What attracts you to a soap?

I'm curious what attracts everyone else to a soap. Particularly, one from a new vendor/artisan...for example, when I had just started this whole wet shaving thing, I had no experience to go on. I was browsing one of the subs on reddit and the way someone described Roam just made me need to try it. That person's description made it happen for me. What gives you the mental "green light" to try something new? A certain ingredient? A fragrance note? Word of mouth?

Ingredients list and positive reviews

I tell myself that I need it for "research", but the fact is, I just love soap, love the scents, no two are ever the same

Ingredients, scent description, reputation of the brand. I tend to get more out of a well done written review than most video reviews so I scour the Internet for that type of information. Like you said, it really can be just the way that someone describes it that seals the deal.

For me, probably just curiosity which is mainly driven by scent profile. If I see a scent that I think I'll really enjoy then the soap gets short-listed. Then I do a bit of digging like SharpSpine said above to see if I'll get good value for the money. At least this is how it was for a while. Now I've developed some solid brand loyalty and mainly stick to 3-4 artisans that I know work well for me. If they release a scent that sounds captivating I'll put it on my wishlist, knowing that it's a good product I'm going to get.

If I find it has positive reviews and I like the scent description I usually take the plunge.

After trying as many soaps as possible when I first started, I realized that certain ingredients work really well for me, such as lanolin and shea butter. Then I started looking for scents I'd like and reading reviews of soaps with those or similar ingredients.

As a soap maker, I'm attracted to unique ingredient lists/ratios.

Scent and reputation.


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After trying as many soaps as possible when I first started, I realized that certain ingredients work really well for me, such as lanolin and shea butter. Then I started looking for scents I'd like and reading reviews of soaps with those or similar ingredients.

That has been my experience as well. I tried everything I could get my hands on initially, but now generally favor products with shea and lanolin. At this point, experienced people have to regard a soap as among the best they have ever tried to get me interested.

For example, I tried Saponaficio Varesino because several people I respect raved about it as among the best. Despite being a vegan soap, it is quite excellent.