The 25 Best Bar Soaps For Men

Sooner or later (and usually sooner) you’ve got to get clean. And your options for doing so are just about endless. There’s something gratifyingly primal about a basic bar of soap. Grasp it, wet it, rub it on skin to lather and clean. No bottle, no brush, certainly no pouf — with a bar of soap there’s no intermediary between you and some good morning (post-gym, pre-dinner) suds. The number of available men’s bar soaps out there has reached the bazillion mark (we’re pretty sure) which makes choosing one an exercise in guesswork. So let this list of the best bar soaps for men be your compass as you navigate the scents, textures, and grippiness of your next bar of soap.

You’ll find every kind of men’s soap to fit your style and taste preferences, we made sure of it. From good enough to eat, to big enough to last, these bar soaps are woodsy, minty, citrusy and rummy fragranced workhorses that will get you clean, make your skin smooth, and leave your whole body smelling it’s best. When it’s just you, a jet of water and a solid chunk of saponified oils, this is how you make sure that chunk is a good one.

Olivina Men Exfoliating Bar Soap

Three key ingredients serve as the basis for Olivina products: olive oil, hemp seed oil, and grape seed oil, making their stuff extra moisturizing and hydrating. Their bar soap not only contains their three big players, it also packs kaolin clay and ground olive stones for some deep cleaning exfoliation, resulting in a serious clean that doesn’t dry out your skin. The scent here is their crafted Bourbon Cedar, made from essential oils, that also shows up in a deodorant, cologne and body scrub. Acquire the suite of products and go out in the world with a unified aroma identity.

• Selling Point: Highly exfoliating and sustainably produced.
• Key Ingredients: Red kaolin clay, ground olive stone, sustainable palm oil, red cedar and smoky vanilla

Dr. Squatch Pine Tar Soap

By leaving in the glycerin — a natural result of soap making that many commercial soap makers extract — Dr. Squatch soaps are able to give a good lather without extra added chemical whatnots like SLS and parabens. Gritty, grippy sand and oatmeal bring the sloughing scrub while shea butter offers the soothe. The Pine Tar bar of soap is made with real pine extract and the strong scent is reminiscent of an old growth forest. Good for oily or dry skin, this nothing-but-the-good-stuff bar soap will clean you up and get you yearning for a hike somewhere wild and woody.

• Selling Point: Rugged, manly, and natural, just like the Bigfoot.
• Key Ingredients: Oatmeal, sand, and pine

Every Man Jack All Over Bar

Designed in California, made in Rhode Island, and containing ingredients from Iowa, these East Coast/West Coast/Midwest soap bars from Every Man Jack come in three different scents. Cedarwood and sandalwood bring a warmer woodsy feel to your morning, while citrus scrub offers a brighter note with wheat bran for a good scrub. All three options feature shea butter and organic aloe in a 100% vegetable-based bar with no parabens, phthalates or dyes. All this at a pretty agreeable price per bar from a company that promises products that perform while using as many natural ingredients as possible.

• Selling Point: One skin-friendly bar for both your body and hair.
• Key Ingredients: Shea butter, aloe vera, glycerin, cedarwood, rosemary, and sage

St. Johns Bay Rum Bar Soap

You don’t get much more classic than the scent of Bay Rum. A blend of West Indian bay leaf oil and Caribbean rum, it’s been making men smell nice since 1838 or so. This triple milled bar soap (which makes soap smoother in texture, creamier in lather, and long-lasting) comes from St. John’s Fragrance Company, a 70 year old company actually based on the island of St. John (the smallest of the US Virgin Isles). It’s a good place for a Bay Rum soap to originate, as we hear the Caribbean knows a bit about growing bay leaves and making rum.

• Selling Point: Classically manly and high lather, great for shaving.
• Key Ingredients: Olive oil, glycerin, and bay rum

Dove Men+Care Deep Clean Body and Face Bar

Making bars of soap containing a quarter moisturizing cream worked out pretty nicely for Dove. Only problem, the scent (and marketing and packaging) was squarely aimed at women. Now, as part of their Dove Men+Care line of products, they’ve taken a good idea and reformulated into a bar of soap that appeals to (and cleans) men. This clean-rinsing bar works for your face or body and includes purifying grains (aka silica) for a deeper clean. It promises not to leave your skin dry and tight by maintaining moisture levels and features their “deep clean” scent — that’s decidedly un-ladylike.

• Selling Point: Powerful cleansing action that won’t dry out your skin.
• Key Ingredients: Moisturizing cream and purifying micro grains

Jack Black Turbo Body Bar Scrubbing Soap

Want to get really clean? Rubbing your body with a lava rock will probably do the trick. While that may sound harsh, the granules in this bar are fine enough to just give you a gentle polish for smoother and cleaner skin. Using the same scent as their ever popular Turbo Wash, Jack Black’s Turbo bar also includes blue lotus and ginkgo biloba to wake you up in the AM. Shea butter (from the nut of the African shea tree) and murumuru butter (from the seed of an Amazonian palm) keep the moisturization level high — and exotic.

