Why Not Bar Soap?

It is interesting to me how many people in today’s world of beauty and wealth, still use bar soap for cleansing the skin on their face. Even after eight years of working in the skin care industry and sharing my knowledge with everyone I know and love, I still have a number of friends and family members who cannot seem to part ways with their beloved bar soap.

So I’ve decided to uncover the ugly truth about bar soap and it’s negative effects on the skin, once and for all! Bar soap may pose to be the most comforting and convenient way to cleanse your skin, but it is definitely the least favorable. Although you may have been using bar soap for years and have no skin issues to report of, it doesn’t mean that your skin is actually in good health. Let me give you some of the reasons why bar soap is the enemy:

1. Bar soap is extremely high in alkaline. Alkalinity = Dry and Dehydrated Skin.
2. Dryness and dehydration of the skin leads to sensitivity, fine lines and flakiness.
3. Excessive dryness and dehydration causes the skin to overcompensate for loss of moisture by producing too much sebum, which in turn, provokes the onset oiliness and breakout.
4. Moisturizing lotion or cream in conjunction with bar soap becomes useless. There is no way for your skin to achieve moisture balance when you continue to strip it with bar soap. It is a vicious cycle.
5. Fragrances and other harsh ingredients in bar soap will cause irritation to skin conditions such as eczema, acne and rosacea.
6. Due to it’s high content of comodegenic (pore-clogging) ingredients, bar soap will result in very congested skin.

There are some great alternatives to bar soap to consider. For instance, if what you desire is to experience that “squeaky clean” feeling after cleansing your face, then a gel or foam-based cleanser is perfect for you. These cleansers benefit all skin types, are pH-balanced and help your skin to retain moisture. Best of all, you will be able continue enjoying that good old “sudsy” cleanse that you are so used to having with your bar soap. When you are ready to jump on the beauty band wagon and finally make the switch to a facial cleanser, first determine what your skin type is, and then you can find the cleanser that is right for you. I am sure that after just a few times of using your new facial cleanser, you’ll drop that old bar soap like a hot potato and wonder why you didn’t do it sooner!