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Camay is a very old brand. My grandmother used it and my mom used to use it when I was growing up. I still buy it sometimes when I'm feeling nostalgic for the smell.

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Camay was HUGE

In the later '50s and in the '60s.

I regret to say that I think Unilever will not be a good custodian of "legacy" brands like these. The reason is what they did to Lux, once the Queen of Beauty Soaps, advertised by A-list movie stars in every possible publication. It was ignominiously dropped in the '90s, without warning. Vociferous complaints to Unilever from loyal Lux users were studiously ignored.
 
When we were little kids, it was a real treat when daddy came home on Friday and opened his suitcase with the little bars of soap for us. Camay was always included as was Lux, Cashmere Bouquet and Sweetheart. Ivory was not as popular. He would have more of bars of soap when he was in several different cities and motels during the week. We were always eager to take baths with our special bars of soap. Is Camay the only one still made?
 
Tom:

WHERE are you finding Lux? I have not seen it in nearly 20 years.

I would add that Cashmere Bouquet is not easy to find, but it's out there. Palmolive is also still available.
 
Unilever's far more interested in health/beauty brands than P&G is these days. So, my guess it they want to buy them up for the potential to rejuvenate the brands as some kind of modern product.
 
Oh, No!

"some kind of modern product"

I hope that does not mean what is called "body wash," because my reaction to that possibility would be about ten times more pungent than Robert would allow in the DL forum.

Bar soap is the ultimate modern soap product. It is not packaged in petrochemicals. It does not cost an ungodly amount to ship due to water weight. It is - or can be - about as green and energy-efficient as a cleansing product can get. If this society was moving in the right direction, we would be phasing out body wash in favor of bar soap.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Staunch bar soap (Palmolive) user here. And anxious to remain one.
 
I don't use bar soap any more. Haven't for years. Instead I use Clorox Green Works Dishwashing Liquid, which, probably due to its glycerin content, is mild enough to be used for hands, face, and shower, but cleans much better than most bar soaps, and doesn't leave soap scum everywhere.

 

I do remember my Mom using Camay. I always liked to look at the little cameo of the woman's head that was cast into each bar.

 

I've tried some body wash type products but found their gel like nature made them too difficult to apply in the shower. Plus they tend to have way too much fragrance. Green Works has a light citrus scent that is not intrusive and doesn't linger.

 
 
I haven't seen Lux either in at least 15 - 20 years in the US. For a while you could find 12 bar packs of the small size Lux from Canada in National wholesale liquidators. But that too is past. Same for Lifebuoy. That was my favorite soap and now long gone and the foreign versions have a different scent not nearly as clean smelling, etc..

I don't like a heavily fragranced bath soap so I was thrilled when Unilever introduced Lever 2000 in a light Citrus scent. That lasted less than a year...
 
Not trying to derail this thread into a Soap vs Body wash debate, but I haven't showered with bar soap in at least 4 years. I use body wash because it cleans better and rinses better, and doesn't leave soap scum. I do use bar soap to wash hands, and everyone else uses it to shower. I have always liked Zest and Coast, and more recently Yardley English Lavender. I could never shower with Zest because it made me break out, but never an issue washing my hands with it. I also liked the clean soapy smell of Dial White and Dial Gold, along with Irish Spring Original. None of the body washes smell the same unfortunately.
 
Camay has been a popular soap brand in Germany as well, but then it suddenly dissapeared from the shelves in the late 1980`s.

I remember it had a nice thick and creamy lather, that made it differ from other soaps. The downside was it became soggy in no time if you didn`t put it on a dry surface.
Has been my mother`s favorite soap when I was a child and I hated the scent with passion. Thank God it was only used for washing hands, even back then we preferred shower gels for body care.
 
These soaps were what daddy called soft milled and would turn to mush very quickly if allowed to stay wet. We had some little racks for the soap dishes that lifted the bars of soap up so that they dried quickly.

Sometime later in the 60s, maybe, Holiday Inn started putting their own brand of soap in the rooms, wrapped in paper with the Holiday Inn logo.

I can see why bars of soap would be replaced with liquid soap in a lavatory on planes and in other public places. Bar soap has the potential to spread germs.

Palmolive soap was named for the two oils used to originally make it, palm and olive.
 
I used to use body wash but I always felt like I had a thin film on my skin and I didn't like it. Now I use bar soap from Caswell-Massey and they're friggin' amazing and last forever.

I haven't seen cashmere bouquet since I was a kid. The Walmart closest to me only carries 3 bar soaps; Ivory, Zest and Irish Spring. I grew up using Ivory, I love the way it smells but boy can that stuff burn the crap out of your eyes!
 
Camay

I love Camay soap, haven't been able to get it at a reasonablenprice for a few years here in the UK. It really does wash you cleaner.

We still have Palmolive in abundance in stores. I bought some the other week, still prefer Camay though.
 
Ivory

Our Ivory soap is called Imperial Leather - been around since the dawn of time, yes it does burn the hell out of your eyes.
 
Tom:

Thanks for the link!

I wish there was a way to get hold of one bar for testing, to see if the fragrance and lathering are what I remember. $44.46 for a case is not a bad price at all, but if it was not the Lux I remember, then it's an expensive experiment.

