Soap instead of shower gel

[Firstaidnovice]

Just wanted to say that based on a thread I read on here probably a few months ago, I swapped my shower gel for soap (I think the original thread was about deodorant, as OP felt a bit whiffy not long after showering, but lots of people recommended switching shower gel for soap instead).
Anyway, the difference is remarkable! I went to a stupidly hot soft play with DS at the weekend, where I had to follow him round the bloody playframe for an hour, (which is a whole other thread!), and still felt pretty fresh that evening, which I never would have been before. Same for the mornings, I usually wake up feeling a bit stinky because I seem to get very hot overnight, but no more! I'm just using Simple soap bars, two for £1. Amazing!

I have envelopes! That'll do.

I've just used the johnsons baby soap with honey and it's lovely. Small bars but was on 4 for £1 and nice shape to hold. Lots of lather, smells like soap!

Where does this seasoning thing come from? Any links?

I am visiting Mull for half term, I will ask the place I buy my soap from.

I have just bought a bar of Nivea Bluberry and milk soap in B and M- 39p
Cant wait to try it tomorrow....

Think I might have to start showering three times a day to try all these soaps.

Barchester, I think the idea is for any residual moisture in the soap to evaporate, allowing it to harden and therefore last longer in the shower. Hopefully someone more science-y will be along with a better explanation soon!

Isn't that the same as the curing time which 4-6 weeks for hand made soap. As I buy hand made stuff rather than make I am not sure I buy into the seasoning thing but each to their own!!

Re the curing soap thing... Yes, handmade soaps need a curing period, but this can be a matter of hours rather than days, depending on how the soap is made. The further drying period also depends on the initial water content and the desired final water content/hardness. Traditionally a hand-made soap will be cured for at least a month, but a competent and perhaps experimental soap maker can produce an equivalent bar in a few days.

Commercial soaps are completely cured before they are made, since they are made with an ultra fine ('milled') soap powder which is pressed into blocks under intense pressure. HOWEVER it has been my direct experience that all soaps improve after a drying period. What do I mean by improve? Well, yes they get a bit harder as water content lowers, although this is barely appreciable in a modern commercial soap. But what also seems to happen is that they get a bit milder. This is most noticeable in a hand-made soap - the difference between one at a couple of months old, and a couple of years old is marked. It is also true of bog standard supermarket bars. It isn't in the slightest bit necessary, but the old-fashioned approach of putting them in your underwear drawer for a few months is really not a bad idea at all!

I don't know why this process happens. I have asked this question of soap chemists several times over the decades, but no-one has an answer. In a hand-made soap the pH carries on lowering a tiny bit over time, but mildness is not in fact directly related to pH, and the pH difference is very small, so I do not think this is the reason. It is a mystery.

Other than making your clothes smell of whatever your soap smells of I still don’t buy into it.

The soaps from Covent Garden certainly don’t improve after a year, quite the opposite in my experience. So much that I switched to the Mull ones in 2014 because I can buy a year’s worth at a time without deterioration if I choose to.

Just come across these which sound good, might give them a go! Saw them on feel unique and went to browse the site
https://www.soapsmith.com/collections/handmade-soap-collection

Well, I have switched and won't go back. I am using Seaweed soap from Highland soaps , bought in Pitlochry in Scotland. I think it depends on the type of soap as to how drying it is, but i have suffered from itchy skin for a long time and it's stopped since using soap. I also feel much cleaner. All those empty plastic bottles are so bad for the environment too.

I've started a proper exercise regime.
Out of bed, straight on to the cross trainer for 20 minutes (meant to be more but I'm trying!) then morning shower.
After getting my heart rate pounding, I'm sweaty. Very sweaty.
But my pits smell of fresh sweat not BO.

The above is post soap.
After using shower gel, I would be a bit whiffy in the morning before shower, even without the exercise

Unexpected side effect, I've always had raised rough spots/bumps on the backs of my upper arms, not sure it would quite qualify as keratosis pilaris but certainly on the same wavelength. I've always used those exfoliating gloves every day in the shower with shower gel but since switching to soap (I'm 3 bars in now!) the bumps are gone! And the ones on the back of my thighs and bum are on the way out too. Amazing, and all I have changed is shower gel to soap.

Also I am dead excited that this year I can ask for soap for christmas as I always struggle when Mum asks me what she can buy me :-)

What. Is. This

Dearie me

Virginity soap?

Bloody hell, no

This is what I use for washing myself www.thebodyshop.com/en-gb/favourites-old/top-rated/body-polisher/p/p000739

It's like a scrunchy ( I can't stand them) except it's flat. Gently exfoliate and the "cloth" washes and dries really quickly so much more hygienic.

I have bought the more Japanese "cult" ones (Salux) but found them too rough and much bigger and bulkier than the Bodyshop ones. I have a collection of the Bodyshop ones incase they stop making them - they actually come in various colouors.

Omg ,how weird!!

Oh! I didn't realise that so many of the soaps that we love are full of animals fats www.crueltyfreekitty.com/bath-body/cruelty-free-and-vegan-soap-brands/

Possibly it makes one's vagina so uncomfortable it closes up completely, Josh.

Vile.

Ouch

Isn’t that list about testing on animals as opposed to using animal fats?

no.
fat is needed to make soap.
traditionally it was from animals (including whales) = cheap or from vegetable oil = expensive.
nowadays cheap oil comed from
palm but animal fats (by-product of food production) are still used.