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!

Ooh is Nesti Dante the one who do a tomato soap? I'm sure I've not imagined that. It smells amazing!

The marketing bids really sold us one didn't they. All that plastic. And the cost?! Bar soap is so much cheaper!

I use soap everywhere except the kitchen sink. That doesn't sound quite how I meant it ...

And yes, the body shop do still sell those fruity soaps, as well as some nice shea ones.

I’ve swapped to soap too! Years of irritated/itchy red skin on my back and chest every time I got out of the shower - just assumed it was from the hwat( I like my showers boiling). Switched to bar soap after a friend with the same kind of skin issues as me recommended it - never going back to shower gel! Dove bars all the way.

I switched because of that thread too! Just on my armpits, though - I'm using up all of my shower gel on the rest of me. Soap's made a huge difference to the effectiveness of my deodorant!

I did this too after that thread as shower gel had started irritating my skin. What a revelation! My skin is great now, no more itchy skin!!

I'm using up my shower gel, but am planning to switch to soap as well. I read that thread & already have a lovely soap (also from TK Maxx) in readiness. I never used to smell but I've noticed since I've got older I sometimes do notice my armpits if it's been warm. I can take 5 y/o DD to browse the fun squirty hand soaps as well - anything to get her to wash her hands properly!

The other thread said Dove wasn't soap. I've changed from Dove to Simple on the back of the thread and have seen a big difference.

Something about Dove leaving a moisturising layer behind that can stop deodrant working properly....

I’ve used this for years. It’s cool, it’s black, it smells good and it’s soap not gel. I either stick on hols in Spain or get it online if I’ve run out and not heading to Spain for a while.

I've never used shower gel. We didn't have a shower when I was growing up, just a bath. My mum only ever bought bars of soap, maybe she thought that shower gel wasn't for us as we didn't have a shower! When I moved out at 18, I just blindly bought what I had been used to at home. And I still do! It is so much cheaper to use bars of soap than liquid soap or shower gel. They last ages. I buy whatever is on offer really, and am a regular at TK Maxx beauty shelves. I really like fig smelling stuff, and then often have something that floats my boat. Di palomo wild fig and grape soaps which come in a box of three are lovely (from TK Maxx).

I use shower gel sometimes but always have soap - I love it.

I use in the shower the Crabtree and Evelyn one shaped like a shell, the M&S rose one, and various others. In the bath I use my Jo Malone Pom Noir or Chanel No 5 - bot has of which have lasted yonks and make me feel fab.

It was @Haffiana that had all the interesting info about Dove, soap and shower gel on the last thread. I reckon they've got soap factories and are now making a load of money after the shower gel factories have been taking all their business for years

Haffiana - My theory (and er, I am a microbiologist so not entirely a theory!) is that shower gels leave a residue on the skin that stops deodorants working properly. Soap doesn't kill germs and even if it did they would all be back within minutes - soap simply washes off germs. However soap doesn't leave a residue.

Dove soap DOES leave a residue as it isn't actually a soap but a detergent bar similarly designed to leave conditioners on the skin (so-called 'moisturising cream' yeah, right ), and I find Dove also stops deodorant working.

flamingnoravera, I remember that soap from when I was a kid! My dsis and I had collections of "fancy" soaps and I definitely had a small black one like that, which I must have got on holidays some time.

I've always used soap. I just feel cleaner using it,I also use it on my face and normally have a couple of different bars on the go Simple, Imperial Leather and Pears are my go to's but using a Lux pink rosey one just now that's gorgeous. I try loads of different ones, TK Maxx is good as well as craft fairs for handmade soaps.

Also someone was asking upthread, the Body Shop do still sell the fruity glycerin soaps. I had the strawberry one a couple of months ago for DDs (loved it)

I'm interested in the M&S Rose soap - thanks for the tip I love their floral scents

I love soap! Any soap really, I have quite a few good ones that PP have mentioned like l'occitane and Crabtree and Evelyn but I also love cheap soap like imperial leather (white or blue are my favourite) baby soap, dettol and Boots do a lovely basic white one in packs of 4. I also like Boots Royal Jelly range where you can get bubble bath and soap to match. Pound land is great for soap. Pears fans here, have you tried the blue one? Not sure about it......smells a bit odd I think.

