Why You Should Wash Your Face With Bar Soap + 11 Best Bar Soaps
Over the years, bar soap has gotten a bad rap. Critics claim that it's unhygienic, drying, and all-around inferior to traditional liquid soaps. And while it's true that certain bars are full of skin-stripping ingredients that dry you out, there's a new generation of bar soaps—for both face and body—on the rise that may just make you reconsider your go-to liquid cleanser.
Why you should reconsider bar soaps:
1. You can avoid irritants easier.
"People run from bar soaps," says Tiffany Masterson, founder of nontoxic skin care line Drunk Elephant. "But they should be running from sensitizers that prematurely age their skin" (think fragrance and irritating chemicals). And where do you most frequently find these sensitizers? Liquid soap. Note: Not all liquid cleansers are evil, but any product that includes water among its ingredients requires a preservative, and that's where things get a little iffy.
"Many liquid soaps, even from natural brands, are packed with drying chemicals, surfactants, and preservatives that I'd rather avoid," explains Sarah Villafranco, M.D., (and bar soap's No. 1 cheerleader). "Bar soap is made with sodium hydroxide, but when the formulation is done right, the sodium hydroxide disappears and you're left only with soap molecules and moisturizing glycerin. Cool, huh?" Formulating into a bar allows you to add a higher concentration of pure, good-for-you ingredients—and leave out common preservatives.
2. Despite past reports, they're actually hygienic.
As for the hygiene argument, it turns out that the risks have been way exaggerated. "Studies about bar soap show that while you may find some bacteria on the bar's surface, it is highly unlikely to cause disease and doesn't stick around after you wash your skin with the bar," says Villafranco. Of course, adds Masterson, you should always keep your bar soap in a cool place on a dish that can drain so that it's not sitting in a pool of water.
3. More eco-friendly.
Among their other benefits, bar soaps are more eco-friendly because of their packaging and are much easier to travel with. Plus, some of the newest natural bar soaps out there are specially formulated to work for face and body, so investing in one can simplify your routine too.
The 11 Best Bar Soaps
If you do decide to make the switch, just know that there is a right way to use bar soap. Don't take the bar directly to your face or body. Instead, both Masterson and Villafranco advise wetting your hands, wetting your face, wetting the bar, and then rubbing the bar in your hands for about 10 seconds before using the lather to gently cleanse your complexion. Same goes for washing your body in the shower.
Osmia Black Clay Facial Soap
This unassuming little bar of soap has a seriously devoted cult following. Formulated with black Australian clay and Dead Sea mud to balance and tone the skin and organic almond, avocado, and castor bean oils to moisturize, this bar is particularly beneficial for people suffering from acne or dermatitis.
Black Clay Facial Soap, Osmia ($24)
SoapWalla Glycerin Soap Bar in Lavender & French Clay
If you're starting to notice a trend here (hint: clay), it's because clay is a seriously effective natural ingredient for purifying and detoxing the skin without using harsh chemicals. This bar mixes French green clay, known to stimulate blood flow and gently exfoliate, with lavender essential oil to calm reactive skin. This is also a great gender-neutral option: It can be used as a shaving cream.
Glycerin Soap Bar in Lavender & French Clay, SoapWalla ($14)
Drunk Elephant Pekee Bar
This is made with a gentle combination of anti-inflammatory blueberry extract, hydrating virgin marula oil, and healing honey perfect for nighttime. Both bars are formulated to have ideal pH levels (6.51) to cleanse without stripping the skin of its protective barrier.
Pekee Bar, Drunk Elephant ($28)
Ethique SuperStar Cleansing Balm
You know those silky, delightfully thick salves or cleansing balms that just dissolve away dirt, dead skin cells, and makeup—while leaving a hydrating oil layer on the skin to keep you moisturized all day or night? This is that, in bar form: It's made with a nourishing combo of cocoa butter, kokum butter, coconut oil, sweet orange essential oil, and castor oil, the cleansing agent they use in place of soap.
SuperStar Cleansing Balm, Ethique, $18
SheaMoisture African Black Soap
This is about as deep-cleaning as washes come. African black soap—which is usually made by mixing plantain, cocoa pods, and palm tree oil—has been used by those with oily and acneic skin for years. On its own it can be drying, so SheaMoisture formulated theirs with shea butter to add a bit of hydration.
African Black Soap Acne-Prone Face & Body Bar, SheaMoisture ($4.49)
Joanna Vargas Miracle Bar
Shea butter is the workhorse in this bar. The rich ingredient smooths skin and is packed with minerals; proteins; fatty acids (all three help strengthen the barrier and improve cell function); and vitamins A, E, and F (to neutralize aging free radicals). Essentially it targets all of the main line-causing culprits.
Miracle Bar, Joanna Vargas, $22
Rocky Mountain Soap Company Natural Bar Soap in Aloe There!
Aloe is a favorite skin care ingredient (for good reason: Aloe is hydrating and anti-inflammatory). That, mixed with fair trade, organic shea butter, makes this a perfect option for dry skin. It also has a touch of peppermint essential oil, which makes this is a distinctly refreshing face wash experience.
Natural Bar Soap in Aloe There!, Rocky Mountain Soap Company ($4.95)
BeautyCounter Charcoal Cleansing Bar
This bar comes with a stamp of approval from the Environmental Working Group, so you know the formula is safe—but it's also highly effective. It's made with Japanese binchotan charcoal, antioxidant-rich organic green tea, and hydrating organic coconut oil, so it will zap impurities in the pores and is soft enough for daily use.
Charcoal Cleansing Bar, BeautyCounter ($26)
Nubian Heritage Lemongrass & Tea Tree Bar Soap
This natural option helps fight breakouts and evens tone. Tea tree oil is a natural antibacterial agent that's been used by natural beauty enthusiasts for years. Combined with anti-inflammatory lemongrass and brightening orange oil, this will give you a refreshing glow.
Lemongrass & Tea Tree Bar Soap, Nubian Heritage ($3.19)
Gallinee Cleansing Bar
This French beauty favorite is labeled a cleansing bar because it's actually soap-free. The active agents are a blend of lactic acid (a gentle AHA that exfoliates skin while being very hydrating), as well as prebiotics to help your skin microbiome flourish. It's also formulated so the pH hovers around a 5.8 so it won't disrupt your skin's natural barrier.
Cleansing Bar, Gallinee ($15)
Lano Egg White Cleansing Bar
This unique cleansing bar is made with lanolin (a thick salve extracted from wool), egg whites, and goat milk. This brand is actually known for their lanolin, which on a molecular level closely resembles skin lipids—so it works very well with your skin barrier. Egg whites are also hailed for their pore-refining qualities.
Egg White Cleansing Bar, Lano ($6)
Victoria Cairo is a former freelance travel, beauty, and lifestyle writer who received her degree from Princeton University. Her work has appeared in publications such as Vogue.com, Travel Leisure, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Glamour, Into the Gloss, Self, Teen Vogue, and Refinery29. She is based in New York City.