Lux Soap - A Nostalgic Look at the Golden Era of Soaps

There are so many soaps for consumers to pick from today, but this was not always the case. Choices were few in the early 1900s, and simpler times equaled simpler soap formulations, some of which have withstood the tests of time and are still available for purchase today.

One of these soaps is Lux. I can remember my mother buying Lux soap as a child in the 50s and 60s, but Lux was actually around long before I was born. The product did not began as a bar soap, but as a laundry soap in 1916. In this era, it was common for laundry soaps to contain lye, which had a tendency to yellow delicate fabrics. Lux was made without lye, and in a different formulation. Shaped into thin sheets, it was easily flaked to make a gentle, easy to dissolve soap powder, and heavily advertised as the solution to home laundry needs.

In 1924, Lux was introduced as the world's first mass-market beauty soap in the United States. The name "Lux" was taken in part from the word "luxury", as this was the image the brand was to represent. It became available in the UK in 1928, India in 1929, and continued on to become well known around the world. Advertisements abounded as Hollywood's most glamorous starlets became associated with the soap. Women of America happily bought Lux, as it was priced very reasonably, and they enjoyed the idea of using the same soap as their favorite stars. Among the famous who were in print ads for Lux were Dorothy Lamour, Sophia Loren, Ava Gardener, Joan Crawford, Bridgit Bardot, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marilyn Monroe.

Lever Brothers, owner of the brand at that time, made sure that Lux's products and packaging were something special. They offered the soap in various colors (pink, white, blue, green and yellow in 1958) and altered the packaging, which at times featured a headshot of a beautiful woman, to appeal to consumers looking for a little bit of glamour.

Lux Soap also sponsored several popular radio programs in the 1930s and 1940s. Some of the commercials for the soap are available for listening on the Internet, and hearing them is a real step back into the past. Lux Radio Theatre and Life and Love of Dr.Susan were two of the programs who ran Lux commercials frequently. This exposure made the brand extremely well known in the United States.

Probably because of competition from so many other brands, Lux has disappeared from the store shelves in the United States, though it can be ordered from several places online still. Sold in over 100 countries, the brand is considered a market leader in Arabia, Brazil, Nepal, the UK, Thailand, South Africa and in India, where it is heavily advertised using many Bollywood stars. In Japan, Lux products are the leading seller.

In recent years, Lux has changed from being just a soap brand into a skin care brand, with products such as body wash and shampoo emerging from this new way of thinking. Perhaps one day, this well-loved brand will come full circle, and we can again easily purchase it in the United States.