I've always preferred soap, not so much for its superior cleansing - although it's gratifying to read about that! - but because I just love beautiful soap bars! I have a large hoard collection of them which I keep in my linen cupboard. All my sheets and towels have lovely soapy fragrance. I love the French Petit Oliver brand that Ocado stocks, and also the Dr Bronner soaps. My idea of heaven is unwrapping a fresh bar!

Interesting thread! I'm planning on moving to soaps - mainly because of the plastic issue with shower gels. Am using up my stash of shower gels currently. I had loads.

For Christmas DH used t buy me every bar of soap that the Body Shop sold when we first started going out. Then I started using shower gels so he switched to that. And I bought a few myself of non Body Shop stuff as I was fed up with them. So had a drawerful.

I have some soaps ready to go. I bought some of those Nesti
Dante Ines from TK Maxx just to look nice in a glass jar in the bathroom so have some ready to go!

When I was in the US last summer I bought a piece of a spongy thing that is supposed to stop soap going soggy. Also bought a nice soap dish in TK Maxx for it.

Will also try to convert DH and DS. Will buy them both nice soaps for Xmas.

I swapped recently too due to the packaging issue. Currently just using some Waitrose soap but looking forward to trying something different. Only thing I don't like is I feel clammy when I'm rinsed off and still wet, but it's fine once I'm dry. Must be the absence of that film / residue from shower gel.
One thing that put me off trying soap for a while was that when I was little I remember it stinging my bits... doesn't any more... weird.

Argh, Le Petit Olivier is what I meant. Bit of a French fail there. I love the lemon verbena one in summer, and the lavender one, or the rose one, in other seasons.

Hello, I'm the OP of the original whiffy-armpit thread a few weeks ago and I'm thrilled to report I'm still smelling fresh as a daisy after my soap conversion!

Even more thrilled that you lot all (mostly!) are too.

The difference is life-changing if you've been a bit pongy for years (and stupidly never really realised why) and like someone else said, I can now almost re-wear a top after one day's wear as opposed to sometimes feeling the need to change my top by about 11am after one short morning's wear. I don't re-wear tops incidentally, but I almost could, which is astonishing.

All my tops are washing better too, no lingering smells and I have managed to stop adding a capful of Dettol to the wash to kill off armpit smells as... there AER no armpit smells! Better for the environment too.

Hadn't even thought about all that awful plastic from shower gel bottles but happy to be using less plastic.

I too am enjoying my showers, there's just something lovely about the tactile smoothness of soap and not feeling like it's a pointless activity showering at all cos you'll start being smelly an hour later

I'm sticking with Imperial Leather for now as it's working so well I daren't ring the changes... worried other soaps won't do the business in the same way!! But I'm sorely tempted by Pears as I love the shape, and if it's true that those fruity Body Shop ones are still around I would definitely try one of them.

Apart from the Dove not-real-soap one (that was helpfully documented by Haffiana) do all soaps work as well? As in, if they're just called 'soap' (cos I think that Dove one is called a body bar or something, which obv isn't soap!) do they all work as effectively to combat smells? Soooo tempted to treat myself to something new but am big scaredy-cat, having found something that works!

Good thing is, it's a cheap luxury so worst comes to worst and I buy a bar that doesn't work it's only a couple of quid wasted (and I can just give it to my DH to use instead, as he's whiff-free anyway!)

So glad I started that original thread! Thanks again to all who posted.

The Body Shop fruity soaps are on three for two as well.

I've got so many good tips I'll be buying loads more soap now

Ah, Jessi, isn't it nice to know you've changed so many lives for the better with your thread 😁? Well, you and whoever gave you the soap tip on your thread.

I've been using up products to switch too. mainly all the plastic !

I'm going to do this when I've used up my shower gel. In the Olden Days when people used to not have showers, just occasional baths, I wonder if they were actually quite clean owing to the use of soap rather than shower gel.

Baaaa. That is my sheep sound. I've just.ordered soap too. I get very sweaty pits and am excited to see whether this helps.