Is ‘Soap for Men’ Worth It?

We haven’t quite found what differentiates soap for men from soap for women. In all of our surveying or testing, what we’ve found is packaging and scent determines whether or not you end up in one aisle versus another. And so it seems to be the case with Dove’s Men+Care Body + Face Bar. We tried their Extra Fresh formula which, while fine, was nothing to write home about (if you enjoy scent and even smelling a bit like your soap after your shower, this isn’t the soap for you).

Dove claims that you can use this guy on your face and your body, but we know that’s a no-no. But for you, we tried it anyway and got dry, flaky skin on our face because of it. With 1/4 moisturizing cream in its make up, we didn’t have a problem with it on our body - it provided that rich, frothy lather Dove does best.

The supposed value proposition is its patented design which means your soap comes shaped like a Pringle. We’re not sure why this needed to be patented considering how awkward it feels in your hand - if you hold it with convex side facing your palm, the soap hugs your body but the bar will start to wear away so that you eventually end up with two convex sides. If you hold it with the concave side facing your palm, it feels like you’re clinging to the last remnants of a soap bar (you know, when it’s so thin and tiny it’s not usable?). Regardless of which way you hold it, there isn’t much soap to hold onto in the first place if you’re using the 2.6 oz. Maybe we’re used to a chunkier soap bar which makes sense since men’s hands tend to be larger. Now that, if anything, is something that should differentiate men’s from women’s soaps. Major pass for us.

Dove’s Men+Care Body + Face Bar, $5.49 (for 2)

Price point: Low