I feel like the Japanese have products for everything related to the skin, from unctuous ointments to ultra-resistant sunscreens. They also have soaps with persimmon that help with body odour; more specifically, in Japan, persimmon soap is popular among the elderly as it helps with the distinct old person smell. As we know, our bodies change with age, including chemical shifts in the skin, producing a distinctive smell at a mature age. Even though persimmon soap is popular among the Japanese elderly, it can be used by people of any age who want to reduce body odour.

I have tried persimmon soaps from two different brands, and I must say that the cheaper one, not pictured below, is equally as good as the more expensive one. Though I will talk about persimmon soaps in general, I prefer the more economical version, which I will link below. 

Persimmon soaps, in general, contain similar ingredients, such as a soapy base, and sometimes they include persimmon fruit extract or, more commonly, just the active ingredient fighting body odour – tannin or tannic acid. I don’t know if any of you remember the glycolic acid toner trend that was popular around three years ago. It involved using glycolic acid toner instead of antiperspirant. This soap works on a similar principle, tannin limits the growth of bacteria, and in the case of the elderly, it removes 2-Nonenal, a compound of particular smell found in beer or buckwheat. However, unlike glycolic acid toner, the soap won’t, in all probability, irritate your armpits because it’s not formulated to exfoliate your skin. 

Admittedly, this review is quite late because the summer is over, at least here in the northern hemisphere, but I’ve had to test out the soaps thoroughly. Does persimmon soap work? Yes! I don’t think I have an issue with body odour, but in summer, I sweat much more, hence I produce more smell. Typically I reach for medicated antiperspirants in summer to limit sweating. I’d bought a medicated antiperspirant before the start of the summer, but I only had to use it a handful of times because the soap effectively reduced my sweat production and body odour, mostly the latter. Of course, I didn’t stop sweating completely, but I did much less than I usually do in summer, which is a huge success. The only downside of the soap is that it dries out my skin. So even though, during summer, my skin is not as dry as in other seasons this year, I had to make sure that I moisturised regularly because the soap dehydrated my skin quite a lot. I guess you get something for something. 

I think persimmon soap is something that may catch the attention of some of you because most people perspire, but some of us do more than others. Persimmon soap can help with the unpleasant aromas produced by our bodies and the anxiety coming from the worry that other people can sense those unwanted smells. At least I am concerned about that in summer. 

Ingredients:

Socc: Soap base, purified water, palm fatty acid, palm nuclear fatty acid, Na chloride, glycerin, tetrasodium edetate tetrahydrate, tetrasodium hydroxyethanediphosphonate dihydrate, cha extract, (1), ethanol, 1.3 butylene glycol, kaki-tannin, concentrated glycerin, glycine, sodium citrate, zinc sulfate, olive oil, fragrance, iron yellow oxide (From Amazon JP & translated using Google Translate)

Medicated Persimmon Gum Soap (pictured): (Active ingredient) Isopropylmethylphenol, dipotassium glycyrrhizinate; (Other Ingredients) Soap Base, kaki-tannin, Bentnite, Perilla Extract (1), Cha Extract (1), Rosemary Extract, Kanzo Extract, Kumazasa Extract, Sage Extract, Concentrated Glycerin, Glycerin, Sodium Citrate, Zinc Sulfate, Carbonate Sodium hydrogen hydrogen, potassium aluminum sulfate, chlorohydroxyaluminum, 1,3-butylene glycol, ethanol, tetrasodium edetate tetrahydrate, tetrasodium hydroxyethanediphosphonate solution, titanium oxide, iron yellow oxide, red iron oxide, fragrance From Amazon JP & translated using Google Translate)

Socc’s Medicated Persimmon Soap is available from Yesstyle [aff].