Long derided as messy and drying, bar soaps have been shunted to the back of the cabinet in favour of their liquid counterparts, with scented shower gels and oils taking centre stage in our bathing routines. However, there’s a certain inimitable charm in the utilitarian nature of bar soaps. Simple and understated, classic bar soaps take on a modular, ergonomic form, with their oval or rectangular shapes fitting perfectly in the palm of your hand. Unlike their bottled liquid counterparts which freely espouse the benefits of their contents on their bottles, the humble bar soap bears little in the way of branding, making do with an embossed or stamped logo and letting the formula do the talking.
According to Future Market Insights, the global bar soap market is expected to continue to grow steadily, with a market value of USD$32.67 billion in 2025, which is projected to reach USD$54.08 billion in 2035.
While some of the best bar soaps are the ones of yesteryear, the category—like pretty much everything in the skincare and beauty industry—has undergone a seismic makeover over the past couple of years. With both centuries-old and contemporary bar soaps offering a more eco-friendly alternative to packaged liquid soaps, the bar soaps of today come laden with exfoliating and nourishing benefits, with options to suit every skin type. As with all other skincare products, bar soaps run the gamut from utilitarian to luxurious and everything in between.
Skip ahead to discover the best bar soap brands.
History of the bar soap
The earliest evidence of soap-like substances can be traced back to Mesopotamia in 2800 BC, with animal fats combined with ash and water to create a cleaning solution for use on utensils and textiles, while ancient Egyptians used mixtures of oils and alkaline salts to cleanse the skin as early as 1500 BC and ancient Greeks and Romans preferred to cleanse themselves using oils.
It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that the bar soap as we know it today began to take shape. The basic formula for bar soap has remained relatively unchanged to this day, with early soapmarkers from Aleppo in Syria, Castile in Spain, Nablus in Palestine, and later Provence and Marseilles in France combining plant oil or animal fat with an alkaline base of sodium hydroxide (lye). Marseilles and Castile soaps remain popular to this day, with the term ‘castile soap’ now used to connote a soap made with vegetable fats (traditionally olive oil, though coconut, castor, and hemp oils are now also used) in the Castile style.
Prior to the industrial revolution, soap was produced on a small scale and typically by hand, resulting in a relatively rough finished product. The advent of the industrial revolution extended to the personal care industry, with industrially manufactured hard bar soaps becoming available in the late 18th century. Among the most popular—and lasting—were Pears soap, a transparent hard bar soap formula created by Andrew Pears in 1807 and Yardley of London which was founded in 1770 and introduced its still iconic English Lavender soap in 1873. Over in the United States, Palmolive, Dobbin’s, and Dove became household staples thanks to increased awareness—and targeted marketing campaigns—around the importance of hygiene.
While liquid soaps were invented in the late 19th century, it wasn’t until the 1990s to early 2000s that they eclipsed bar soaps in popularity.
Why are bar soaps experiencing a resurgence?
The comeback of bar soaps is multifold. Bar soaps are often more sustainable than their liquid counterparts, significantly cutting down on plastic packaging waste and lasting longer. Their inherent tactility bestows them with a sense of ritual, providing beauty lovers with an accessible and cost effective form of everyday self care. The same sculptural form also taps into the desire to display one’s beauty products as objets d’art, with their smooth, curvilinear forms or stark rectilinear angles pairing cohesively with a marble, stone, or terracotta soap dish.
Future Market Insights cites the movement towards natural, herbal, and organic ingredients as key driver behind the comeback of bar soap, with herbal and Ayurvedic soap gaining acceptance worldwide, but especially in the Asia-Pacific region. This is supported by data from Mintel that revealed that bar soaps were the most popular cleansing format for Indians — used by 90% of consumers compared to 9% for liquid body wash.
As for the formulas themselves, both new and heritage products are experiencing popularity. India’s Mysore Sandal Soap remains a popular choice in the region and beyond, while the nostalgic qualities—namely, its transparent formula and comforting scent—of Pears soap have spearheaded its revival. Middle Age icons like Savon de Marseille and manufacturers of Aleppo and Castile soap in the traditional style have also had a resurgence.
Contemporary brands are using bar soaps as vehicles for high-performance ingredients as well as accessible micro-luxuries. In the former camp, the likes of Carbon Theory and Soft Services have bar formulas that work to reduce acne and exfoliate the skin, respectively. Meanwhile, sensorially minded brand Aesop; luxury fashion houses like Chloè, Loewe, Hermès, Tom Ford, and Chanel; and niche fragrance houses such as Byredo, Diptyque, and Creed use them as an accessible way to buy into the brand and its olfactory offerings.
The best brands for indulgent bar soaps
Whether you’re looking to elevate your shower setup or introduce a more sustainably-minded product into your bathing routine, these are the best bar soaps on the market.