The 3.2 ounce "hotel" size is becoming more prevalent; Palmolive comes only in that size now. I still use it, but I miss the 4 ounce bar, which lasted longer.
 
I didn't know that palmolive came in a bar, much less as anything other than dish liquid :-/

The Camay and Lux... are they drying to the skin?
 
 

 

Growing up, we always used Camey, Cashmere Bouquet and Ivory. Early '80's we went to Zest, Irish Spring, Tone and Caress. I was allergic to Caress though.  For the Christmas season, we always (and still do) switch over to Maja, a bar soap imported from Spain. These days it's usually Yardley's of London, Dove and the occasional triple-milled soap from Marshalls. I use shower gels once in awhile. Spouse is strictly a shower gel guy. 
 
Andi:

Palmolive was a bar soap for decades (it was introduced in 1898) before the name was put on dish detergent. It was one of the leading soaps in the category known as "toilet soap," meaning soap people bathed with and washed hands and faces with. Toilet soaps were specifically formulated to be non-drying. The Palmolive name originally signified that the soap had both palm and olive oils in it. That has not been the case for a long, long time, but the name continues.

Lux was one of the most famous toilet soaps, advertised by movie stars as a "beauty soap" capable of improving the complexion by cleansing the skin and moisturizing it. Palmolive claimed this too, as did Camay.

I have used Palmolive since I was a kid (it's easy to get at Dollar Tree as mentioned upthread), and Lux too until it was discontinued for retail sale. Both make me feel cleaner than any other soap.

Here's the Palmolive jingle that I remember as a very small kid:

"You want a beauty soap for a beauty bath
You want a beauty soap for a beauty bath
You want Palmolive Soap for a beauty bath
You want Pal-mol-ive Soap for your beauty bath!
You'll love it's fragrance for daintiness
You'll love it's mildness for loveliness
You'll love it's purity for gentleness
You'll love Pal-mol-ive Bath Size for thriftiness!"

You can see a 1951 Palmolive commercial using this jingle at the link:

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLrHX3-i7wc
 
Cashmere Bouquet: The tiny-bar soap of every inexpensive motel room I stayed in as a kid. Liked the scents of Zest and Camay. Didn't care for Dove at all, but the stylized shape of the bar was cool.[this post was last edited: 12/24/2014-03:00]

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Sorry for the long post and no intention to turn this thread into a shower gel vs. soap thread, but I`m amazed at how popular soap still is on the other side of the pond.

First of all I think the reason most people over here don`t like real soap anymore is because most of us have to deal with hard water and hard water and soap don`t work well together. Takes only one sole shower with soap until my bathtub needs to be srubbed.
With shower gel I get away with weekly cleaning intervals of the tub. Also when using soap if I wouldn`t lather up and rinse in small batches I`d find myself covered in nasty soapscum.
With shower gel I can turn off the water, lather up head to toe and rinse clean at once.

There`s no doubt about that soap is a way more natural option than man made surfactants as found in shower gel, but there`s also one major disadvantage of soap, its pH is rather high thus not ideal for the skin.
You don`t need to be a dermatologist to understand the negative effects of free alkali to the human skin. While normal healthy skin can cope well with soap it can be devastating for dry sensitive skin. Every hairdresser should be able to explain.
Just think about it this way, how could something caustic enough to burn your eyes be gentle on your skin ?
Man made surfactants on the other hand can be balanced to any desired pH level without loosing their surfactancy. Typically a shower gel is slightly sour (pH 5.5) to match the natural pH of "untreated" human skin.
Dishwashing liquid are often found in the alkaline range to boost cleaning power.

@ Sudsmaster please take my friendly advice and stop using Clorox Greenworks for your body. I checked the MSDS and just as I expected found out the pH is slighty alkaline (7.5-8.5). It`s nothing to be concerned about, but any shower gel would be better suited for a gentle body care.
 
There's chemistry to explain why bar soaps tend to deposit themselves on bathroom surfaces (and your skin as well) but my understanding of it is only adequate to explain it to me, not to expound upon it. Has to do with why bar soap feels slippery with softened water no matter how much you rinse.

Soap and its actions are far more complex than most appreciate. Remember, soap was invented when cavemen found that the fat dripping off cooked meat into ashes plus water tended to remove soil. The fat and ash chemistries have become a great deal more refined but bar soap at its core is little different than it was when first discovered.

Bodywashes are detergents, almost nothing in common with 'soap' other than a degree of surfactancy. Like them if you like them, but they are not for everybody. Detergent would make my genetically-altered skin a fire hazard fer chrissake. I wash my hands with detergent (dish liquid) after making hamburger patties. But only to the point it removes the GROSS grease. Otherwise, see 'fire hazard' above. And cracked cuticles, etc. IOW, there is not 'one thing better' for everyone.
 
Wow Sandy, you sure do know your soap! Im going to have to pick up a bar to give it a spin. I love trying new soaps.

A few years back, my grandparents would purchase big bars of cashmere bouquet from the commissary. When one of my smaller cousins would come to stay, thats what he would have to use. Apparently it was great for his eczema.

As far as bodywash vs. soap, I've used both and definately prefer soap. Bodywash just doesn't make me feel clean. My dailey driver is either the vetiver and cardamom or the elixir of love bars from Caswell-Massey. They're French milled, smell amazing, aren't drying at all and last me a long time.
 

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