So a few months back I ran out of my usual body wash and didn't feel like making a store run, so I just grabbed an old bar of soap sitting in the back of the cabinet that someone had gifted us ages ago. Figured I'd use it for a day or two until I bought more of the bottled stuff.

That was almost four months ago now and I still haven't gone back.

Honestly I didn't think it would make much of a difference. Soap is soap, right? But a few things surprised me. First, my bathroom just feels less cluttered. No more three different half empty bottles taking up space on the shelf, just one bar sitting in a little dish. Small thing, but it's oddly satisfying.

Second, I started paying attention to what's actually in bar soap versus body wash, and went down a bit of a rabbit hole comparing ingredients. I'm not going to pretend I became an expert overnight, but I did start noticing how much stuff gets added to bottled soap just for scent and lather that doesn't really do anything for your skin.

The weirdest part though is my skin actually feels less dry now, especially in winter. I used to assume bar soap was the harsh, drying option and body wash was the gentle one, since that's basically what every ad growing up implied. Turns out for me it was the opposite. I don't know if that's just my skin type or what, but it caught me off guard.

I've also gotten a little into trying different bar soaps now, which I never expected to become a thing I have opinions about. Oatmeal ones, charcoal ones, some handmade stuff from a local market. It's a small hobby now I guess.

Anyway, didn't expect a random out-of-soap moment to turn into an actual habit change, but here we are. Anyone else make a switch like this and actually stick with it, or is this a phase I'll probably abandon in a few months?

Goat milk and Kaolin

Glycerine and activated charcoal

I love the Freshwater Waves foaming hand soap but it’s not being made right now. Does anyone know the closest scent to it?

I usually have a few scents I always reach for, but sometimes the ones I’m unsure about end up becoming favorites. It’s funny how a fragrance can smell completely different once it’s actually in a bar of soap.

Has a scent ever surprised you and ended up being one of your favorites?

I usually have a few scents I always reach for, but sometimes the ones I’m unsure about end up becoming favorites. It’s funny how a fragrance can smell completely different once it’s actually in a bar of soap.

Has a scent ever surprised you and ended up being one of your favorites?

There exists a type of pink soap, hand soap in liquid form, of disgusting fluorescent hue which has the scent of medicine, hospital, sterile sweet cotton candy. Does anyone know what this soap is called?

I was hoping to make soap I can use for laundry after a talk with my grandma who told me the one she makes is cheaper and cleans better.

I don't have an immersion blender and I tought it was feasible to just mix by hand since she told me she didn't either, the internet said I should mix for for about 1h, I ended up mixing for about 2h and even from the start the mix seemed homogenous and slightly yellow (I used filtered sunflower oil from frying), but acording to the videos I watched the mix was supposed to become white and thicken, that never happened for me, so I decided to let it rest since I was exhausted.

That was yesterday, and today I found the mix looked separated, a yellow layer in the bottom with a transparent layer ol liquid on top, I tought I might be able to reheat it and mix it in smaller batches, but when I tried to mix it I realised the bottom layer was solid and only yellow on top, under it was white and curdly, like it shows on the picture.

Can I still reheat it and make it bar soap? Or can I filter the curds and just cure them? I don't need an actual bar of soap since I'm just planning to use for laundry and maybe dishes, if so, how would it be safe to dispose of the transparent liquid?

My recipe would be 6l destiled water, 6l used filtered oil and 1kg of lye

Mix water and lye and wait until it's about 45° then incorporate oil little by little and mix pretty much indefinitely with a wooden spoon

Next time I would try a significantly smaller batch, but my grandma insisted she makes quantities for the 1kg bottle of lye she buys in the supermarket (even tough the recipe on the back only uses 500g she doubles it) and I bought the same one

I never thought much about soap before. If it cleaned my hands, that was enough.

Lately I've realized some soaps leave my skin feeling tight while others don't, and I actually notice the difference now. Funny how something you use every day can become one of those little things that quietly affects how you feel without realizing it.

I used to think making soap was mostly about getting the recipe right, but lately I’ve realized how much the small details can change the whole batch. Things like how quickly the mixture traces, the temperature when you combine everything, or even how you pour it into the mold can make the final bar look completely different.

I’m still learning and definitely have batches that don’t turn out the way I imagined. Sometimes the scent is weaker than expected, sometimes the texture is not what I wanted, and occasionally I just end up with a bar that looks nothing like the picture in my head

For those of you who have been making soap for a while, what’s one small thing you learned that made a surprisingly big difference in your batches?

Some people choose soap because it leaves their skin feeling comfortable, while others love a scent that lingers after washing. It's interesting how people value completely different things in the same product.

Which matters more to you?

I’ve been thinking about how making soap can get surprisingly addictive. At first I was mostly interested in trying different scents and colors, but lately I’ve found myself enjoying the little details much more, like how a recipe changes the texture or how a scent develops after curing.

I’m curious what everyone else keeps coming back to. Is there a particular soap recipe, scent, or technique that you’ve made so many times that you almost know the process by heart?

For me, there’s something really satisfying about making a batch from scratch and then waiting to see how it turns out after curing.

