Nice but inexpensive bars of soap

[Beachbodyready]

I love really nice soap with a fairly strong citrus or mint smell. I used to alternate between buying handmade soaps and Waitrose Essential Grapefruit soap which was about £1.50 for 4 bars. I think Waitrose have discontinued it because I’ve tried a few stores over the last 6-8 months and not found it. Can anyone recommend a nice but inexpensive bar of soap that I can buy when I’m saving money for handmade ones.

Faith in nature soaps are nice

Just to add its fairly easy to make cold process soap. It's not for everyone and requires the outlay for the ingredients but they then work out at about 75p - £1 per big bar with top quality ingredients. Eg no palm oil. Not as cheap as the cheapest you can buy but cheaper than many homemade soaps.

It's not for everyone, I get that. But if anyone's interested, it's entirely DIY possible.

I use Dove soap and it leaves my skin soft and doesn't irritate. I wish they did it in a lemon smell though.

The Dettol soap was just the Original one. I see on Amazon they do a Dettol hand wash in Grapefruit. Looks fruity.

@CafeAuLaitRoyale do you make your own soap? If so where did you learn? I've always fancied giving it a go but handling Lye sounds a bit scary!

You can get really nice ones (really big too) for about £7 in TK MAXX

Pears is old but good.

(edited for autocorrect error)

Yeah, another vote for TK Max- lovely Italian triple-milled soaps for not much dosh.

I went a bit mad in Tesco and spent £1 on some Dove soap thanks to this thread... it's Pink and it smells 'nice' I can't really describe it's smell beyond 'nice'
Will it replace my coal tar soap though? I'll give it a go.

At 43 am I going to discover a love of nice smelling soap thanks to you lot?... maybe.. maybe. 🤣🤣

I do. I used to love being really creative with them (colours, patterns etc) but these days don't have so much time so instead I do a blitz where I make a load every other year and we keep it in the airing cupboard and just pluck out a fresh bar when needed.

I dont think I've bought soap for ten years or more.

There are some great easy to follow videos. YouTube has loads and Soap Queen also has some good ones.

Once you wrap your head around the formula to work out how much lye to oil/butter it's easy - but there are also recipes online that will have already done the maths for you.

Lye seems scary and needs respect but it's not neat lye for very long before it gets mixed into the oils which makes it much safer.

Ps I just taught myself by watching vids and reading about it.

I like Faith in Nature. Our local Boots stocks a small selection of them so I bought some recently when they were on sale.

@CafeAuLaitRoyale thank you for the info. I'll have a look at soap queen and youtube. I've already got some of the ingredients from making my own skin balms, shea butter, oils etc. Just not tried making soap yet!

@Beachbodyready sorry I derailed your thread a little.

I agree - love this for a basic hand soap but like a stronger scent for a shower soap.

I've started using pears. It's just an old fashioned type of smell. Not citrus though.
My 7yo loves it after we were provided with it in a holiday cottage

Faith in nature - the aloe one is nice but they also have citrus one

The White Collection soaps in Boots are lovely I like Pomegranate & the Lime & Clove one
https://www.boots.com/toiletries/luxury-bath-body/bath-body-gifts-/the-white-collection-pomegranate-body-soap-150g-10299925?_gl=1176k5go_up*MQ..&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-5X-2YGugQMVRPHtCh2YrgtPEAAYASAAEgKsw_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Your idea of going mad - and mine - are two very different things

Dettol soap smells fresh and lemony.......but goes very mushy quickly which the Waitrose grapefruit did not.

I haven't been to TK Maxx for a while so that's on my list now. And will try Faith in Nature which is on special offer in Waitrose. I used to like Woods of Windsor soaps. Sadly the shop is closed in Windsor, but I shall see of they still have a website
And the lovely L'Occitane also closed.

No doubt. 🤣
If I ever buy anything I do t really need, being on a budget, that's mad for me.. I only got soap a for it ago. I've now got enough to last about a year..

Petit Olivier Marseille soap, I usually get it in TK Maxx, around £3 for a twin pack. The lemon verbena is my favourite. Or if you have a Turkish shop near you, look for Dalan brand, they make a proper Aleppo soap with olive oil (no palm oil) which is so good for your skin.

Just ordered this Cidal soap off Savers online. 2 bars for £1 if anyone is still looking.

The pears lemon flower (green version ) is lovely,,,, really fresh clean scent.

Another for Dettol- it’s my go to soap! Also l’occitane but obviously more expensive!

Irish Spring available on Amazon is very nice.