Best soap for men 2024: trendy soap bars that smell great

Soap bars are cool again, and these are the best soap for men for sprucing up your pits (and the rest!)

A bar of the best soap for men on a bathroom counter, surrounded by plants and toothbrushes
(Image credit: Getty)

The best soap for men will leave you smelling and feeling sparkly clean... even if you don't love the traditional soap bar!

In recent times of fancy shower gel and body wash, however, the traditional soap bar has had something of a hard time. Widely considered old-fashioned, unrefined and inferior to its more modern liquid-based cousins, soap bars conjure images of pound shops, granny’s toiletry bag and grotty pub toilet hand basins for many people. For this reason, it’s become an unpopular option for most men looking for something nice-smelling to spruce up their pits.

But things are changing: the soap bar is back! In fact, thanks to an influx of bougie startups and luxury brands creating natural formulas with indulgent ingredients, the soap bar has managed to turn its fortunes around and is slowly working its way to being our favourite trusty shower companion once again.

So, if you’re thinking about making the switch back to the bar, or you’ve always used soap and want to mix things up but don’t know where to start, we’ve listed the best soap bars for men to help you in your quest to find the most suited soap product for you.

If you're looking to fully refresh your grooming routine, you can also check out the best shampoo for men to level up your hair game, the best body wash for men if you prefer shower gels to soap bars, and the best moisturiser for men, for post-shower hydration. If you've got a beard, then you should be using the best beard oil for men. You should also check out our guide to the best deodorant for men to help you stay dry and fresh.

Best soap for men ranking

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How to choose the best soap for men

The world of soap is no longer just about Imperial Leather and Dove. There are hundreds of different soap bar brands on the market now, all with unique smells, ingredients and even with the ability to treat certain skin conditions. Here’s are some tips for finding the right soap for you:

Ingredients 

Unlike your bog-standard shower gels, soap bars don’t require preservatives as they don’t contain water. So, if you choose a natural, certified-organic soap bar, you can be sure that it's made with nothing but ingredients that are good for your skin, and certainly no nasty chemicals. 

There are, of course, cheaper soap bars around that don’t have the same nourishing formulations. Just be sure to check the ingredients list before you buy and steer clear of any long lists of ingredients or chemicals you don’t recognise. Also try to match the ingredients to your skin type, as we will explain next.

Skin type

When buying a bar of soap, you should always purchase the soap keeping in mind your skin type. The ingredients in the bar will determine what skin condition it is best suited to. Here’s a quick guide.

Dry skin: try Soaps containing aloe vera, cocoa butter, avocado or vegetable oils.

Sensitive skin: opt for those containing Vitamin E and jojoba oil, especially if you suffer from ichthyosis, eczema and psoriasis.

Oily skin: look for an antibacterial soap containing lavender, chamomile and thyme, all of which are effective for oily skin.

Combination skin: Glycerin-based soaps are a good option here. This ingredient is produced naturally during the saponification process and will help nourish and soften the skin.

Size

Soap size is measured in weight (usually grams). If you want your soap to last, then opt for a bar over 100g. A little goes a long way, so a bar of this size should keep you going for a good few months. You might find that these bars are pricier, but if it’s lasting you longer between purchases then it all works out in the end.

Price

A bar of soap can cost anything from £1 all the way up to £50 per bar, this will depend on the size and the exclusivity of the ingredients it contains. You’re going to pay around £10 for a decent bar of soap, so there’s no need to splurge unless you really want to or particularly love the formulation of the soap in question. 

Lee Bell

Lee Bell is a freelance journalist & copywriter specialising in technology, health, grooming and how the latest innovations are shaking up the lifestyle space. From national newspapers to specialist-interest magazines and digital titles, Lee has written for some of the world’s most respected publications during his 11 years as a journalist.

With contributions from