1. Orris Paris
Founded in Paris, Orris botanical soaps utilise botanical and apothecary-inspired ingredients, with formulas drawing from the rich wisdom of traditional herbalism, and ayurvedic and Japanese cleansing rituals. The Orris La Déesse soap tempers a rosy and green top note of geranium with sharp, herbal camphor to create a seductive sensory balance, while Indian madder root and raw honey work to soften and nourish the skin. For acne-prone skin, Le Botaniste sees antibacterial and anti-inflammatory calendula and comfrey reduce the occurrence of breakouts while calming irritated skin.
Priced from: $35AUD
Try the: La Déesse, Le Botaniste
2. Claus Porto
Hailing from Portugal, Claus Porto has been creating fragrances and sensorial body care products for well over a century. The Portugese brand has a plethora of nuanced soap scents, but the Chypre Cedar Poinsettia is one of our favourites — coming in a delicate baby pink hue (and encased in the brand’s signature heritage packaging), the it combines fruity, floral, and oriental notes like lychee, blackcurrant, cedarwood, jasmine, rose, and oak to create a nuanced chypre fragrance, while shea butter softens the skin. For those who simply want to smell ‘clean’, the Cerina Brise Marine is the way to go. Who said bar soaps were basic?
Priced from: €18
Try the: Chypre Cedar Poinsettia, Cerina Brise Marine, Elite Tonka Imperial
3. Carbon Theory
A more contemporary entrant into the bar soap scene, Carbon Theory creates products specifically designed to prevent and alleviate breakouts. Bar soaps are among its hero products, with each rectilinear bar spiked with high-performance ingredients that brighten the skin and provide antibacterial benefits as they cleanse. The charcoal and tea tree Anti-Breakout Facial Cleansing Bar is the OG, but the Niacinamide Facial Cleansing Bar and Superfood Facial Cleansing Bar are also worth a look in. With their sleek rectangular form and industrial chic debossed typography, they’re the perfect aesthetic addition to a minimalist bathroom.
Priced from: $13AUD
Try the: Anti-Breakout Facial Cleansing Bar, Niacinamide Facial Cleansing Bar, Superfood Facial Cleansing Bar
4. Dr. Bronner’s
Dr. Bronner’s is a contemporary proponent of castile-style soap, with vegetable oils at the heart of all of its products. A failsafe sustainable option, the Castile Bar Soap (cherry blossom and lavender are the best scents) is made with coconut, palm, olive, and hemp oils, which combine with sodium hydroxide (i.e. lye) to form a satisfying lather. Plus, as with all Dr. Bronner’s products, the packaging is somewhat endearing, with the earnest bid to “transcend unity across religious and ethnic divides or perish,” providing a welcome literary change to perusing the ingredients list on the back of the shampoo bottle.
Priced from: $11.95AUD
Try the: Castile Bar Soap Cherry Blossom
5. Dove Beauty Cream Bar
Don’t scoff. While not the most expensive or luxurious (or even technically soap for that matter), there’s something inherently nostalgic and comforting about the original Dove Beauty Cream Bar. Made with moisturiser and mild cleansers, the Dove Beauty Cream Bar cleanses without causing dryness as is gentle enough to be used on sensitive skin. Plus, it just smells clean. The brand’s lineup of bar soaps also includes a gentle pink version, one infused with cucumber, and an exfoliating bar.
Priced from: $2.75AUD
Try the: Beauty Cream Bar
6. Aesop
Aesop applies its characteristically fresh and herbaceous scent profiles to the bar soap category, with botanically led formulas infused with moisturising oils. The Polish Bar Soap is ideally suited to those desirous of exfoliation with their cleansing, while the Refresh Body Cleansing Slab is a satisfyingly hefty accompaniment to one’s ablutions.
Priced from: $33AUD
Try the: Polish Bar Soap, Refresh Body Cleansing Slab
7. Savon de Marseille
Hailing from one of the earliest homes of the humble bar soap, Savon de Marseille creates handmade soaps using traditional techniques dating back to the time of Louis XIV. Completely natural and made with pure vegetable oils like olive oil, Savon de Marseille epitomises the best in luxury soapmaking. You can’t go wrong with the original, but there are also variants with crushed flowers and lavender.
Priced from: $9AUD
Try the: Olive Oil Bar Soap, Vegetable Oil Soap
8. Pears
One of the earliest industrially produced soap brands, Pears is known for its unique transparent aesthetic, which stands out amongst its opaque competitors and serves as a visual representation of cleanliness and purity. The brand uses hydrating glycerin in its formulas and has a comforting, nostalgic scent which makes it a pleasure to use.
