Bath Bars that Make Cleansing, Delightful
Bath bars can cost a fortune, or just pennies. Recently, a box with Yardley of London Oatmeal & Almond, Lemon Verbena, English Lavender and Aloe & Avocado bath bars arrived on my desk. These soaps take me back and still make me feel as pampered as they did when I was a teenager.
Growing up, our household budget went for other things besides expensive bath products, but my mother wasn’t averse to a bit of luxury. I remember her putting Yardley of London English Lavender bath bars in our bathroom. I’m live streaming London Fashion Week as I’m typing this, but back then, London seemed so exotic! It is, after all, the seat of fashion, music, art: The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, David Bowie, Twiggy, Kate Moss, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and so many more.
Even better, from a young girl’s perspective, these soaps were special — packaged in purple, not just in a plain wrapper, and they smelled better than the utilitarian bath bars we often used. They lathered nicely and left my skin feeling soft and just ever so slightly scented.
I obviously wasn’t a beauty editor back then so I didn’t look at the ingredients, nor did I care, all I wanted was a bit of luxury, but today I can tell you that all Yardley bath soaps are paraben and sodium lauryl sulfate free, plus they’re not tested on animals and they are packaged in 100% recyclable packaging. That’s nice, too.
Yardley of London was founded in 1770 and has always produced mainly soaps and fragrances as they still do today. The mass market priced bath soaps include both bath bars, and liquid soaps. The oval-shaped solid bath bars fit nicely in your hand (ergonomic before the term was trendy). The fragrances are subtle, so if you’re looking for a a lot of scent experience you won’t get it, but the plus side is that the other people in your life won’t smell the same as you. In fact, they might not want any scent at all on their skin. If you love the Yardley of London fragrance, there are actual Yardley fragrances in bottles you can buy as well, including my favorite, English Lavender.
English Lavender in today’s packaging
I am particularly found of the Yardley London English Lavender bath bar because it’s the one my mom used to buy for us. It has lavender extracts & oils. to calm and soothe. It’s perfect for date night or after a long day, or to keep confident (not to mention clean) before a “big day.”
Yardley Aloe & Avocado, Oatmeal & Almond, and Lemon Verbena bath bars are great choices for Winter weary skin. Winter weather can really dry out skin and using soap is a serious saboteur. But the naturally-moisturizing Aloe & Avocado bath bar has aloe essence with creamy avocado & natural olive extracts that are emollient and nourish skin while it cleanses, along with the nice herbal & citrus scent that’s subtle and uplifting. Oatmeal is known to be a superb skin soothing ingredient, and the almond naturally exfoliates (very gently) as you cleanse with the bar. You can just get a tiny whiff of almond as you use the soap. The Lemon Verbena bath bar has shea butter and natural citrus oil. Shea butter really is the “big gun” of moisturizing. I strained to smell the lemon verbena, but my skin didn’t feel the least bit itchy or tight after using this moisturizing bath bar.
The price for a 4.25 oz. bar of Yardley London bath soap varies, depending upon where you buy it. As an example, a dozen boxes of Yardley Oatmeal & Almond, were $16.97 on Amazon. For more information and a list of places to purchase these products, visit the Yardley London web site
