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Alex Hughart

Professional Soap Expert

Best Luxury Soap & Soap Bar

Featured On:

  • OprahMagazine
  • ElleMagazine
  • CoastalLiving
Shower gels and other bottled cleansers might be more convenient but, if you ask me, nothing can replace a good, old bar of soap. There is something very basic and comforting in the ritual of unwrapping the bar, letting loose its fragrance, and lathering up until you are all smothered in creamy goodness.

Soap-making using aromatic oils and plants with healing properties has been practiced around the world for centuries but the French transformed it into art. Master perfumers, they infused the traditional olive oil soap with scents never imagined before in a bar. Today, artisan soap-makers are combining the ancient recipes with the latest in green body care.

So, which soaps are the best? Castile olive oil soaps? With Shea Butter? Goat milk? The answer is yes! All of them! Some days, your skin needs a little extra pampering, other days you feel light like a translucent glycerin bar. Morning showers yearn for the aroma of freshly squeezed citrus; evening baths might be in a mood for a mysterious floral or assertive spice, maybe lovely rosemary. Scents can take us back in time and away where life unfolds in a silent happiness.

Take this list as an invitation to explore the wonderful world of soap and soon enough, you’ll have your own top ten.

From high lather producing shea soaps, to a hard milled, exfoliating lather of a handmade oatmeal soap, nothing completes the experience until you have chosen the soap that will wash away the worries of the day. Don't think of it as an indulgence, think of it as self-help therapy.Tibesti has chosen the Best for Less.

Best Luxury Soap by Alex Hughart

The Best You Can Get

  • Cote Bastide Milk Soap

    Alex says: A summer house in the morning. Fresh linens and warm pastries. A splash of water and a cube of soap smelling like sweet cream to start the day…. This bar has it all: the look, the feel, the scent!

    • Wt. 14 oz.
  • Roger & Gallet Lettuce Soap

    Alex says: Lettuce? Lettuce has no scent at all, you might say. Let’s put it this way: this bar smells the way lettuce should smell. Bright green and vivacious like frizzy lettuce leaves dipped in rich Shea Butter dressing. Absolutely delicious!

    • Wt. 7 oz.
  • Provence Sante Vervain Soap

    Alex says: Here’s a classic. Vervain, aka Lemon Verbena, is a shrub that believes it’s a citrus tree. The plant with such an inflated ego is more pungent than lemon, orange, and grapefruit combined! It will wake you up better than any pit-bullish alarm clock.

    • Wt. 12 oz.
  • Pre de Provence Beauty Care for Dry Skin Soap with Shea Butter Soap

    Alex says: This is not a soap, this is a salve. When you need to feed your nutrient-starved skin, take this bar and lather up more than once. A very subtle, lily scent perfectly compliments the buttery softness of the base.

  • L'Epi de Provence Ocean and Seaweed Soap

    Alex says: Ah, the seas! A blue-green scent and crunchy bits of seaweed to polish the skin makes this bar everybody’s favorite. It’s the very essence of marine life, captured in a bar of soap.

    • Wt. 7 oz.

You will be happy with any of these

  • Gianna Rose Atelier Hydrangea Soap

    Alex says: A delicate floral of splendid Hydrangea will turn you into a dainty lady even if you are riding a Harley and work as a bouncer. And why not? Explore the hidden sides of yourselves.

    • Wt. 6 oz.
  • Luxo Banho Olive Soap

    Alex says: Olive oil infused with rosemary, bergamot, and lemon and vintage Art Deco packaging make this bar so wonderfully retro-chic. With such secret treasures, no wonder Portugal is becoming the latest European “in” destination.

  • Nag Champa Super Sandal Soap

    Alex says: A quick stop in India for an exotic indulgence! Less heady than most Indian Sandalwood soaps, this bar is surprisingly softly fragranced. But the biggest surprise comes from incredibly thick lather it gives.

    • Wt. 2.6 oz.
  • Pacifica Mexican Cocoa Soap

    Alex says: Spicy chocolate, what a concept! A mixture of bitter almond, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a chunk of pure glycerin is a treat like no other. Ola!

    • Wt. 6 oz.
  • Savon du Monde Chef Soap Soap

    Alex says: For all of you aspiring chefs out there, allergy sufferers, or if you feel the need to “cleanse the nose”, a simple, fragrance-free Savon de Marseille is a perfect choice. An all-purpose bar that can be used in the bathroom, kitchen, and even laundry room as it has great stain-removing powers.

    • Wt. 14 oz.

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Comments

Luxury soaps are a balanced combination of humectants, moisturizers, cleansing ingredients, vitamins, minerals, essential oils and botanical extracts. Humectants and moisturizers help to draw moisture to the skin, helping to keep it supple and diminish the signs of aging.