Soaps and lids

Is there any purpose (other than aesthetic) for keeping lids on containers of shave soaps? I mashed up an Arko shave stick into a little plastic container without a lid, and I was wondering if there would be any disadvantages to that. My medicine cabinet smells like Arko soap, and it made me wonder if leaving an open container would make the scent die out after a while or perhaps induce some other negative change?

Thanks,
Zach

I use the lids since I have a bunch of different soaps melted, and I don't want my bathroom reeking all the time. I am guessing it is better long term with regards to scent retention as well.

My Tabac hard soap is cracking at the surface if not covered. So I keep it covered with shaving bowl... The ClassicShaving soap is also covered. It might help stop evaporating oils and scents from it...

Nenad

The scent will fade quicker as stated above.

I ended up putting a cover on mine. But this made me wonder: what about shaving soaps in a mug? Since a mug obviously doesn't have a cover, do soaps in a mug tend to not "perform" as well over time?

Well, the point is that in the good ole days, a gent usually had one brush, one mugh with soap, one razor. The soap used daily will be fine uncovered, but with today's silly soap and creme rotation, the soap may sit unused for weeks. So, I would advice two things: First is to use one soap daily until you ran out of it, and will be fine uncovered, and second is, if you rotate cremes and soaps, cover it...

have fun,
Nenad