The Hand Soaps That Will Impress You and Your Guests

Size: 16 fluid ounces | Key ingredients: Water, glycerin, aloe leaf juice, sodium coco-sulfate, natural fragrance | Scent: Fresh linen

Know some new homeowners in your life? Looking to impress the in-laws with a pinkies-out gift? Hanna Flanagan, the Cut Shop’s editor, recommends this set from L’AVANT. She loves how the bottles match on the kitchen sink (one is for dishes, the other for hands), that neither dries out the skin, and that a little goes a long way: “This set has lasted me over a year somehow!” For reference, the hand soap is 16 fluid ounces, 4 more than the Method soap and just under Flamingo Estate’s weight. The soap also has a sophisticated (plant-based) scent of ylang-ylang, bamboo, and crisp linen.

Size: 12 fluid ounces | Key ingredients: Water, glycerin, benzyl alcohol, fragrance | Scent: Notes of rose water, ylang ylang oil, and vainilla

“These all smell really good and don’t dry out my hands, which are prone to eczema flare-ups,” says Rodriguez. With Homecourt, there really is a winning fragrance for everyone, whether you’re into roses, mint, fir, or founder Courteney Cox’s signature scent, Cece. It smells of smoky cedarwood, warming cardamom, cinnamon spices, and leather. Not only is anything from Homecourt bound to spark small talk, but the hand soap is made to nourish skin as much as it is to clean. You have the soap’s moisturizing argan oil, hydrating hibiscus flower, and debris-lifting coconut extract to thank for that.

Size: 12 fluid ounces | Key ingredients: Argan oil, aloe leaf juice, castor oil, wheat amino acids, and panthenol | Scent: Notes of matcha, clary sage, and palo santo

The amber glow, the cream paper, the made-in-Italy tout — this soap may as well have had a supporting role in the second season of The White Lotus. It’s not all looks; Rodriguez says this soap doesn’t dry out hands and has a unique fragrance you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere. The Retreat notes include matcha, clary sage, and palo santo. If that weren’t enough, imagine a hint of mint and ginger to add some zip. Like Homecourt, this formula is heavy on the hydration and is spiked with both olive and argan oil.

Size: 12 fluid ounces | Key ingredients: Water, glycerin, eucalyptus leaf oil, and citrus acid | Scent: Notes of eucalyptus

Your hands are parts of your body, so why wouldn’t you want to use the same product for them, too? Behold one of the few two-in-one products we recommend: The smell is so good, and your hands (and body) feel incredibly clean after using it.

Size: 2 x 3 x 3 inches | Key ingredients: Olive oil, water, and soda, | Scent: Notes of olive oil

Made from olive oil, water, and soda, this hand soap is fashion writer Danya Issawi’s favorite. She says it’s incredibly soothing, and if you don’t believe her, maybe the 4.8 out of five stars average and over 330 positive reviews will convince you.

Size: 10 fluid ounces | Key ingredients: Water, coco glucoside, and sea salt | Scent: Notes of peppermint, lavender, coriander, and rosemary

Features writer Chantal Fernandez likes stocking her home with Dally’s hand washes. The brand produces small batches in New York that are carefully crafted with plant-based, vegan ingredients to moisturize and gently cleanse your hands.

Size: 16. 9 fluid ounces | Key ingredients: Water, sea salt, rosemary leaf, and castor oil | Scent: Notes of citrus, wood, herbaceous

For those handwashing connoisseurs who’ve been at this game for a while, Aesop may feel like an obvious choice. But there’s a reason the brand’s Resurrection Aromatique sits at the top of so many wish lists. The brand only uses natural fragrances that are simultaneously subtle and intricate, so much so that Resurrection’s fragrance (a citrus and herbaceous concoction) is universally loved. This soap builds to a luscious lather that isn’t too sudsy and isn’t too velvety, and it enrobes your hands in a hydrated lotionlike finish. It is ubiquitous, so you may not win points for inventiveness — but does it matter when the stuff is so good you want to wash your hands twice?

Size: 16 fluid ounces | Key ingredients: Water, vegetable glycerin, fragrance| Scent: Notes of peach, pine, and anise

If you look for the words “clean” and “nontoxic” in your household essentials, allow us to introduce you to your new favorite line. Attitude is a Canada-based brand founded by a man who sought to create safer household-cleaning products after his wife got pregnant. All of Attitude’s products check the right boxes for a certain kind of consumer: They’re EWG verified and have PETA certification and California Proposition 65 clearance. The products, like this hand soap, don’t sacrifice environmental friendliness for performance or experience, either. The soaps are effective crowd-pleasers that smell good enough and feel nice enough that no one would bat an eyelash if you bought the formulas in bulk and used them to refill fancy bottles. (And you absolutely can, since more scents are available in giganto-packs up to 135 fluid ounces.)

Size: 5 fluid ounces | Key ingredients: Organic coconut, palm, hemp, palm and olive oil, water, and sea salt| Scent: Fragrance free

You can’t go wrong with any of Dr. Bronner’s fair-trade and organic products, which, in liquid form, can be stretched to a million uses. But if you or anyone in the family has sensitive skin, you’ll want to keep a few of these humble bar soaps handy. This unscented soap uses hemp grown in the United States and a lot of olive oil to give you a smooth, high-lather wash that won’t dehydrate already dry hands and skin.