• Selling Point: Medium exfoliation and a fresh, invigorating scent.
• Key Ingredients: Blue lotus, ginkgo biloba, shea butter, lava rock, and eucalyptus

Duke Cannon Big American Bourbon Soap

Another reliable entry by Duke Cannon, this is the best bar soap for men who love whiskey and it smells like everything should — like the sweet, sweet fire of American bourbon whiskey. And no, they didn’t mix some stuff in a beaker and come up with something that smells bourbon-esque. In partnership with Buffalo Trace Distillery, Duke Cannon has added actual Buffalo Trace bourbon to the bar. This one too, is more than double the size of your standard soap bar and has a rich, oak barrel scent. We suggest getting some so you can pregame as early as your evening shower with a soap that “smells as good as bourbon tastes.

• Selling Point: Big soap, small price, great savings.

• Key Ingredients: Buffalo Trace Bourbon

Ursa Major Morning Mojo Bar Soap

You read ingredients like honey, peppermint, rosemary, and coconut and get hungry. This bar seems good enough to eat. (But don’t.) All the ingredients are there to serve a purpose, like honey for soothing moisturization, fatty-acid-rich shea butter, and peppermint for cooling refreshment. The addition of volcanic rock does double duty as an exfoliant and slippery-soap eliminator and it’s all naturally derived. It’s made in Vermont by Ursa Major, an outfit committed to healthy and natural stuff that keeps your skin clean and clear. All their stuff is produced without petrochemicals or sulfates, and they only use sustainable palm oil.

• Selling Point: All natural ingredients and medium exfoliating power, with a bright and zippy aroma.
• Key Ingredients: Coconut, shea butter, lava rock, peppermint, eucalyptus, and rosemary

Hudson Made Worker’s Soap

First off, note the packaging: heavy duty gray paper, brown string, overhand knot. Quality materials coupled with simplicity that usually signals a superior product. Unless of course the stuff inside isn’t any good. This small batch soap comes from Hudson Made, a grooming concern out of the Hudson Valley that aims to source a good portion of their ingredients from within 200 miles of home base (which includes their own farm). Worker’s Soap contains pumice for scrubbing with tobacco, cedar and patchouli for a rugged scent, and leaves behind soft skin. You can go ahead and judge this book by its cover.

• Selling Point: Tough cleaning power for hard working hands.
• Key Ingredients: Olive oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, Vitamin E oil, shea butter, patchouli, tobacco, and cedarwood

Duke Cannon Brick Of Soap – Accomplishment

When a company names their soap a “big ass brick,” you might think that’s just a cute marketing ploy. Fortunately, Duke Cannon doesn’t do cute. Here big ass means something. These bricks are big in heritage — produced in the same plant that made soap for GIs during the Korean War. They’re big in utility, with steel cut grains for grip and the smell of Accomplishment (bergamot and pepper) for a lasting scent. And they’re big in size — two to three times larger than a bar of the grocery store variety. When Duke Cannon says this soap is a big ass brick, Duke Cannon means it.

• Selling Point: Gigantic soap, manly scent, small price tag.
• Key Ingredients: Activated charcoal, bergamot, and black pepper

Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile Peppermint Bar Soap

If you ever found yourself at a loss for something to read and came across a big blue bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, you suddenly had about an hour’s worth of reading material in your hands. While the bar soap label doesn’t sport quite as many All-One, Spaceship Earth, Moral ABC text, it’s still a darn fine chunk of suds. The peppermint scent is the original Bronner scent and the pure castile bar is particularly good for washing hair, body and face without drying anything out. The ingredients are simple, as is the Bronner directive of using only two cosmetics — enough sleep and this soap.

• Selling Point: One soap! Hundreds of uses! Very enthusiastic packaging!
• Key Ingredients: Organic coconut, palm, and olive oils, sea salt, peppermint

Erno Laszlo Sea Mud Deep Cleansing Bar

They say King Herod liked to visit the Dead Sea for a dose of mineral-laden vitality. And each year hundreds of thousands of people who are not ancient kings head there to take a dip too. The potassium, magnesium, zinc and 23 other minerals found in the mud from that salty body of water are said to have magic-level benefits for your skin. But if a trip to Israel isn’t on your upcoming itinerary, Erno Laszlo’s bar can bring a little Dead Sea mud to you. The deep black bar exfoliates, hydrates and detoxes while increasing circulation in your skin — no airfare required.