Priced from: $1.99AUD
Try the: Original, Mint, Pure & Gentle
9. Soft Services
Like Carbon Theory, Soft Services combines clinically proven actives with sensorial ingredients to create high-performance soap bars that are both efficacious and pleasurable to use. Founded by a duo of Glossier alumnae, the brand’s standout Buffing Bar contains microcrystals to deliver an effective exfoliation as it cleanses, working to eliminate keratosis pilaris, rough skin, and strawberry skin. The original is unscented, but the brand has branched out with fragranced variants, including a collaboration with fragrance house D.S. & Durga.
Priced from: $30USD (for two)
Try the: Buffing Bar, Debaser Buffing Bar, Affogato L’Orange Buffing Bar
10. Herb Remedy
Naturopathic brand Herb Remedy creates botanically driven soap bars at its herbal dispensary in the coastal town of Byron Bay. The contemporary brand uses traditional soapmaking methods, with its cold-pressed soaps blending oils and lye with herbal extracts to create additive-free soaps that purify and nourish the skin.
Priced from: $18AUD
Try the: Spent Coffee with Lemongrass & Hemp Seed Oil, Lavender with Purple Clay & Solar Infused Lavender Oil
11. Flamingo Estate
Flamingo Estate has become something of an almost mythical institution, with the Californian luxury wellness brand creating oversized soap bricks that use botanicals grown in the brand’s expansive gardens.
Priced from: $76AUD
Try the: Jasmine Damask Rose Soap Brick, Rosemary Green Leaf Parsley Soap Brick
12. Binu Binu
Inspired by the pragmatic yet social nature of Korean public bathhouse culture (known as ‘seshin’), Binu Binu creates efficacious soaps that lean into renewal in both the literal and emotive sense. Soaps include ingredients like Boricha tea and black rice milk in addition to nourishing ingredients like shea butter and coconut milk. There’s also a Seshin Korean Scrub Soap that allows you to translate the exfoliating element of the bathhouse experience into the private realm.
Priced from: $34AUD
Try the: Black Rice Milk Soap, Seshin Korean Scrub Soap, Seshin Korean Scrub Soap
13. Penhaligon’s
British luxury niche fragrance house Penhaligon’s distils its most popular scents into bar soap form, bringing the art of sensorial adornment into one’s inner sanctum. Ideally suited to scent layering, fragrances like The Favourite and the spiced rose and oud spiked Halfeti are available as bar soaps.
Priced from: $58AUD
Try the: Quercus, Halfeti, Luna, The Favourite
14. Malin+Goetz
New York-based skincare brand Malin+Goetz is known for pairing clinically proven ingredients with botanicals to create sensorial products that are safe for sensitive skin. Its bar soaps are no exception — spiked with ingredients like mandelic acid and vitamin B5, they work to chemically exfoliate and hydrate the skin as they cleanse.
Priced from: $35AUD
Try the: Hydrating Bar Rum, Mandelic Acid Exfoliating Bar
15. Santa Maria Novella
Trust the world’s oldest pharmacy to have a good bar soap. Florentine apothecary brand Santa Maria Novella dates back to the 13th century, with its soap bars encompassing both gentle milk-based soaps and iterations infused with the brand’s most iconic fragrances, such as Tabacco Toscano.
Priced from: $29AUD
Try the: Sapone Latte Rose, Sapone Latte Russa
16. Marius Fabre
Dating back to 1900, heritage soap brand Marius Fabre produces traditional soaps in the Marseille style, as well as Aleppo soap. Scented with natural botanicals and eminently affordable, they’re the physical encapsulation of the cottage core aesthetic in soap form.
Priced from: €2
Try the: Bay Laurel Aleppo Soap, Olive Oil Marseille Soap
17. Glossier
Millennial cult-favourite brand Glossier does bar soap in the only way it knows how — millennial pink. The brand’s Body Hero Exfoliating Bar is a perfectly palm-sized bar that uses bamboo powder to provide a physical exfoliation as sunflower seed oil and aloe vera moisturise and hydrate the skin, leaving behind the soft scent of white florals. For something more gentle, the brand has also given its Milky Jelly Cleanser the solid treatment.
Priced from: $33AUD
Try the: Body Hero Exfoliating Bar, Milky Jelly Cleansing Bar
18. Carrière Frères
Carrière Frères’ entry into the world of bar soap takes on the same plant-led approach as its famous candles. Handmade in France, each soap is cold saponified to preserve the quality of its natural ingredients, with plant oils like coconut, sunflower, and safflower paired with shea butter to impart moisture. Soaps are available in nuanced floral and woody scent profiles.
Priced from: $39AUD
Try the: Solid Body Soap
19. Horace
French men’s skincare and grooming brand Horace takes an aptly understated approach to its bar soaps, with simple plant-based formulas suffused with classically masculine scent profiles like cedarwood and sage, and peppermint and tea tree.
Priced from: £6.50/$14AUD
Try the: Italian bergamot & Peppermint Soap Bar, Peppermint & Tea Tree Soap Bar
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Words by Arabella Johnson
