Short of washing your mouth out with it, using one of the best bar soaps can be a wonderful experience. Sure, performing your libations with a body wash feels like a more modern way of keeping fresh and clean, but if it’s been years since you last considered using its simpler predecessor, let us remind you of why the humble option is actually superior.
Selfish reasons first: It’s cheaper. Selfless reasons follow close behind: It’s much better for the environment. If it’s the scent-layering benefits of opting for body wash that you’re concerned with, know this—even the most affordable pharmacy pick can smell quite lovely. After something with a bit more olfactory oomph? There are oodles of designer brands infusing soaps with the same best fragrances for men going into their aftershaves and, yes, their body washes.
If you’re sold on it, prepare your loofah or flannel and explore the rarely explored yet wonderful world of bar soaps.
The Best Bar Soaps, at a Glance
Best overall bar soap: Dove Beauty Bar
During the pandemic, did we have to Google if Dove’s “Beauty Bar” is, in fact, soap? Yes, we did. While it’s not technically soap (a term for when lye is added to an oil, creating a product that gets you clean but can be stripping), it is a cleansing bar that deeply moisturizes your skin. Considering how hydrating and luxurious this eminently affordable bar feels, it’s amazing to think that it actually cleanses you, too.
Best luxury bar soap: Aesop Body Cleaning Slab
The brand known for making the chicest hand soaps in the most identifiable bottles also has a veg-based soap that is made with bergamot rind, ylang ylang, and Tahitian lime. The soap is packed with hydrating oils that leave your skin feeling soft and clean; however, it’s not the most hydrating option if you’re someone with extra dry skin.
Best hydrating bar soap: Drunk Elephant JuJu
One of the most effective bar soaps you can buy to cleanse without drying the skin, there’s more to this Drunk Elephant bar than just good juju. It combines bamboo powder with thermal mud to remove dead skin cells and rid of any excess oil at the same time, leaving pores unclogged and skin brighter.
Best Affordable Bar Soap: Pears Transparent Soap
At just over $8 for two bars, Pears’ Transparent Soap is one of the most effective products you can pick up at Boots using just the change in your wallet. Like every brand worth buying (Cadbury and Heinz among them), this is an establishment that’s been perfecting its craft since the 19th century.
The Best Moisturizing Bar Soap: L’Objet Bois Sauvage
The embossing on this soap bar alone is enough to make you feel cleaner: not wholly surprising given that Elad Yifrach’s L’Objet is all about designing quality products that are also functional works of art. Beautifully minimalist and extremely nourishing, it’s packed with walnut and Moroccan argan oil that make for a luxurious lather.
The Best Natural Bar Soap: Weleda Calendula
A product of one of the best affordable moisturizers of all time, Weleda also excels in its soaps, using natural ingredients in its lightly scented, creamy vegan Calendula bar. The next time you’re adding Skin Food to your grooming haul, throw in a bar or two of this as well.
The Best Exfoliating Bar Soap: Molton Brown Black Pepper Bodyscrub Bar
A magic trick of a soap, Molton Brown has combined exfoliant with cleanser in this scrubbing bar. The brand’s popular Black Pepper scent (comprised of vetiver and oakmoss) has been supercharged with Madagascan peppercorn oil, meaning you’ll be revealing smooth skin underneath the wonderful lather you conjure up with this one.
The Best Purifying Bar Soap: Erno Laszlo Sea Mud
Reap the benefits of a therapeutic mud bath from your own home, care of Erno Laszlo’s Sea Mud deep-cleansing bar, enriched with 26 minerals that work together to detoxify, protect, and restore the skin. Key to its formula is glycerin (to moisturize), palm kernel oils (to stimulate cell regeneration and balance complexion,) and charcoal (to decongest clogged skin).
The Best Citrus-Scented Bar Soap: Creed Aventus
Creed has solidified its signature scent here, with a bar that’s scented to match the ever-popular Aventus cologne. That means those same enticing notes of blackcurrant and Italian bergamot, calville blanc apples, and sparkling pineapple. It’s a combination that works as well spritzed on your wrists and neck as it does lather into your hands and body. Perfection.
The Best Floral-Scented Bar Soap: Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir
A fabulously scented option, a Jo Malone bar of soap lets you set an irresistible base layer for your aftershave and fragrances. Coming in Lime Basil and Mandarin or best-selling Pomegranate Noir varieties, you’ll receive a skin-nourishing, shea butter-infused square that’s absolutely popping with florals and fruits.
The Best Woody-Scented Bar Soap: Dior Eau Sauvage
Fragranced with notes of one of our favorite scents in the Dior family, Eau Sauvage, this soap will leave you feeling and smelling your best. The timeless men’s scent’s top notes of citrus revive, with its woody heart of pure vetiver and spicy, oriental base makes for a bar that’ll fast transform your signature scent.
How we test the best bar soaps
Contrary to popular gossip regarding men’s hygiene, we’re a very clean bunch at British GQ. As such, between us we’ve tried a metric tonne of soaps, both bar and liquid. Between our Senior Commerce Editor, Rob Leedham, and Senior Commerce Writer, Jessie Atkinson, we’ve tested all of the products on this list. Each bar has found its way here due to its effectiveness, lather, and scent.
This piece has been syndicated from British GQ.
