I heard about Likas Papaya soap from one of my friend who religiously uses this. I had no idea what rave reviews this soap has been getting! I looked it up and I saw many positive reviews on MUA and many other websites. I was very interested in trying it, so I purchased it off ebay. It was around $7-8, it's less pricey if you buy it at a local Asian supermarket, but they tend to be difficult to find. Beware though, there may be some fakes on ebay, but most are authentic Likas soaps. Although it's marketed as a whitening soap, it doesn't really "whiten" as much as actually brightening it and restoring it. The purpose of this soap isn't to bleach your skin, but to bring your skin color back to its natural skin color. It also helps reduce pigmentation and even removed some of my freckles! Since it actually has real papaya extract in it, it has a component called papaine that is a natural exfoliator, and removes dead skin cells and also creates cell turnover, revealing new healthy skin. This product is a do-it-all for me. It brightens, it clears my face, and it exfoliates. One downside is that this soap may be very drying on the skin, but I personally don't have a problem with that because some moisturizer fixes that right up.
My routine for using this soap is to use my normal daily face cleanser (Acnes Face Cleanser or Naive Peach Face Cleanser), and then wash it off and apply the Likas papaya soap. DON'T leave it on your skin for more than a minute. Use it like your normal face wash, leaving it on too long will dry out your skin. After I wash it off I use a toner and then Olay Active Hyrating Beauty Fluid. This keeps my skin feeling light, yet moisturized. I don't recommend you using any drying products like acne medication(unless it's a moisturizer or rich cream) and Witch Hazel. These are very drying and this soap already removes most of the oil on your face.
Overall, I've very pleased with this soap. I see my complexion getting better, gradually. It took me about a week to see a difference and it's continuing to improve. I don't recommend using this if you have dry or sensitive skin.