• Selling Point: Cleansing, purifying, and balancing for even the most troubled skin.
• Key Ingredients: Activated charcoal, deep sea mud, glycerin

The Yellow Bird Activated Charcoal Soap Bar

Activated charcoal is carbon that’s been treated to be extremely, super absorbent. Used in skin care products, all that absorbency pulls dirt and oil out of your skin to get washed away. Will rubbing a lump of leftover campfire on your face achieve the same result? It will not. Leave these things to a professional like Yellow Bird. Their all natural, small batch, cold process bar has activated charcoal along with lavender oil for its antibacterial action, lemongrass oil for its astringent properties, and shea butter for its moisturizing fatty acids. Put down the coal, pick up this instead.

• Selling Point: Natural assistance for acne and irritation, with a vibrant scent.
• Key Ingredients: Activated charcoal, shea butter, lavender, and lemongrass

Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey Soap

Rich, peppery, oaky — all qualities you’d look for in a good bottle of bourbon. Now look for them in your soap bar. Handcrafted in the States using ingredients like oats, apricot seeds, and rosemary extract, this men’s soap from Florida gift shop, Swag Brewery, contains not whiskey flavor, not whiskey essence but real honest whiskey in each bar. If you’ve ever been bummed that shower water keeps getting in your bourbon, set that glass on the counter (it’ll be there when you emerge) and use this soap to enjoy whiskey goodness while simultaneously getting your face, body and hair clean (and smelling very agreeable).

• Selling Point: Smells good enough to pour over a big ice cube and drink.
• Key Ingredients: Oatmeal, apricot seed, and real bourbon whiskey

Duke Cannon Big Ass Brick of Soap

The Duke Cannon brand is all about making “men’s products for real men,” with superior-quality ingredients, masculine scents, and US-based manufacturing. The result: amazing offerings like the Big Ass Brick of Soap, a “guy’s soap” to the core. This bar soap smells like your favorite campfire memories, with a scent reminiscent of smokey hickory wood. It more than lives up to its name—at ten ounces, it’s more than triple the size of your average bar soap. The triple-milled soap cleans beautifully, smells uber-manly, and will last a long, long time. What more could you want?

• Selling Point: 10 ounces of triple milled manliness.
• Key Ingredients: Fresh cut hickory campfire

Oars + Alps Moisturizing Alps Bar Soap

Oars + Alps has a simple mission: to produce the quality products adventure-loving men will want to take with them everywhere and anywhere. Their Moisturizing Alps Bar Soap solves two of the biggest problems most outdoorsmen face—it cleans away the dirt of a long day of hiking, climbing, or camping, and it infuses your skin with nutrients and moisture to protect against  dryness. Clay from the Amazon Rainforest detoxifies your skin, Shea butter and Larch tree extract provides an excellent moisture barrier, and crushed juniper berries eliminate dead skin cells. Best of all, the soap has a light, fresh scent that will only enhance your natural masculine smell, not overwhelm it.

• Selling Point: Exfoliating and detoxifying, but smooth and gentle on sensitive skin.
• Key Ingredients: Alpine caribou moss, organic shea butter, Amazon rainforest clay, and crushed juniper berries

Dollar Shave Club Body Bars

Dollar Shave Club strives to provide products that are both top-shelf quality and bargain-bin priced. That’s no easy task, but as the Body Bars prove, they can pull it off. This soap comes in a two-pack that costs less than one equally high-end bar. The scent of mint and cedarwood is as delightful as it is manly, and the addition of pumice will exfoliate your skin to maximize the soap’s cleaning power. You’ll never feel cleaner than after you wash up with this lovely soap.

• Selling Point: Affordable and effective cleansing and exfoliating bars.
• Key Ingredients: Glycerin, shea butter, aloe vera juice, mint, and cedarwood

Brickell Men’s Mint Soap Scrub Bar

Brickell puts its best foot forward with the Mint Soap Scrub Bar, a certified organic product made using only the highest-quality natural ingredients. The mixture of natural carrier oils (including coconut, palm, sunflower, hemp, and olive oil) with essential oils (including peppermint, eucalyptus, tea tree, and cajeput) combine to make a truly potent soap that will cleanse all impurities and leave your body smelling and feeling truly clean. It’s suited for any skin type—even sensitive skin—and men of every age.  

• Selling Point: Simple and effective bar soap for deep cleansing and light exfoliating.
• Key Ingredients: Coconut oil, olive oil, tea tree oil, peppermint, and eucalyptus

Baxter of California Vitamin Cleansing Bar

Baxter of California calls itself “the original experts in men’s grooming and personal care,” and one wash with the Vitamin Cleansing Bar will show you exactly why they have earned that name. The soap produces a rich, thick lather that is highly effective at eliminating all grime, dirt, and dead skin cells. The scent is light—a beautifully citrus-forward herbal musk—and the natural ingredients (sunflower seed oil, marine complex, and aloe) will work to nourish and moisturize your freshly scrubbed skin. It’s an everyday soap you’ll never get tired of using.

