If you use bars of soap instead of gel what do you use?

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Just that

Went to a holiday cottage and there was a glass jar with unwrapped bars of soap in there and I brought one home with me, huge bar and smells vaguely familiar. I'm coming to the end of it now and am desperate to find some more.

It's a white bar, no name on it. First thing I thought of was Camay but can't seem to find it anywhere.

So I need to find a replacement if my beloved soap can't be replaced, any suggestions gratefully received

Pears (even the new formula) is my favourite for getting your skin squeaky clean.

Does anybody remember that shower soap in the 80s that was also a deodorant? It had a marbled effect and my (long distance) BF at the time used it. I kept a bar under my pillow when we were apart!

Dr Bronners soap - the almond one is my favourite - all natural oils, leaves your skin lovely and soft, I even use on my face (and I have sensitive skin and eczema)

Floris soap - any that I get given.

Shield is the shower soap that was a deodorant - I saw a multipack in the supermarket the other night and the old (prob 70's in my case) advert ran through my head!

I do use Clinique soap on my face. A friend who also used it claimed a bar of Dove was a close dupe and that a consultant told her that but it brings me out in a rash/makes my eyes itchy so it's not for me.

Lush soap for me, any type. They make the bathroom smell amazing. I do also use it on my face every morning. I used love shower gel, now it feels slimy.

Dove, but has to be the Extra Sensitive one. It's the only soap or gel which doesn't give me thrush.

Damediazepam, do you use soap on your body? You can use E45 wash on your.body though aswell as your face.

I love a posh soap and do use them on my face. If they have been aged properly they'll last forever and not damage your skin. I buy them in TK Maxx, my favourites are Arran Aromatics and Asquith and Somerset.

My favourite soap is Maja soap as first used on holidays in spain as a young child. It really is divine.
But from the supermarket Dove is the best, and also Johnsons baby soaps.

Sounds like Dove or Lux or Camay

I still love Pears. And Lux. And like imperial Leather.

Floris for special. And Roget and Gallet.

I love castile soap, both unscented (that slightly tart and puckering natural soap smell) and lavendar-scented. I learned how to make soap at home, it is hugely satisfying to be able to control the process and the ingredients! I also love black soap on my face. It suits me better than any cleanser that I have ever tried..

Big bars could be Lux, Camay, Imperial Leather, Nivea...

I used to love opening a new bar of soap as a child. Looking at the clear writing or pattern stamped on it before it faded and then the imperial leather sticker standing proud as the soap dissolved.

I like shower gel in the shower; it's quick and easy but yes, it does disappear very fast. But I can't really get on with hand gel at the basin, much prefer soap.

The funny thing was that DH said yesterday when I went out, "can you buy some really nice soap for the basins, I think we deserve that. I didn't really think too much about it but bought three bars of "Rose" from M&S. Now people have mentioned L'Occitance I should have bought that really. I bought dd some of their lemon verbena shwr gel as a wrap up for her birthday and it was divine.

Nesti Dante soap is divine, huge bars that last ages. DH uses shower gel and goes through at least 8 bottles to my one bar of soap.

I used to use moisturising body wash but find that if I use soap I don't have such dry skin. The list of contents in the body wash is alarming.

I haven't used soap for years. Why I wonder. I think I got the idea it would dry my skin.

Dove. I remember a lot of years when we could not afford it (early careers, both working full time, expensive full time childcare, London mortgage so cheap soap was the way to go) and then one of my teenagers daughters bought a bar. Eventually I felt we could splash out. Now it's Dove. I don't like gels at all. I like the feel of real soap.

Anyone save the remains of soap and p ut them together into one big bit to save money? People did that in WWII and some still do. I am not that poor that I need to do that any more. I will always remember the Tuppence to Cross the Mersey autobiography series where the poor 12 year old did not even have soap at home so the children all went to school smelling. We are lucky to have water and soap.

Where do you store it? I'm getting all sorts of flashbacks. A plastic soap case for travelling. Floral soap containers. Shield. Imperial leather. Soap on a rope.

Funnily enough I remember those days too and have bought supermarket own soap every since .

My mother still keeps soap ends and does that; she keeps butter papers too and always puts one on top of a roasting chicken.

I use Marseille soap when I can get it, otherwise Occitane.

I have dry skin and since I swapped to soap it has got much better. Wouldn't think of using shower gel again. I love the clean feeling you get with soap.

I think it's a good background to have - to remember that scrimping and saving as it means you know you can live on a lot less if you have to. My mother in law was the one who showed me how she saved ends of soap and put them together to make a new bar. I still have qualms every time I throw away a soap which is not quite finished as it feels a waste. I am not sure if this next generation who are the grandchildren of the war years parents though will be the same although actually my older daughter is very good at this so perhaps it's genetic or her grandparents' war years mentality has passed down.

The interesting point in life if your income rises is do you keep increasing expenses or do you keep some things still quite cheap to buy so thast you have more of a surplus and can save (obviously the latter tends to be wise). I am afraid these days I could not even tell you the price of Dove without looking it up like an MP not knowing the price of milk.

I lived in Germany as a child and was obsessed with mail order catalogues - the world of plenty and endless possibilities! One of them had a soap saver, a plastic contraption with a handle, and a promise that it would make a lovely marbled bar from the remains. I've never tried it but have often thought about it.

My mother was and still is extremely frugal and for some reason she disapproved soaps on a rope (Fenjal?) - another thing that makes me nostalgic.

Treaclesoda I agree about that unwrapping a bar of soap is immensely pleasurable. Red I completely agree about the pleasure of knowing that you can survive on much less. I do enjoy making things from scratch, mending and making do.

Thanks for the name Fizrim. So it's still on sale? Maybe I should buy some for DH, or is that better left in the past...?

I store soap unwrapped in drawers and wardrobes as perfume. Then the old hard bars get used in the shower. Learned behaviour from DGM.

I usually just weld the final sliver onto the bottom of a new bar. I couldn't possibly throw it away.

I agree with RedDaisy's final paragraph. We still watch the pennies. DH walks to the closest Tesco to buy his lunch every day. I have a jar of coffee at work because bought coffee is a treat and extravagant just once a day!

Simple is the best - we are a rather eczema prone house and recently tried Dove but now I have come out in eczema so it's back to Simple.