and lathers ok.

Cost is around $2.

[bladebuff]

Lever 2000 - tallow based, great bath soap.

[Geeno]

Kirk's Castile Soap is what I've been using for several years. It's about $1.25 a bar around here.

This post sums up my experience with Kirk's, too. Love the stuff.

[steven1979]

Dove always works best for me, but I get bored of the sent after a while. I buy the goats milk and oatmeal soap from Soap Works. I just bought a bar of their hemp soap yesterday. Trying it out tomorrow.

Soap works are only a few bucks a bar.