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Like almost all grooming products for guys, men’s soap has undergone an overhaul recently. Established brands are now offering some of the best-smelling soaps for men, and new brands are popping up with soaps designed specifically for men’s skin. In other words, no more lathering up with a cheap three-in-one from the drugstore.
At a Glance: The Best-Smelling Soaps for Men
The best-smelling soaps for men do something pretty simple: They combine premium quality with scents such as low-profile citrus, bourbon, or cedarwood, to name a few. This translates to skin that might feel better, healthier, and hydrated, as well as a light, attractive scent when you hop out of the shower.
In This Article
The Best-Smelling Soaps for Men
What to Look for When Buying Soap
How We Chose The Best-Smelling Soaps for Men
The Best-Smelling Soaps for Men
Below are some of the best-smelling soaps for men that we could find online, including everything from affordable, all-natural Amazon finds to premium French picks that give cologne a run for its money.
1. Diptyque 34 Boulevard Saint Germain Soap
Diptyque
Diptyque is best known for top-of-the-line scented candles, but the French brand’s soaps are also among the best in the business. Diptyque’s fragrance expertise is carried over in this soap with their Woody-scented bar which smells something like the French countryside in spring. But scent isn’t the soap’s only talent: It also includes almond oil and glycerin for subtle hydration and a gentle feel, making it effective on almost all skin types.
2. Caswell-Massey Bar Soap Pack
Courtesy Amazon
Caswell-Massey has been a go-to for high-end soap since the eighteenth century. This assorted pack of bars includes three of Caswell-Massey’s classic, masculine scents. The first is Greenbriar, with a floral, woodsy smell. The second is Tricorn, which is led by citrus and sandalwood. The third, Newport, boasts a beachy, salty scent. All three are produced with zero parabens, sulfates, or phthalate, and the soaps use a high-quality triple milling process for softness.
3. Baxter of California Men’s Exfoliating Bar Soap
Courtesy Amazon
For an extra scrub, go with this exfoliating bar soap from Baxter of California. It uses jojoba meal and crushed olive seed to remove as much dead skin as possible. Besides leaving your skin softer, this exfoliation also encourages cell renewal and improves the effectiveness of moisturizers after you shower. Plus, a nice scent of cedarwood and oak moss stays behind after showering. The bar can be used as a go-to daily soap, but we think it’s best as a secondary bar for areas with excess dead skin (i.e. the feet, elbows, and back).
4. Aesop Geranium Leaf Body Cleanser
Courtesy Nordstrom
As mentioned, we love bar soaps, but this Aesop liquid cleanser can’t be overlooked. A unisex scent is the standout feature of the body cleanser, coming from botanicals including mandarin orange, geranium leaf, and bergamot. These natural ingredients – especially the geranium leaf and sea salt – also function as gentle cleansing agents. The soap is good for all skin types.
5. Duke Cannon Big Brick of Soap Set
Courtesy Amazon
Over the past decade, Duke Cannon has quickly made a name for itself as a great-smelling soap brand. Their scented bar soaps are inspired by the great outdoors, with fragrances like fresh-cut pine, campfire, and leaf and leather in this three-pack sampler. The bars are three times bigger than a normal bar of soap (hence the name, ‘Big Brick’) and triple-milled. This means each bar will last much longer than others, reducing waste and lessening the hassle of re-stocking your soap supply.
6. Mistral Bar Soap
Courtesy Amazon
This bar soap from Mistral is another great men’s option out of France. The premium soap uses grapeseed oil and glycerin for hydration, making it a good pick for dry or oily skin types. But the soap’s real draw is its scent; an attractive concoction of bourbon and vanilla that smells great and sticks around for a while after you exit the shower. Thanks to its hydrating powers, it’s fantastic as a daily lather and, thanks to the fragrance, it makes a great pre-date night choice.
7. Harry’s Bar Soap
Amazon
Harry’s, a men’s grooming brand known for its popular shaving sets, produces many high-quality, no-frills products. Their bar soap is one such minimal offering, using gentle ingredients such as palm oil and glycerin. These create a lather that’s easy on sensitive skin. Harry’s also nails fragrance with distinct scents in this sampler pack.
