When I use a new bar soap, I have a few nonnegotiables: It must not be overpoweringly scented, too drying, or leave residue on my skin. I also have to feel clean after I finish my shower because, really, that’s the whole point. Though I use a SoapStandle to elevate my bar soap, if the soap gets too goopy while it sits on my shower shelf, I won’t repurchase it.
Keeping all these things in mind, I set out to test 11 popular bar soaps at home and in our lab. At home, I used each bar of soap in the shower and noted how my skin felt, how comfortable each bar was to use, and whether I liked its scent. In the lab, I placed weighed chunks of each soap under cold running water for 20 minutes to find out how much would dissolve. The bars with the smallest weight change would likely last through more uses. Using data from CR partner, SkinSafe, we also assessed the ingredients of the top bar soaps we tested. Their database scores personal care products based on the most common allergy-inducing ingredients identified by Mayo Clinic.
