I bought this soap based on the reviews here but i was very disappointed with the results on me. :( Technically, there was no obvious changes on my skin. It did not whiten my skin. What it does is it dries up my skin! I'd always feel itchy every time after i use it. So yeah, maybe its not for me. Bummer. I really wanted to be snow white :C lol!

Going by some of the reviews I expected a miracle worker, so I happily purchased 3 papaya bars. On the first use of Likas Papaya soap I noticed my skin was whiter; this was not true whitening but rather a ghostly tint above my skin but I let it go thinking in time I will see change.
I had heard a user claim that they leave the soap on their face overnight, although this was something I was not about to try. For the second attempt, I left the soap on my face for slightly longer, let's say 15 minutes. Areas around my face started tingling and I assumed the soap was in action and doing it's job. It only took moments before the tingling sensation turned into a strong persisting burning sensation, I had to wash it off immediately!


My face was burnt, hives appeared and my forehead looked much darker. I was burnt so badly that small blots of blood appeared from under my eyes. I did use the soap on other parts of my body and did not get this reaction so maybe I have sensitive skin on my face. However natural soaps should NOT bring out this sort of experience, there are much safer ways of improving skin tone. The rest of the bars have been thrown straight in the bin, they are garbage.



Never again!

I have been using this product since may 2012, so i have been using this soap for 11 months. POSITIVES - This soap has definately helped my face become clearer and fairer! I am of Pakistani heritage, my skintone is beige, however, my Tzone is darker, but since ive been using this soap my skin around my chin has signifcantly changed, it has become lighter. But when i started using this soap i stopped wearing foundation which i wore atleast twice a week. BIG POSITIVE - I dont wear foundation anymore because this soap has helped my skin look so much fairer and my complexion is so much nicer!! NEGATIVE - The soap is quite expensive, and vary compare to each seller, as i live in London i have to order it online. Also it is very drying, so dont leave the soap on for over 30 seconds on your face, and always apply cream after.
However, the process is gradual and your skin wont be fair over night, it will take time, and your skin wont dramatically become white, it will only reach the level of fairness your skin holds. I have never had spots, so i am not sure if it clears spots, but it definately makes the skin look fresh. TIPS = Apply the soap on your lips to make them lighter and always apply it on your neck, as you want your neck and face to both be fair.

If you feel unsure about the ingredients of the soap, i watched reviews of the product on youtube.

Ok, so now I understand how this soap is cheating everyone. It makes you think it is whitening your skin thanks to the "amazing" papaya properties. Even myself got to think that, and I was very excited to see something worked for my dark underarms!


Truth is, there is no way papaya in this soap can do anything for lightening skin. I'll explain why.


After looking at the ingredients, I noticed something very strange. This has sunscreen, in the form of titanium dioxide. And guess what titanium dioxide does after you apply it to your face? Yes, it leaves you an annoying white cast that makes you look pale like a ghost. Titanium dioxide is used both as a sunscreen and as a pigment to color cosmetics. And surprisingly, it is used in Likas Papaya Soap to make you think it is "whitening" your skin, when in fact it is only leaving you some white pigment that fades away when you wash your skin again. Simply as that.


And what about the famous papaya ingredient that is supposed to lighten your skin? Let's see. Papaya enzyme has indeed some mild (very mild) exfoliation properties, and this soap contains indeed some papaya... as the last ingredient. So it probably has a tiny amount just so the makers can say they're using that ingredient. And I guess a "Papaya soap" sounds more attractive to customers than a "Titanium dioxide soap" that can only whiten your skin in the same way makeup and sunscreens do.


You could at least say that this works well as a soap. But no. This has sodium laureth sulfate, a known skin drying ingredient that irritates your skin with constant use. You know you are using cleansers with SLS it they leave your skin dry and tight after rinsing. Doesn't matter how much you moisturize afterwards, the harm is already done. SLS works by stripping the natural oils of your face, and therefore it can trigger acne. I got really painful breakouts on my cheek after using Likas as a face cleanser. So you don't want this soap or any soap in bar form near your face, if you don't wanna ruin your skin.
.

So I hope I helped people understand how the "magic" in this soap works. I was very disappointed myself when I figured out everything. But I guess it was too good to be true :/

I dislike everything about this soap!
Stinks, broke me out, left me with a residue to feel sticky, drying, and tight.

I was looking on youtube and I was watching this girl mention this filipino papaya whitening soap, so I decided to Google it, and this Likas Papaya soap popped up as one of the popular, original one.

What sold me was it claimed to be 100% natural and the before and after pictures as well as the ratings and reviews on Makeup Alley.

When I first received it, I checked for authenticity of the soap because I know there are a lot of duplicates, and it was verified to be original - I also bought it from a reputable seller.

The first thing I noticed was the smell. It smelled like styrofoam or some kind of plastic smell. I ignored it, optimistic because if it smells this way, it reinforces the claim that it is 100% natural, and it definitely is because it doesn't seem to be enhance with fragrance.

From reading the reviews, I already expected the soap to be drying and hard to foam up, which is fine because natural and organic products usually do not have ingredients such as sulfates that help them bubble up quickly. However, the drying part is not a good thing.