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Courtesy Nordstrom
We love this . The brand is best known for high-end unisex colognes, and its expert nose comes through in the body wash. The scent is defined by ambrette, sea salt, and sage, which translates to an olfactory experience similar to standing on a wooded seaside cliff. In addition to smelling wonderful, the soap even moisturizes at the same time.
9. Dr. Squatch All Natural Bar Soap
Amazon
Genuinely natural soaps can be hard to come by, making Dr. Squatch’s bar soaps a great find. This relatively new brand has made a splash with its humorous marketing, short, straightforward ingredients list, and, most of all, its best-smelling scents. Most of these scents are on the rugged side, and because the soaps are designed to both hydrate and exfoliate, they’re good for all skin types (not just lumberjacks).
10. Jack Black Turbo Wash Cleanser for Hair & Body
Amazon
Another great-smelling liquid soap is this Turbo Wash from Jack Black. It’s one of just a few two-in-one shampoo-body washes that we recommend – making it ideal for traveling in this 3-ounce container. The ingredients (which include eucalyptus, rosemary extract, and juniper berry) do double duty by scrubbing away grime and leaving a nice scent. The rosemary and eucalyptus are especially important, providing a rejuvenating scent conducive to energy and confidence out of the shower.
11. Dr. Bronner’s Pure-Castile Liquid Soap
Amazon
It’s rare to find a truly all-natural soap (or any bathroom product) that also has a rich scent. Dr. Bronner’s do-anything soap is one of those, incorporating a healthy dose of peppermint for a fresh scent that tingles on the skin. The brand calls it an “18-in-1,” because you can use it for everything from your body to hair to dishes to pets, making it a good one to keep stocked — even in addition to other soaps.
12. Cremo Bourbon & Oak Exfoliating Body Bars
Amazon
As the name suggests, these body soap bars from Cremo actually have a smooth, creamy, moisturizing feeling — even though they’re actively working to strip away dead skin and grime. But the scent is the real star, filling the shower with warm smells of bourbon and white oak wood.
13. L’Occitane Cleansing & Softening Almond Shower Oil
Amazon
If you’re looking for a gentle body soap that focuses on hydration, check out this shower oil from L’Occitane. The French label uses key ingredients almond oil and vanilla to achieve an ultra-soft feel that also smells fresh. Use it to gently cleanse the skin or as a shaving base.
14. Salt & Stone Antioxidant-Rich Body Wash
Amazon
For a fresh, summery scent, we like this body wash from Salt & Stone. Ingredients like seaweed extract, vitamin C, niacinamide, and hyaluronic acid work together to hydrate and reinforce the skin, while bergamot, vetiver, and orange blossom do the heavy lifting on the scent front.
What to Look for When Buying Soap
Finding the best-smelling men’s soap for your regular grooming routine can take a bit of extra research. Here are a few things to consider when shopping.
Bar vs. Liquid: We’re big believers in bar soaps as they typically contain fewer chemicals (like harmful preservatives and parabens), and they’re better for the environment thanks to less packaging. Of course, while we love bar soaps, the convenience of liquid soap is hard to forego. The best liquid soaps are also exceptionally effective at hydrating, so we’ve included some of those in our picks.
Skin Type: Soaps with extra hydration powers are great if you have dry or oily skin (excess oil means your skin is overcompensating for a lack of moisture). If you have flakey skin or spend a lot of time outdoors, go with an exfoliating soap to scrub away dead skin and grime.
Ingredients: Grooming brands are now much more transparent about their product’s ingredients. We always suggest soaps that rely on natural, plant-based ingredients instead of harsh chemicals and artificial fragrances.
How We Chose The Best-Smelling Soaps for Men
The job of finding the best-smelling soaps for men is a straightforward one: we smelled a lot of soaps. But, because scent is subjective, to an extent, we also combed through user reviews for soaps that we liked to see if everyone else was having the same great experience. Lastly, we checked ingredient lists to make sure each soap was (actually) safe for long-term use.
