1950s old soap brands
Ivory Soap: 99-44/100% pure… it floats (1952)
Ivory makes more lather, faster… rich, relaxing lather! Get into a steaming tub — set a friendly cake of Ivory afloat — and you’re in for pleasure! Pure pleasure! Just a few lazy rubs with a washcloth will give you handfuls of rich, bubbling lather. For Ivory makes more suds, faster, than any other leading bath soap!
Vintage Yardley Lavender bar soap (1955)
1950s Pink Camay soap (1957)
Lux Soap – with Rita Hayworth (1957)
Color does something for you… and so does a lovely complexion!
“I always use Lux because it’s so gentle, so good to my skin. And I love all four of the new pastel colors!” says Rita Hayworth
Lux can do as much for you as it does for Rita Hayworth. That’s because gentle Lux has a rich Cosmetic lather, to help smooth and soften your skin. Soft is the word for the new Lux Colors, too. One or more of these pastels is sure to contrast or harmonize with your bathroom.
Use Lux in Color — right along with pure white Lux. (Naturally, you get the same wonderful Lux fragrance!) Lever Brothers guarantees you’ll decide Lux is perfect for your skin — or your money back. For a complexion you’ll love — and he’ll love, too—use Lux.
Old-fashioned SweetHeart bath soap (1957)
Old Dove Soap bars (1958)
Palmolive soap – Green bars from the 1950s
You can give your complexion new life — leave it softer, fresher — with New Palmolive care! And you’ll see results after just a few days — as New Palmolive care gently washes away dirt and make-up … cleanses so effectively it actually gives your complexion NEW LIFE!
New Palmolive’s rich, mild lather lets you cleanse far more thoroughly than you’d dare to do with harsher soaps. Palmolive contains no drying detergents, no strong perfumes, no irritating deodorants—just the gentlest of natural cleansing ingredients. So get that “new life” look with gentle New Palmolive Soap!
1960s old soap brands
Natalie Wood for Lux bar soap (1960)
Wonderful new beauty lather now in New Lux… it actually helps purify your skin! Now — you don’t have to let skin troublemakers damage the fresh, clear look of your complexion!
“Marvelous for keeping my skin clear!” – Natalie Wood – Natalie Wood, co-starring in “Cash McCall” — a Warner Bros Production
ALSO SEE: The most famous actresses of the ’50s & ’60s used Lustre-Creme shampoo
New Lux, in five cosmetic colors (1962)
Now… three beauty bands go deep into new Lux… It’s moisturizing creamy leather says: “Forget your dry skin worries!”
It looks different — it is different! Each time you wash, this heavenly New Lux releases wonderful Moisturizing Creamy Lather.
Now you can forget your dry skin worries — the gentle Lux lather is so rich, so soothing. It moisturizes your skin in a way no cream ever, ever has. Try New Lux! Your skin has never known a soap so luscious!
CAMAY soap with the finest cold cream (1960s)
In a man’s world, woman needs… CAMAY, for the skin men can’t ignore.
You’ll be a little lovelier each day with fabulous CAMAY. Camay with finest cold cream… and that exclusive perfume from Paris worth 9 guineas an ounce.
That Ivory look — simply delicious… a fresh, clear, sparkly look to your face. (1961)
You can’t imagine how pretty your complexion can be till you start using mild Ivory Soap daily… gentle enough for a baby’s skin. 99-44/100% pure. More doctors advise it for babies’ skin, and yours, than any other soap.
Pink and blue Princess Dial soaps (1960s)
(aka Dial Soap for women) The soap with special moisturizing cream to protect your skin against dryness
New Pink Dove soap (1960s)
Darling, I’m tickled pink all over — I’m head over heels in new Pink Dove!
Yes, darling, Pink Dove! New pink color, heavenly new fragrance — same creamy Dove formula.
DON’T MISS: 28 vintage pink bathrooms: See some wild bubblegum-era midcentury home decor of the 1950s & 1960s
Avon perfumed bar soap from the 60s: Lilac & Honeysuckle
New Lilac and Lemon Creme Sweetheart soaps (1965)
New Lilac Sweetheart and Lemon Creme Sweetheart have more than lush colors recommend them. Each one has its own fragrance to match!
Lilac Sweetheart actually smells like a big armful of lilacs. Lemon Creme Sweetheart has the fresh scent of lemon.
And both are enriched with Lecithin, nature’s own precious moisturizer. The one that softens and smooths your skin with its rich lather. All this in the elegant oval-shaped bar that’s hard-milled to last and last.
Choose the new color that looks best in your bath and linger in the lovely fragrance of fresh lilacs or the lightness of lemon.
