As I have started making soap and looking at what others are doing, I find myself amazed at how fancy people make them. They have beautiful swirls or multiple layers or can be cut and put side by side to look like a butterfly. Is this what we want to use in our baths or showers?
I have found that, for me, a man, I like my soap to be plain and simple. How plain and simple you might ask. I have tried to limit the ingredients to 6 basic items. And there is only one ingredient that changes all the time and that is the fragrance. I have colored a few of my bars a solid color and have added florals to another. But the color of the bar is influenced by the fragrance oil that I have used. Nothing fancy or exciting.
I think that the people who purchase the fancy bars or cupcake looking soaps buy them for the novelty of them. Or they may just be purchasing them to use as a display in a guest bath room or kitchen. They become something of just to look at and not something useful.
I make my soap so that it will be useful and practical. I keep it simple so that folks can use it without thinking that they have to keep it because it is a thing of beauty. Use the soap as it is intended to clean your body and the side effect is that you will smell wonderful as well.