Less is More with the Floating Soap

 Ivory's Advertising Campaign Print Ad (Photo: Business Wire)

Keep it pure. Clean. Simple.

That is Ivory's brand promise.

My relationship with Ivory started with its bar soap - the only floating bar soap that I know. Ivory is one of P&G's oldest products (first sold in 1879), reason why P&G is sometimes called "Ivory Towers" and its factory and research center in St. Bernard, Ohio is called "Ivorydale".   My mom made me use this for my face years back as I was the teenager who, yes, experienced some years of acne-prone face. A doctor also advised her to use this for her face when she was younger. This soap is so mild babies can use it.  It's clean scent just makes you feel so fresh.  When I outgrew my  pimples-stage I have stopped using this soap and tried different facial washes and bars being advertised in the market which promised a beautiful and glowing skin.  But my breakouts suddenly returned due to tremendous amounts of stress maybe, and I, in panic, tried so many facial washes hoping I would someday find "the one".  

Accepting defeat, mom advised me to use Ivory again, nothing else.  I heed to her advice, as I had no other choice, and my breakouts have disappeared and, more importantly, stopped returning.  From then on until this day, I have remained loyal to this simple and pure floating soap.

1898 Ivory Advertisement Poster

Did you know that this soap was made to float by accident?   

According to an urban legend, a company worker accidentally left the mixing machine on too long which whipped air into the mixture.  The company still decided to sell the "ruined" batch because mixing air longer did not change the basic ingredients of the soap. When appreciative letters about the new, floating soap inundated the company, P&G ordered the extended mix time as a standard setting.

However, company records indicate that the design of Ivory was not a result of an accident.  In 2004, over 100 years later, the P&G company archivist Ed Rider found documentation which revealed that chemist James N. Gamble, son of the founder, had discovered how to make the soap float and noted the result in his writings.   Anyhow, by accident or not, many consumers from all over the world enjoyed, and still do until this day, using this floating soap.

Make sure you buy the imported ones wrapped in paper, not the boxed ones.  (Shown in photo above) This does NOT come in different scents.  I know the locally manufactured Ivory bar soap comes in various scents and packed in boxes, not those ones.

Ivory's old packaging in Original, Aloe and Lavender scents

From bar for face, to wash for the body...
My skin has been usually sensitive to body soaps and other heavily perfumed and moisturized washes, they give me breakouts.  And soap-free body washes do not seem to be enough for everyday use.  I am glad to have discovered Ivory's version of body wash.   It's mild formula leaves my skin clean and fresh, while not stripped of its natural moisture.

New look of Ivory Body Wash in Aloe

It comes in Original, Aloe and Lavender scents, at least here in the Philippines.  I have tried all three, and my personal favorite is Aloe. I am into it's fresh, clean and mild scent.  But currently I am using Lavender just to break the monotony of scent.  I can buy it cheapest in Landmark for Php 178; while it is sold at Php200+ in other stores.  It only comes in one size which is a 709 ml bottle.  It has a new packaging recently.  I have to admit I still like the old simple look.

For those who like to keep it pure, Ivory is the perfect bath companion as it keeps it clean and simple for you.  Indeed, big things come in small packages.  Mundane and simple things that we fail to recognize can sometimes be the answer to our most perplex questions. ;)

Not too much and not too little.
Just the right amount of bubbles.
Just a little scent. And there you go. ♥

What do you think about these products?  Drop some comments.

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