A few months back someone posted a pretty funny commercial for some fairly expensive men’s soap called Dr. Squatch. I can’t seem to locate the original thread but here is the commercial.
https://youtu.be/cjEK7qQKRDY
The commercial made me laugh pretty good, which does not happen much, so I figured I would give it a try.
Hopped on Amazon and picked up the 3 pack sampler for like $25 or so. Never in my life have I spent anywhere near that on Soap for myself. I typically rotate Irish Spring and Safeguard. Whichever is on sale but also to rotate fragrances so my nose does not get used to one.

I got the Pine Tar, Cedar Citrus, and Gold Moss.

Started off with the Pine Tar. Hot Damn was this bar awesome!! Popped open the box and the entire bathroom smelled like a pine forest. Has little chunks of pine needles that act as little scrubbies.
Skin had a little added softness and was smooth but did not feel all gooey. So the bar at dang near $8 a bar I was actually not too put back by spending that much on soap.

That bar came to an end after about 3 weeks. I was fairly excited to give the next a try. So I popped open the Cedar Citrus. Had a nice fragrance but only within a few inches of your nose did not make the whole bathroom smell nice.
It too had little pine needles as scrubbies which is the only positive. The smell was a little bit cedar, no citrus that my nose picked up, but mainly just smelled like parafin wax. Bleh! As for skin smoothness like with the Pine Tar, Nope, nope, and nope. Felt pretty dry run your finger down your arm and it kinds of skips instead of sliding smoothly. So it sucked but I paid $8 for it so I wasn’t going to not use it.

Next up Golden Moss. Couldn’t be worse than Cedar Citrus now could it? Yup, sure can smells like absolute crap. Can’t really put it into words. Thankfully it is a light fragrance so it does not fill the bathroom nor can you really smell it after you towel dry. It is a smooth soap with no scrubbies so that is no good. Only good thing is my skin feels nice like with the Pine Tar.

So Pine Tar huge winner.
I’ll buy one more 3 pack. Pine Tar. There is a Peppermint and Eucalyptus I would like try.

Thanks for the follow-up report, but no way, no how am I payin' $8/bar for soap.

Bar soap weirds me out.

Body wash in a pump bottle please.

I too am a body wash enthusiast. Since I began losing my hair, I even quit buying shampoo. A perk, I guess.

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Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I too am a body wash enthusiast. Since I began losing my hair, I even quit buying shampoo. A perk, I guess.

I still use shampoo as most bar soaps dry my scalp out and a dab of shampoo is much milder. I have splurged on shampoo bar soap, which was quite nice.

Nothing in the world is better than Original Vitabath Green. I buy it in quart pump bottles, and it's always in my shower.

But I agree about the Pine Tar-- it fills the bathroom up with the invigorating scent of pine. (Vitabath does the same with the wonderful smell of horsechestnuts.) My other two were Nautical Sage, or something like that. Meh. And the other one I've totally forgotten for the same reason, not at all memorable. I would buy Pine Tar again, but it's the only one.

Because of that thread, I bought a couple of bars....out of curiosity. The ad was quite convincing. But there are two things that I didn't like about that bar soap:

The square shape. That may sound petty, but it would NOT stay in the soap tray in my shower. It kept falling into the tub. Again, that may sound petty, but it pissed me off.

More importantly, it dried my skin out terribly. Especially this time of year when the air is dry anyway, no way I'd use this soap.

It smells great and I'm sure they make it with all good ingredients, etc, but it's not for me.

Thanks for the info...I was considering trying some of that and now I might!

I have been hooked on the Duke Cannon soaps and love everything about them except when new they are so damn big!

There is a woman that makes soaps and jewelry and has a booth at the local farmers market. I was scoffing at her soaps as my wife was looking at the other goods, and the woman actually told me to take a free bar and just see if its good.

I chose a charcoal based bar, and holy crap did I ever eat my words. This was by far the best soap I've ever used, and my skin was so much better after using it.

I've been a solid customer of hers for over three years now, tried new varieties but usually return to the charcoal version most often.

It's definitely opened my eye to the specialty soaps out there, and encourage everyone else to give it a try. It may not be for you, but then again, it just might!

quote:

Originally posted by Kevmo:
Thanks for the info...I was considering trying some of that and now I might!

I have been hooked on the Duke Cannon soaps and love everything about them except when new they are so damn big!

Why not just cut them in half?

I'm a Kirk's Cold water Castile fan and have been for decades.

The Pine tar actually smells like Pine and not 4 day old campfire ashes? I tried another brand of pine tar and everyone thought I was up all night drinking around a bonfire... I liked their ads but was reluctant to buy an $8 bar that I'd never use.

Make your own. It's really not difficult. I've been doing it for nearly ten years now.

Although, I did buy one of the Duke Cannon bars awhile back just because I loved the scent of it and was trying to replicate the scent. They do make a good chemical free all natural soap that lasts forever (due to the size and the fact that they use beef tallow as a base...it makes a very hard bar, not unlike lard).

I've been using the Harry's "Stone" scent bar soap recently, $3.99 at Target. Still more than the previous stuff, but it has a manly scent and just makes be feel good in general. I mean, I'm worth it...

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
I'm a Kirk's Cold water Castile fan and have been for decades.

Definitely!!

its about the only thing I buy at Walmart

Guess I'm just too cheap to opt for this sort of extravagance. I rotate between Lever and Irish Spring, which ever meets my fancy that day and they do the job a soap should do.

Duke Cannon's cooling cubes in a cold shower on a hot day are perfect.

Haven't tried Dr. Squatch, so I'm glad for the review here.

Mostly, we just buy the bulk packs of original Irish Spring at BJs, so I'm always up for trying something better.

-Rob

Duke Cannon makes a consistently good soap. I’ve tried the “El Cuatro” pack, their Lump of Coal (activated charcoal), the hunter’s soap (really does deodorize to an impressive degree), and their “Productivity” bar, which smells like menthol. Every one of them has been good to me, no dried out skin or funky smells. Almond bits in the soap for scrubbing. And the bars last a good, long time. I get a few months out of a bar, showering daily. I even use it in my hair, works great. Can, and do recommend their products.

Haven’t tried their beer and whiskey soaps, and won’t, but they seem to get good reviews.

quote:

So Pine Tar huge winner.

I agree great soap, just couldn't get pass the price. In my head I keep hearing that old saying, "More money than brains"

$8/bar is pretty steep.

I use peppermint Defense Soap shower gel. It smells great, cleans great, and doesn't dry out my skin. It has tea tree oil, which is antimicrobial and antifungal, so it protects against skin ailments like heat rash and jock itch. It can be a little pricey in small quantities, but I buy the gallon jugs and refill a small pump bottle, which brings the cost down significantly.