ALSO SEE: 60 vintage ’60s bathrooms: Retro home decorating ideas
Vintage Palmolive soap (1966)
1960s Dove soap bars (1966)
ALSO SEE: How to make homemade soap the old-fashioned way
P-300 antibacterial deodorant soap (1967)
Phase III deodorant cream soap (1967)
You’d have to bolt a deodorant bar and a cream bar together to get the deodorant and cream that’s in one bar of Phase III.
Lever Brothers’ new Phase III has the mildness that’s missing from deodorant bars and the protection that’s missing from cream bars.
New Pink Safeguard. New White Safeguard. (1967)
Now there are two more ways to get the best possible deodorant protection.
Safeguard now comes in three colors. Like our original beige bar, our new pink and white ones are the mildest soaps possible. (Look for the color stripe on the box.)
And all three contain the best bacteria-fighting formula ever put into a deodorant soap. No soap protects better. In any color.
The startling thing about Sing is the way it makes you feel about yourself. (1968)
Perhaps cleaner than you’ve ever felt before. Confident. Somehow freer. Like you want to tell the world all about it. Sing with Dermadane-9 is a new kind of deodorant soap. It’s specially formulated for deep pore cleaning.
Sing’s rich deodorizing lather plunges deep deep into every pore to gently remove clogging residue and the cause of body odor. You’ll feel refreshingly clean and you’ll stay that way hour after hour. For the pure joy of feeling cleaner, try Sing. The new kind of deodorant soap that cleans deep. Try Sing for the pure joy of feeling cleaner.
MORE: 50+ sexist vintage ads so bad, you almost won’t believe they were real
Sayman soap to stop ‘oily-skin’ blemishes (1969)
Sayman Vegetable Wonder Soap (a most effective Special Purpose Soap) makes the creamiest lather ever!!! …to get deep, deep into your pores, to wash away the cause of so many skin blemishes. Guaranteed to leave your skin fresh and kissing sweet. And Surprise! Sayman doubles as the richest shampoo you ever had.
1970s old soap brands
Cashmere Bouquet soap (1972)
Naked Joy. Bathe in a bouquet of lasting loveliness. Smooth your skin in a swirl of garden fragrance.
Aren’t you glad you use Dial! (1972)
Don’t you wish everybody did? A Dial shower keeps you fresh all day long. Because Dial works, from morning to night, to get rid of bacteria that cause odor.
SEE MORE DIAL: Vintage Dial Soap: See what they said those bars of soap could do
Palmolive Plus gold deodorant soap (1972)
Vintage Cuticura medicated soap (1973)
Vintage Avon perfumed soaps (1975)
Scents: Sonnet, Charisma, Moonwind, Field Flowers, Touch of Roses, Bird of Paradise
Nature Scents old bath soap brand (1976)
Nature Scents… for a beautiful, blooming bath. Pick Nature Scents soaps. Put them in water. And surround yourself with the fragrance of fresh-cut flowers and herbs. Nature Scents Wildflower, Lavender, and Herbal Body Bars. Soaps that are freshly scented, gentle and mild.
Bring yourself back to life. (1978)
Anne Cunningham has to bring herself back to life… fortunately she discovered Coast deodorant soap… the eye opener… a crisp exhilarating scent, and handfuls of bubbly lather… make you feel more than clean. It actually brings you back to life.
Zest soap: Zestimonial. (1978)
My soap: I see a film on the side dipped in my soap. It looks like I’m not getting as clean as I thought. If it’s on the picture, most likely it’s going to be on my body also. It bothers me!
Zest: The Zest side looks clean. I went home and tried Zest. Zest gave me a lot of lather. I rinsed and one time did it. I feel cleaner. My body feels like my picture looked. Clean. I’ll buy Zest. I like it.
The above sentences are excerpts taken from hidden camera interviews of Linda Jackson. At that time, we asked her to bathe pictures of herself, like the ones above, in her favorite soap and Zest. We also asked her to try Zest at home. She found out Zest made her feel cleaner than her soap. Try Zest. Like Linda Jackson, you’ll feel cleaner and fresher than with soap.
Neutrogena soap: Should you use a soap made for sensitive skin? (1979)
Maybe you don’t have problems with your skin very often. Then why should you even think about using a soap specifically formulated for sensitive skin? There’s a very good reason. A soap that is pure enough, mild enough and safe enough for sensitive skin is bound to be good for yours.
Neutrogena is just such a soap. It was made originally for sensitive skin. We use only the finest quality ingredients on the market when we make it. Neutrogena is uniquely formulated to rinse off completely, so it leaves no potentially-irritating residue on your skin. It’s been recommended for years by doctors to patients who otherwise couldn’t use soap.
