While Dove has maintained a top spot in the body care space for decades, it is recently gaining new popularity on social media as the main step in many skincare routines.
For almost as long as the brand has been around, there has been a debate over whether or not its bar soap is an ideal product to use as a daily facial cleanser.
While the bar soap has been an iconic staple for the Dove brand, some people are unaware of the wide variety of lotions, soaps, and sanitizers that are also part of their lineup!
Although the brand does provide simple solutions to a deep and thorough cleanse for the body, the skin on your face is often more sensitive and needs different products to address your needs properly.
So, while it is a popular body soap choice, can you also use Dove soap on your face? While Dove bar soap has been hailed for years as being an ideal cleanser for all skin types, the regular bar of Dove soap may be too harsh for your face. However, the brand’s Beauty Bar is full of moisturizing properties that can work well as part of your main skincare routine!
Below we discuss the Dove brand, the benefits and side effects of using the bar soap on your face, as well as other products to look for in your skincare routine.
The Dove Brand
Dove has been a leading brand in the skin and body care industry for over 60 years and is still at the forefront of body care products! It is a brand that prides itself on its gentle, effective products that work for all skin types.
There are countless offerings from the brand in terms of soaps, lotions, and cleansers with unique ingredients to address specific skin concerns.
Most of us have used at least one Dove brand product before in our body or skincare routines, and have been impressed by the gentle nature with which it cleanses and hydrates the skin.
Dove is a brand that has been consistently recommended by dermatologists due to its gentle nature on the skin. The brand also focuses many of its campaigns on giving back to various communities or taking a stance on many social issues.
The main message of the Dove brand is focused on empowering all people, especially women and girls, to feel strong and confident in their own skin by embracing their uniqueness.
With its focus on embracing our unique differences, the brand also prides itself on using regular consumers for its campaigns. Dove wants to spotlight their everyday users who have seen positive results and can share their stories with other consumers alike.
Can You Really Use Dove Soap On Your Face?
As mentioned above, there has been a constant debate between consumers and professionals alike about whether Dove soap can be used on the face, and what benefits it can provide if it is included in your skincare routine.
While Dove is often a dermatologist-recommended brand, the bar soap has not always been their endorsement for people looking for facial cleansers. However, The Dove Beauty Bar is a recommended product by consumers and professionals alike, as it is less harsh than the brand’s regular bar soap!
There are many versions of the Dove brand soap to target various skin needs; however, the Beauty Bar can be a good solution to use on most skin types, especially as a cleanser.
Although regular Dove soap, or regular bar soap in general, is not recommended for the face, many dermatologists find that the Beauty Bar is a better alternative.
Most bar soaps are formulated with many harsh surfactants, which can strip the skin of its natural moisture barrier and disrupt its pH balance.
The Beauty Bar is not formulated with any harsh surfactants, however, and is instead infused with moisturizing ingredients to soothe the skin. The product contains sulfate-free cleansers, which will be more gentle on the skin without drying it out too much.
While the Beauty Bar will thoroughly cleanse the skin, it is not formulated with harsh detergents. Instead, it contains ¼ moisture cream to ensure your skin feels soft and smooth — it also contains a neutral pH to help balance the skin without stripping it of moisture.
Pros Of Using Dove Soap On Your Face
There are several benefits of using the Dove Beauty Bar on your face, or as your overall body cleanser! It is a multitasking product, which means it can be used as a facial cleanser or as a body soap, so it can help to streamline the number of products you are using.
Often skin can become overwhelmed by too many products, so being able to strip back the amount you are incorporating into your routine can enhance the skin’s overall complexion.
Based on your skin type, the Dove Beauty Bar can help to reduce the appearance of acne, and help to prevent future breakouts. While it will not cure acne breakouts completely, it can help to diminish their appearance.
Creating a simple routine with a gentle cleanser can help prevent the skin from having to acclimate to too many separate products and ingredients.
The formulation of the Beauty Bar is also meant to keep a neutral pH balance in the skin, without disrupting the moisture barrier. It can be an ideal cleanser for those with sensitive skin, as it is formulated with moisture cream ingredients.
Dove is also available at countless drugstores, making the product easily accessible. It is also a product that is budget-friendly, and the singular bar should last you for a while!
Cons Of Using Dove Soap On Your Face
Although many dermatologists may recommend using the Beauty Bar soap, it may not be a facial cleanser that works for everyone. While it is more moisturizing than most other soaps, it can still cause the skin to feel dry.
Even with the mild cleansing ingredients it is formulated with, there is still the potential for mild irritation on the skin to occur, which can include itchiness, tightness, or redness.
While it may help with reducing the appearance of acne or breakouts, it will not completely cure the skin condition. It can help to control it, but it is best to look at the actual cause of why the acne is occurring, then treat the skin accordingly.
In some cases, the soap can cause the skin to break out more depending on how it reacts to the product.
There are several variations of the Beauty Bar cleanser, and while they all have their benefits, they will not help to alleviate certain other skin concerns, such as texture, hyperpigmentation, or fine lines and wrinkles.
Dove Soap Alternatives For Your Face
If you are looking to switch up your skincare routine and have been interested in trying to incorporate Dove Beauty Bar soap, but are still unsure, there are several other options you can try as well.
If you are noticing your skin is becoming overwhelmed by too many products, or breaking out more because of the types of products you are using, it is best to strip your routine back down to something simpler, with as few steps as possible.
Taking a step back with how many products or steps are in your routine can help to reacclimate your skin, so you can focus on cleansing, moisturizing, and just treating the specific concerns that are present.
The Dove brand focuses on having simple ingredients, and there are many skincare alternatives that provide the same options.
Brands like CeraVe, which are also available at drug stores, focus on creating a simple, streamlined routine that balances the skin and provides the right amount of moisture to keep skin feeling comfortable and calm.
The cleansers are created with different skin types in mind and have the same basic objective of keeping your skin cleansed, clear, and hydrated.
The best solution, especially when creating a new routine, is to understand the root cause of whatever triggered your specific skin concern. From there, you can find the correct products and ingredients to accurately target your skin to give you the best results.
Often time it is best to scale back from many products, and complicated routines, and focus on the basics to get skin to be in a good place.
Final Thoughts
Over the years, the Dove brand has expanded and enhanced its formulas to be able to properly address each and every skin concern it can for its consumers.
The recent popularity of using the iconic bar soap as part of a simple skincare routine has reignited conversations over whether it is an ideal choice for a facial cleanser or not.
While it will ultimately come down to your skin type and how it responds to the soap, the recommended choice for the brand is to use the Beauty Bar, which is formulated to help provide moisture, comfort, and simplicity to your skincare routine.