The Scrubbing Bar That Turns Treating Body Acne Into a Luxury Experience
IT SMELLS SO GOOD
Hi! It’s me! Per usual, I am all over the place, behind on everything, and walking around with eight red finger nails and two naked ones that I picked the gel off of five days ago. I’ve spent most of this week feeling personally victimized by TikTok’s “type B” trend (also: I’ve decided I use TikTok now), and—at the very least!—feeling less alone in my inability to get my shit together. I swear, I’m trying!
Thankfully, this essay isn’t about that—it’s about my all-time favorite body-scrubbing bar, which offers a sensory experience that might just be even better thatn the smooth skin it leaves behind.
I've made peace with most of the things that used to bother me about my appearance. But while I'm cool with my bonkers amount of body hair and the fact that my fingers basically look like sausages, one of the things that really still bugs me is the constellation of pimples on my tush.
I've had butt acne for as long as I can remember. Actually, probably for longer than I can remember, because I had no idea it was there until someone pointed it out to me on middle school spring break. Needless to say, that vacation was ruined, and those pimples—and the dark marks that years of mistreating them has left behind—have made me extremely self conscious in the decades since.
You'll never catch me in any sort of bikini that risks baring my blemished, hyperpigmented cheeks, and I don't even like to let my fiancé sneak a peek at them. I'm embarrassed about it (which is funny, because I'm okay writing about it on the Internet), and because of that, have been extremely dedicated to trying to fix the situation.
Over the years, I've tried everything from fancy peel pads to drugstore spot treatments to literally calling up an anal surgeon and asking him what the hell I should do. All of these options worked... until they didn't. And each time, I'd get so excited that I'd *finally* found something that was going to clear my tush for good, which made it even more upsetting when whatever "miracle" product stopped working. What's more, it made me hate the entire process of having to do "skincare" for my butt (because, yes: there have been times when I've had full multi-step routines for my rear end).
But then, I found the Soft Services Buffing Bar ($28).
The exfoliating product that kicked my body acne to the curb
I first wrote about the bar back in 2021, shortly after it launched. In my own words: "As someone who tests all kinds of 'miracle-working' beauty products for a living (a whole lot of which turn out to be BS—just being real here), I don't use that term lightly. After using the bar to scrub my behind for three days, there's nary a pimple in sight."
Three years later, my still-smooth booty and I stand fully behind that statement. Not only is it great for body acne, but it also helps with keratosis pilaris (a chronic condition that shows up in the form of small bumps and is often referred to as "chicken skin") and ingrown hairs.
What made me fall in love with the Soft Services Buffing Bar the first time around was the sensory experience it offers when you use it. "It feels amazing," I wrote. "I've never experienced anything as close to a pro-grade body buffing treatment in my own shower. In fact, that's the only reason I kept using it for three straight days—my butt-ne disappearing was a very welcome side-effect."
SO, imagine how absolutely over-the-moon *thrilled* when I got an email telling me that Soft Services would be partnering with DS & Durga—one of my favorite fragrance houses and the makers of this tequila-scented candle—on a limited-edition version of the bar. "THIS ROCKS YOU GUYS!!!!!" is actually, word for word, what I replied to the PR team when I asked for a sample.
The best-smelling butt-ne bar on the market
Pack of 2; $44 at Soft Services
There was never a doubt in my mind, but the collab is just as good as (maybe even better than?) than the impossibly high standards I had for it. It's... the exact same thing as the bar I've known and loved for years, except that it smells freaking amazing.
The bar is fragranced with DS & Durga's "Debaser" scent, which the brand describes as "hot, humid, and sexy"—three things that feel right on point for the month of August, when my butt acne always wants to come out to hang (fun fact: sweat and moisture can cause folliculitis, the root culprit behind butt breakouts).
Scent is closely (and powerfully) linked to emotion, so not only does this bar feel physically good when I scrub it all over my body, evokes emotional feelings of comfort and joy. The complex combination of notes includes fruity fig and pear, floral bergamot and iris, and gourmand tonka bean and coconut milk, all of which are grounded in a warm, earthy base of moss and blond woods. There's a lot going on here, for sure, but thanks to thoughtful layering by the noses at DS & Durga it works—they come together into a warm scent that really does feel like summer, just as the brand intended.
I've yet to reach a place of acceptance with my body acne, which still pops up every now and then. But now, at least I've gotten to a place where treating it doesn't make me feel even worse about it, and this sensorially flawless bar of soap gets all the credit.