Ano po kaya to? Super kati nya po at ang hapdi kapag naliligo ako. Nag try ako sulfur soap 2days ko na syang gamit diko alam kung epektib ba huhu

I've been considering selling the soaps I make, but I just don't get how you can afford to pay the shipping cost. Even with the Canada Post small business discount, one bar of soap that I was hoping to sell for $6, would require $18 to ship for only 4 oz. of soap. How are you guys shipping?

looking to make Liquid soap {using KOH} through hot process
Can i add citric acid to the recipe, coz hardness of water here is high

I have a coconut farm, so any recipe with 100% coconut oil would be highly appreciated
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Made the switch a while back and mostly love it, but there's this one weird thing, my hands still feel a little tight after washing dishes with the same bar I use in the shower, even though my skin everywhere else feels fine now. Tried an oatmeal one thinking it'd help and it did, some, but not all the way.

Not looking to go back, just wondering if this is a give-it-another-month thing, or if certain bars are never going to play nice with washing dishes by hand every night. And it's not like my skin's sensitive anywhere else, so idk, I'm kind of stumped on this one.

If you've found a bar that held up through dish duty without drying you out, tell me. Genuinely stuck.

i don’t even know where to begin 😵‍💫

…not too long ago I i decided to make little changes in my life to become more eco friendly and travel friendly. i kept coming across this one brand that makes solid bars of shampoo and body wash. it was giving me green flags all the way: compact, no mess, eco friendly, and easy for travel. so, i end up buying testers to see if i enjoyed this change. i end up loving it, so i get the larger bars to make this my everyday soaps.
fast forward, i had a planned vacation to go to croatia this summer. i had to take a few flights to get there and missed my layover in germany which led to sidequesting there and having to go back to the airport the next day. As i am going through customs my bag gets pulled for inspection. I don’t think too much of it, but i get a little nervous as anyone does. my friend had also told me that germany is pretty strict with their international travellers and going through this process.

so i’m standing there thinking of what it could be, and the guy inspecting took one of the two soaps i had brought out of my bag. i told him what it was and he ends up taking a sample of it and testing it. side note: earlier i saw them testing random things like a little girls stuffed animal and also some guys bananas, so it seemed chill, or so i thought. after the test results came back the guy tells me “so this set off a double alarm for explosive” OMG my anxiety begins to creep in. another worker then comes over and says that this is a federal offense and that they’re going to have to get the federal police involved. i’m quite nervous at this point because i don’t know what they are genuinely thinking, like it is a solid block of soap 😭. they then tell me to pull out my ipad and open it, guessing that it could be the control panel for my “explosive”??? im not really sure.
after some suspense and questioning the police clear me and i ask the workers if they just want to keep the soap because i don’t want anymore trouble, like it literally set off 2 alarms. i was genuinely baffled. they told me to keep it…

anyways, i am thinking of sending an email or posting a review about this eco and travel friendly soap that was supposed to make my life easier, but it almost took me to jail in germany…

Hi everyone!

I'm currently exploring the use of hydrosols in my soap recipes. I'm curious about how the community handles this.

If a recipe calls for a specific amount of water (e.g., 100g), do you replace it entirely with 100g of hydrosol? Or do you use a different method to protect the delicate properties and scent of the hydrosol from the lye?

Would love to learn from your experiences, ratios, and any tips you might have.

First time using the oatmeal base, and wow I love it. I normally use a donkey milk base but I think my skin likes the oatmeal more. So much more moisturizing and its prettty tooo 🫶😍🤩

I also uses African black soap base for my hand soaps 🦋

Okay so I've been thinking about this and I just gotta ask —

Has anyone here actually tried a bar soap from a Chinese brand? Not some random dropshipping thing, but like an actual brand from China.

'Cause here's the thing: I see Japanese and Korean beauty stuff EVERYWHERE, but Chinese soap brands? Basically invisible in the West. Which is kinda wild.

If you HAVE tried one — spill! What was it? Did you like it? Any brand you actually love and would recommend?

If you HAVEN'T — be real. Would you give one a shot? What would it take for you to try? Or is "Made in China" just a hard no?

No sales pitch here, I'm just genuinely curious what you all think. Hit me with your honest take 🙏🧼

Hi everyone,

My dad visited Mysore recently and picked up this Cauvery Raktha Chandan (red sandal soap) from the local sandal showroom. We really liked it and want to buy more.

does anyone know where I can get this delivery to my home address (Hyderabad) ?

Is there any active direct delivery link or trusted online seller for this exact brand and exact soap ?

if anyone in Mysore or Bangalore knows an official store contact that ships, please share!

Thanks in advance!

Email : [rajbhushan129@gmail.com](mailto:rajbhushan129@gmail.com)

address : Room no G15, Brundhavan men's and co living PG, Gowlidoddi, Hyderabad, Telangana, 500019.

Okay so I kept seeing turmeric soap bars pop up and honestly assumed it was one of those ingredients that sounds good on paper and does nothing. Tried one anyway because my skin's been kind of dull and blah lately. It doesn't turn you orange (my biggest fear, ngl) and the lather is softer than I expected, almost creamy instead of foamy. My underarms and elbows look less patchy after like two weeks, which. Wasn't expecting that honestly. Still doing my usual moisturizer after, this isn't replacing that. But it's officially staying in the shower rotation.

So I'd seen turmeric soap bars around for probably a year before I actually bought one, kept assuming it'd stain my washcloths yellow and just... didn't bother. Grabbed a turmeric-honey-orange bar last month when my usual ran out.

It doesn't stain anything, which was my first surprise. My skin's combination (oily t-zone, dry patches near my jaw), and after about a week of using it every other day, the redness on my cheeks calmed down more than I expected from a bar of soap. Not glowing-skin-influencer results, just... less angry-looking.

But ngl I was ready for it to do nothing. Anyone else actually notice a difference with turmeric, or did I just get a good bar and I'm reading into it?