ALSO SEE: Vintage liquid hand soaps: Why lots of people gave up bar soap in the ’80s & ’90s
Maja luxury soap from Spain (1979)
1980s old soap brands
Old Yardley bar soaps from the 80s
6 varieties: Yardley English Lavender, The Baby Soap, The Oatmeal Soap, The Hand Lotion Soap, The Cocoa Butter Soap, and The Aloe Vera Soap
Sunshine Yellow Irish Spring soap (1981)
Green and white Shield soap (1981)
Liqua 4: Bar-shaped liquid soap for women (1982)
Basis face soap from 1985
Pink Olay Beauty Bar (1986)
Discover the secret essence of Oil of Olay in Olay Beauty Bar. Special Olay emollients combine with gentle cleansers in an incredibly silky lather to remove impurities while restoring a softer, smoother look to your skin. Touch your face and feel the difference.
Green Irish Spring soap (1989)
Feel really fresh and clean. Go for the manly scent and deodorant protection of Irish Spring. Later up a storm and feel the power of an Irish Spring Shower.
NOW SEE THIS: Vintage liquid hand soaps: Why lots of people gave up bar soap in the ’80s & ’90s
9 Responses
I had completely forgotten about Sweetheart Soap.
Like the color toilet tissue of the past; I miss the colorful soaps although only white would match my bathrooms now. I remember Dial (not the Princess Dial), Dove and Camay soaps that my mother would buy to match the color of the bathrooms. My grandmother always used Lux so the ad in the article reminds me of her choice of soap.
Thanks for the memories!!
Came here only because SweetHeart soap was featured during the credits of Season One of Perry Mason! I’d never heard of it before, thought perhaps it was Cashmere Bouquet, which I remember from motels.
The only soap my parents ever used was gold Dial (I remember the gold foil wrapper). My grandmother was fond of Camay, which I thought had an overpowering scent; her entire house smelled like it! I vaguely remember Phase III because we got some of it free as a promo.
Soap sales and products were directed to women back in the day. In the 40s and 50s I don’t remember a brand for men. Perhaps Lava. You sure wouldn’t shower or take a bath with it. It was fir hand washing.
I really liked the marble soap but they don’t come like that anymore. I read these soaps are very good for killing viruses. I hope they bring them back to combat germ warfare.
I remember practically all of the various soaps shown here and it took me back to different times in my life. Of the soaps directed more towards women, I remember my mother would always buy Camay, it didn’t matter the color as long it was Camay. I liked the feminine floral (?) scent it had. I remember she would occasionally buy Sweetheart,(the white original) Cashmere Bouquet (for special pampering treatments) Woodbury, Lux,Jergens, (I don’t remember if Jergens was mentioned) and Ivory. Dove was also one she used. We had used just about all of the deodorant soaps . I loved Phase 3, the old Zest, ( today’s Zest pale in comparison as far as the scent and the size has been reduced to mere fragment as well)Coast, and Palmolive Gold. The staples in our household were Dial, Safeguard Beige ( for some reason it seemed to smell better (spicier?) than the other colors) and the original Irish Spring. Now Lifebouy was one that in the earlier times was an anti-bacterial stinker, a lot of years later, the scent was improved on. Tone was a soap that I don’t think was listed above and it was another one that was like a skin conditioner. We used it too. I wish that they would bring back a lot of the great soaps of yesterday and that they would smell just as good as they did then. Also, in the original size that they came in. We are paying more for bar soap today than we did back then but, getting a fragment of the size.
My Dad was a soap kinda guy. He was very frugal with most things but he loved trying different types of soap. So, just about every soap you have listed….my dad bought minus the obvious “Beauty” Bars that Pop thought to feminine for a house full of males. My favorites were Coast, Safeguard beige and Irish Spring. Here’s a story for you. when Pop heard us use bad language…it was Irish Spring. Give me Lux white or Ivory any day! But Irish Spring…Please…send me to Church for Confession before you wash my mouth out with Irish Spring!
We used to buy my grandmother a box of rose scented soaps called American beauty soap. They were packed in a flat thin box of three and smelled so heavenly. I remember we purchased them at our local pharmacy that carried all kinds of beauty products as well as medicines, prescriptions and necessary items. I’ve looked everywhere for a picture of the soap but haven’t found anything. It was manufactured in the mid 1960s but I don’t know what the brand was other than American beauty.
I remember the Pine Tar soap, but I don’t remember the brand of it. Also, the Sayman mentioned here. I remember soaps not mentioned here too from back in the 1950’s. Neco soap was a small blue bar that my parents used. Lifebuoy Soap was a red bar of soap they used a lot. Lava soap was another.