Here’s the best bars of soap worth getting in a lather about as sales boom
Here, we test out bars of soap and rate them out of five in our Soap Awards
SHOWER gels are sliding out of favour in the nation’s bathrooms, with more of us lathering up like granny did – with traditional soap.
Sales of soap bars have grown faster than both liquid soap and shower products – up almost three per cent to £68.3million in 2018 from £66.4million the previous year.
But which soaper stars give the best squeaky-clean feel?
Giulia Crouch tests ten bars and rates each out of five in our Fabulous Daily Soap Awards.
Best lather and value: Imperial Leather Original, £1.79, 4x100g – 44.8p per 100g
A CLASSIC bar with a lovely nostalgic fragrance that’s as comforting as a hug from your nan. It lathers easily with super soft foam. Leaves you feeling clean but not dry.
Rating: 5/5.
Best all round: Pears Amber, £1.20, 2x100g pack – 60p per 100g
A CLASSY-looking bar with amber colouring and slight transparency, it also smells great – woody, minty and medicinal, but in a good way. Soft on your skin – and while it doesn’t lather much, it leaves you feeling fresh.
Rating: 5/5.
Best smell: L’Occitane Verbena, £9 for 250g – £3.60 per 100g
THIS luxury bar smells divine. The lemony fragrance is relaxing – great for a hot bath at the end of the day. It’s gentle with a creamy lather full of tiny bubbles that make you feel like you’ve moisturised. Only loses marks on price.
Rating: 4/5.
Dove Shea Better, £2.69, 4x100g – 67.3p per 100g
INSTANTLY the vanillary- buttery scent of this bar reminds me of holidays.
Disappointingly it takes a while to lather up but when it does it’s very bubbly. Not as soft as I’d hoped from the shea butter but it’s a decent soap at a great price.
Rating: 4/5.
Dettol Original, £1.29, 2x100g – 64.5p per 100g
WHO knew Dettol did a soap? Not me, but even so I was intrigued to try it. Sadly it smells just like the cleaning product and is reminiscent of hospitals.
Maybe one for hygiene-freaks. It’s definitely not one to use on your face. It leaves you very clean, but almost painfully so.
Rating: 2/5.
Molton Brown Moisture-Rich Aloe & Karite Ultrabar, £15, 250g – £6 per 100g
A MUSKY soap that, at £15, is the most expensive of the bunch. Looks fancy in silver packaging and smells pleasant with hints of sandalwood and citrus. It feels luxurious and is not greasy or drying. One for blokes as it doubles as shaving foam.
Rating: 3/5.
Body Shop Mango, £2.50, 100g
I ADORE the tropical scent of this soap. It’s sweet and fruity like Starbursts. You do have to give it a good scrub before it lathers up, but overall the feel is smooth and slippery.
Nice to give as a gift or to put in your downstairs loo, but not the best for everyday use.
Rating: 3/5.
Cidal, £1.99, 2x125g – 79.8p per 100g
SMELLS like floor cleaner. Its synthetic lemon is just not appealing. Saying that, it’s very foamy and does clean well.
This is the kind of soap you would want to wash with if you’d just come back from a four-day mud-soaked music festival, but not for everyday use.
Rating: 2/5.
Paradise Berry Burst Bar, £2.99, 100g
IN “millennial pink” this fancy bar looks awfully pretty, but it smells like over-ripe fruit that’s about to go rotten. Others reported it smelt of “wet horse”.
Either way it’s not pleasant. A huge let-down and an expensive one. It also feels irritating and drying on the skin. A bad bar.
Rating: 0/5.
MOST READ IN FABULOUS
Simple, £2.50, 4x125g - 50p per 100g
THIS is the Plain Jane of soap bars. With a whiff of school toilets about it, it’s not a tempting fragrance, but it is very soft and gentle.
This bar is made for sensitive skin and is so soft it could be used to cleanse your face – if you could put up with the stench, that is.
Rating: 1/5.
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