Life

Best bar none? Soap sales are on the rise as shoppers start to move away from plastic

Coutiver 3 Organic Vegan Soaps, £15.90, Etsy
Coutiver 3 Organic Vegan Soaps, £15.90, Etsy Coutiver 3 Organic Vegan Soaps, £15.90, Etsy

SALES of the humble soap bar are on the rise – possibly because, as we're all becoming more environmentally aware, households are increasingly eschewing plastic, and so choosing soap over bottled liquid hand wash.

At Waitrose, sales of bar soap are up 20 per cent year-on-year, and beauty brand Dr Bronner reports an even bigger spike.

"Our Pure-Castile Bar Soaps have always been very popular, but we've seen a 30 per cent increase in sales of these soaps in the UK, which has been a marked change," says the company's president Mike Bronner.

"There has been a movement away from plastic. Our bar soaps are a sustainable, affordable and eco-friendly option, as the entire bar, including its post-consumer recycled paper packaging, is biodegradable.

"We feel the sales growth of our bar soaps is driven in part by environmental factors, but also economic ones, as the bars last such a long time."

As well as ditching plastic bottles, consumers are also on the hunt for ingredients that won't harm them or the environment.

On e-commerce site Etsy, there have been over 44,000 searches for 'natural soap' in the past six months, as well as a 110 per cent rise in searches for 'shampoo bars', compared to the same time last year.

Here's our pick of soaps, from bargain bars to luxury lathers...

:: Coutiver 3 Organic Vegan Soaps, £15.90, Etsy

:: Lush Raspberry Milkshake Soap, £7.95

:: Dr. Bronner's Pure-Castile Lavender Bar Soap, £4.99

:: Carbon Theory Charcoal And Tea Tree Oil Breakout Control Cleansing Bar, £6

:: Kama Ayurveda Himalayan Deodar Soap for Men, £18.99, Amazon

:: Chanel No 5 The Bath Soap, £19.80, currently reduced from £22, Debenhams

:: BeanandBoy Orange & Cacao Soap, £4.95, Etsy