DH and I disagree about Soap 😳

[anotherdaytosmile]

DH has put a fresh bar of soap out today, his trusty Imperial Leather. He thinks it’s a classy soap based on his childhood perspective in the late 1970s. I think it’s one step up from carbolic. I want Jo Malone soap 😢

AIBU - imperial leather is pure luxury
AINBU - what next, waxy toilet paper?

I have ordered some persimmon soap ( intrigued and a bit put off by the "eliminates Old People Smell" ) but I am 60 "Officially Older Person Territory" so I'll give it a try

I’ve ordered some too, very curious as I used to see it advertised in magazines for getting rid of ‘old person smell’ - its apparently a thing from about forty and I’m 55 so I’m game.

I read a tip last night that behind the ears is one of the most important spots to use it on 🤷🏻‍♀️

So you’re assuming you have this smell because of this advert? How do you know?

I’m 72 and the only smell behind my ears is perfume.

I think your DH and mine were separated at birth.

DH has Imperial Leather too. Refuses to use anything 'with bits in' or something that 'smells like food' - herbs or similar! I normally choose soap from Etsy from a small business which are often so gorgeous!

I let him use what he likes. He is also VERY hairy, so I'd rather use my own soap anyway 😧

Nope. This is a fun thread, go and snipe at someone else.

I wasn’t suggesting otherwise. A thing exists, I want to try it. That’s all.

We have entirely separate toiletries. It’s just easier. Especially bubble bath.

imperial leather is fine. so is jo malone or handgrafted from a market stall.
I like to mix it up so I don't get used to one scent and can look forward to the next.

You can't smell behind your own ears, so who knows what they smell of!

You can rub your finger behind your ear and see how it smells.

Exactly - but I know the back of my neck gets sweaty . Combination of menopause , my hair making my neck hot at night , I wear a hat at work and I have earrings in which I don;t change as often as I might so they trap shampoo .
Maybe something I should add to my glow-up list . Change your bloomin' earrings
I have Waschie pads which are great for washing the back of my neck, face and behind my ears in the shower .

Anyway - soap will be tested out .

Everyone except me?

I love dove, DH prefers shower gel.

Imperial leather is a good soap but you could get your own? Xx

Ew stinky old man soap! My partner's grandad used it. It's a nice enough soap and he says it's good for shaving, but it's not for me!

Have your own individual soaps and products like we do! It's the only solution 😂

I love MN for the weird and lengthy discussions of things like this!

I was literally just thinking that very thought!

The poll is 50/50. This is not helpful MN

Can’t you have both ? My other half prefers shower gel , I prefer lifebuoy soap which is carbonic. Life and let live , it’s a bit controlling to want to ban a soap that he likes

Things happen after a Badedas bath.

😂😹

Soap is made by mixing a fat together with an alkali

Most of the time today, the fat is palm oil, and the alkali sodium hydroxide (lye). Read the contents: "sodium palmate" -> palm oil, "sodium laureth" -> coco, "sodium olivate" -> olive. If it's a liquid soap, there's water first (sorry, aqua, looks so much better on the label).

In the 70's some soap was still made from animal fats and suchlike, so it made some sense to advertise soaps of vegetable oil as upmarket. But in 2026 few people wash with a boiled mix of beef tallow and potash, so you might like to know what oil your soap is made from.

I switched to olive oil soap (Aleppo, Castilia, Marseilles...) because I don't like what I hear about palm oil plantations. Olive oil soaps are also supposed to contain more glycerin which is a good moisturiser.

Imperial leather is sodium palmate (so palm oil) and glycerin is taken out in the industrial process, to sell in other moisturisers.

more science there: https://redandhoney.com/the-science-of-soap-why-all-bars-are-not-created-equal

For everyone hating on bar soap:

1. It’s self sanitising and antibacterial
2. hand wash pumps are NOT
3. Far more likely to find bacteria on a hand wash pump than a bar of soap

Both full of perfume and nasty stuff not good for our skin or our waterways!
get a savon de Marseille or a simple soap that just does the job

Oops I read that sodium laureth sulfate is actually an industrial saponified oil, usually derived from petrol! Coconut oil gives sodium cocoate. Who'd have guessed.
I should just say teams Marseilles and not make a fool of myself trying to repeat science.