If you’re looking for a great body soap - and trying to help the environment - you may decide that a high-quality, organic bar soap might be the right choice for you.
But, as with any skincare product, there’s no one-size-fits-all bar soap out there, and the right choice will depend largely on your skin type and your most prevalent skincare concerns.
Here’s what you need to know to make the best choice for allskin types and concerns.
If you have normal skin - congratulations! Often known as the holy grail of skin types, normal skin type is generally:
If you have a normal skin type, you can’t really go wrong, and you don’t have any particular issues to address.
Your goal, then, should be to maintain, balance,and make sure that you don’t throw your skin out of whack. That means using gentle body soap products that hydrate while helping maintain your skin’s natural barrier. Some go-to ingredients here can include:
Additionally, if you’re looking for a little more oomph, you can also focus on preventionand incorporating products that help prevent and address free radical damage, UV exposure, loss of collagen, and the development of fine lines and wrinkles. This could include active ingredients like vitamin C, peptides, and glycolic acid.
Find it all in Hometown Honey bar soap and Spicy Rum Punch bar soap.
This is one of the most confusing skin types out there, as it can be difficult to identify a truly dry skin type. On one hand, people can often have dehydrated or stripped skin and thinkthat they have a dry skin type (but the culprit could really be dehydration or stripping skincare products).
Plus, everyone’s had a bout of dry skin at some point -- whether it was due to a sunburn, a long day outside, or a harsh hotel soap that totally made your skin raw -- and this can further the confusion.
That said, if you have a truly dry skin type, you’ll notice:
In any case -- whether your skin type is truly dry or you’re just experiencing some life-related dryness -- you should look for restorative and moisturizing ingredients in your bar soap.
The most important ingredients for dry skin are humectants and occlusives.The humectants, on one hand (like hyaluronic acid), will draw moisture into your skin, while occlusives like oil and silicone will help seal that much-needed moisture in.
Look specifically for ingredients like:
Additionally, you’ll want to make sure that you use products that protect your skin and help restore your stripped natural barrier. Translation? Ceramides and peptides.Ceramides, on one hand, rebuild your skin’s natural lipids, while peptides increase protein content and improve your skin’s resilience over time.
Find it in: Hometown Honey bar soap.
Like dry skin, oily skin is also often misdiagnosed.
This can be a vicious cycle: in an effort to achieve a poreless, matte look, people use harsh or over-stripping products and chemicals. In response, the skin tries to protect itself and undo the damage by overproducingsebum and oils. Not great. This becomes a “chicken or the egg” conundrum that it can be really tough to regulate.
Truly oily skin, though, will include characteristics like:
Now, while the right skincare routine will differ depending on if your skin is truly oilyvs oily because it’s overcompensating,you can use the same body wash for both conditions.
More specifically, look for a bath bar that is lightly hydrating and consistently exfoliating.
Find it in:Spicy Rum Punch, Rainbow is My Favorite Color
If you have combination skin, you’ve probably noticed a ton of different areas of concern, including oiliness in some areas (particularly your t-zone), incremental dryness, larger pores, and breakouts.
As a result, you want skincare products that will solve one problem withoutexacerbating others. That means you should look for balanced, clarifying products that don’t over-dry the skin.
Look, in particular for:
Find it in:Rainbow is My Favorite Color, Hometown Honey
If you have sensitive skin, you’ll notice that it’s often reactive or uncomfortable. You’ll also experience:
If this is the case, you want to play it safe with products that don’t exacerbate redness, breakouts, rosacea, or eczema.That means you’ll want to be on the lookout for ingredients to avoid in skincare, such as synthetic colors, synthetic fragrances, and common skin irritants.
This includes nutrient-rich ingredients that will soothe your skin and fortify your skin’s natural barrier like:
Find it in:Hometown Honey
Don’t know where to start? Treat all of your changing skin concerns with the Pass the Bar bar soap gift set.