• Selling Point: Full of vitamins and shark-derived marine complex for added skin benefits.
• Key Ingredients: Aloe, marine complex, and sunflower seed oil

Malin+Goetz Rum Bar Soap

Never accept anything less than the best in your personal grooming products, and the “best” is exactly what Malin+Goetz delivers in this wonderful Rum Bar Soap. The soap has been triple-milled to maximize its lifespan, delivering more, better-lathering foam than its competitors. You’ll find the dark rum scent alluring—reminiscent of either your favorite manly drink or ice cream flavor—but not so overpowering that it clashes with your deodorant or cologne. It’s suitable for even sensitive skin and delivers excellent cleansing power without being excessively harsh or astringent. When you’re done, it washes away and leaves behind no residue, only wonderfully clean skin.

• Selling Point: Signature dark rum scent and a high lather make this a joy to shave with.
• Key Ingredients: Glycerin

Fulton & Roark Blue Ridge Bar Soap

Fulton & Roark is the “jetsetter’s brand,” producing products perfect for manly men who want to look and smell their best on the go. Their Blue Ridge Bar Soap is one you’ll want to take with you on every vacation and business trip, it just smells so wonderful (with its fragrance notes of amber, sage, and sandalwood) and does such a top-notch job of cleansing your skin. The triple-milled soap lathers beautifully, and when you apply it to your body, you’ll find the oat flour mixed into the bar will exfoliate your skin to scrub away all dirt, grime, and dead skin cells. As it cleanses, the cocoa butter and shea butter infuse your skin with moisture and oils to protect against dryness. Now that’s a great bar of soap. 

• Selling Point: Long-lasting, with light exfoliation and a classically masculine aroma.
• Key Ingredients: Glycerin, shea butter, cocoa butter, olive oil, grapeseed oil, kaolin clay, oat flour, sandalwood, sage, and amber

Byrd Activated Charcoal Exfoliating Bar

Give your face and body a break with the Byrd Activated Charcoal Exfoliating Bar. Activated charcoal is incredibly effective at cleansing impurities from the skin, unclogging pores, exfoliating, removing dead skin cells, and penetrating deep into your hair follicles. The result: cleaner, smoother, and suppler skin. Though it’s a smaller-than-average soap bar, you can trust it’ll get the job done with every wash, cleansing your skin and imparting critical nutrients. The formula includes Vitamin E and shea butter for hydration, jojoba oil to protect against dryness, and a hint of smoky sea salt that gives it a truly delightful and masculine scent.

• Selling Point: Exfoliating, cleansing, and nourishing, all in one convenient bar.
• Key Ingredients: Activated charcoal, jojoba oil, shea butter, Vitamin E, and sea salt

Kiehl’s “Ultimate Man” Body Scrub Soap

Are you ready to be the “Ultimate Man”? That’s what Kiehl’s body scrub soap promises, and you’ll find the soap does a pretty darned good job of living up to its word. The soap is highly effective at exfoliating and cleansing your skin, as well as softening up rough spots (like your heels and elbows) to leave your skin smooth to the touch. It’s formulated specifically for men, accounting for the various skin types and sensitivities to ensure you get a truly effective product.  You’ll step out of the shower feeling energized and smelling wonderful.

• Selling Point: Efficient, highly exfoliating, and affordable
• Key Ingredients: Oat bran and pumice

Detroit Grooming Traverse City Bar Soap 4 oz. 

You’ve never smelled anything quite like the Detroit Grooming Traverse City Bar Soap. The cherry tobacco scent is both deeply masculine and surprisingly alluring, with just enough sweetness to make everyone around you sit up and take notice. The soap is made using olive oil as a base, maximizing hydration and protecting your skin against dryness and environmental toxins. Plus, it’ll form a rich lather that will be wonderfully easy to apply.  For guys with sensitive skin, you’ll be happy to know it won’t trigger irritation or allergies.  

• Selling Point: Made in the USA and great for all skin types.
• Key Ingredients: Olive oil, activated charcoal, and cherry tobacco scent

Lumin Charcoal Soap Bar

You may be asking yourself, “What’s with all the charcoal in soap?” Further, you may recall that never once have you looked at a spent campfire and thought, “Yeah, that should get me clean.” Charcoal, in it’s cleansing, soapy form has a convoluted, large surface area that binds to dirt and oil and other gunk you don’t want on your skin. This Charcoal Soap Bar from Lumin combines antioxidant powers of green tea and softening properties of shea butter with the gunk-removing magic of charcoal. And isn’t living gunk-free what life is all about?

• Selling Point: Deeply cleansing and moisturizing, with a side of toning from green tea extract.
• Key Ingredients: Charcoal powder, green tea extract, and shea butter

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