I have felt this sort of "drying" before and it comes from cheap soap. What you feel that you believe is drying is not what it seems. It feels tight and sticky, which feels drying and this is because of the residue of the soap that is leftover on your skin. Again, optimistic about this product's benefit of whitening and help with acne, I ignored that glaring error and moisturized as recommended by the reviews.

However, what upset me was I had used almost all of the bar of soap, and I have yet to see a difference in the brightness of my skin. I used the soap all over my body and in almost every crevice, as well as my face - no difference whatsoever!

I was mad because deep down, I knew it was too good to be true! Dirt cheap, one bar of soap for your entire body from head to toe, whitening and helps with acne? Miracle product! Unfortunately, untrue for me. I was left with a stinky soap and tight, dry, and sticky skin. What's worse is I think it actually broke me out! Nothing in my regime had changed, not even that time of the month, except for the soap, and I started to experience painful, cystic acne around my chin and on my chest.

Horrible product. I knew it had to be too good to be true.
My first review on here, and I just had to vent my anger.

CHEAP ($3) AND DRIES ACNE AND FADES OLD SCARS. JUST MOISTURIZE AFTERWARDS LIKE NORMAL DUHH- wth is everyone complaining for about it being dry! You're supposed to already have a good moisturizer with SPF ANYWAY, RIGHT?!

I don't want to try "SILKA" cause it has a color additive that isn't approved by the FDA here in the US, other than that, I'm sure Silka works just as well.

"BLOCK & WHITE" is also pretty good and I have cousins that have used that for over 20 years as a daily body and face soap-They seem lighter toned than parents!

**UPDATE 5/9/13
This stuff works for sure..I'm no longer an NC30 and my husband is so much lighter and brighter. I have had to switch all my foundations and powders to a shade or two lighter now and that's awesome :)
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Used this on both my dark underarms and face to fade dark post acne marks. Made my face feel overly dry, tight and squeaky and broke me out even worse causing more acne marks. For my dark underarms, I've used the product daily for 3.5 weeks with no visible change - I understand that this may not be long enough for the product to work to see visible results. However, the soap dissolves very quickly, it has only been about 3 weeks and half the soap is gone. Bottom line - I wouldn't recommend this product if you have sensitive skin.

OHHHH GOSH !! This is by far the BEST soap ever !! I don't know if it's this papaya soap or my sulfur soap I used before, but THIS is a MIRACLE as it cleared my cystic acne! I've used this for like 5 days, and now my skin is clear (I've got some acne scars that are noticeable, but I think they slowly fade away!), my skin is sooooooo smooth that I couldn't believe it when I touched it and looked in the mirror! Seriously, THANK YOU Likas for making such a miracle on earth (: I would repurchase anytime, and I hope it will never be discontinued.

I like using Likas because it dries out my blemishes and pimples whenever I do get pimples. I've heard of this back in the Philippines when I used I live there and it's one of those Asian whitening soaps. I use this on my face and back when I get blemishes here and there and it would lighten my face tremendously but it wouldn't make that much colour difference on my body colour. It would dry up my face though and have that tight face feeling. I used this for my tanlines so I can atleast even out my skin tone and it helps!! Been using this for 2 months now and it's been great! I usually use this during finals when I break out on my forehead and chin and this would help dry my pimples out! This is the only soap, well, cheap soap that does that.
Pros:
- if you have acne, this will dry it out
- if you want to get "slightly" pale (I emphasize "slightly")
- perfect for oily/combination skin
Cons:
- dries skin
- doesnt whiten your skin A WHOLE LOT
- gives the "tight" feeling on your face so put moisturizer on your face after using this

Overall, this is a great product. I am always on a mission to find products that will brighten/even out my skin tone. I ordered this initially from a website called Yollies Oriental market. Fast shipping, price was alright. The second bar I bought from a Phillipino store for much cheaper (because there was no shipping involved, obviously hehe)

Pros:
-lightened my skin tone overall
-CHEAP
-lasts long, because it doesn't melt quickly and lathers fairly well
-I noticed it help keep the monthly/stress related pimples at bay
-the exfoliating effect translates to a glow which is increased by leaving it on for a few minutes
-works well on freckles/new pimple marks left behind
-minimal fragrance, can't stand overly fragrant products
-kills the need for a seperate AHA/BHA, or physical exfoliater because using the Likas plus a seperate exfoliating product caused irritation. This may be a pro or con for you. A con if you have a fave scrub/AHA/BHA you already really like. If this is the case (like me) you may not be able to use this everyday.

-Cons:
-YES, it dries out skin. I know a fellow reviewer below mentioned that we should not leave it on for long as that is what causes dryness however I used it for about a month as a regular cleanser and saw no improvements whatsoever. (even after using 2x a day) it was only after I started leaving it on for a few minutes while I sat on the bathtub ledge and hummed to myself, that I started noticing a change. after one use of leaving it on, in fact.
-due to my sensitive/dry skin, I had to decrease use from twice a day, to a few times a week. I noticed my lips were getting very flaky and as soon as I decreased usage, it went away.
-lightened small, freckles/acne marks yes, but the hyperpigmentation I have left over from a childhood rash, no. in fact it looked a little awkward after my overall skin tone became lighter but the HP did not.


Overall, I would recommened this especially to normal/oilier skin types. You get a great bang for your buck. And I know it sounds obvious, but realllyyyyyyy don't get this in you eye!!