On October 20, 1967, Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin rode horses along Bluff Creek in northern California with a 16 millimeter camera, and they came home with roughly a minute of film of a large, hairy figure walking away from them. They said it was a Bigfoot. People are still arguing about it. Sasquatch remains the most famous hairy man in the American woods, and one very small soap company decided to borrow his name.

That company is Dr. Squatch. Jack Haldrup, then an IT security consultant with a finance degree from Indiana University, was diagnosed with psoriasis in his early twenties and did not like what commercial soap did to his skin. He found a cold-process bar at a farmers market that left his skin calm rather than tight and itchy, saw that nobody was selling that kind of soap to regular guys, and started making his own in a garage in San Diego in 2013 with his own savings. The brand began as Sasquatch Soap, and his sister, an artist, helped draw the first logo. What I like is the honesty of the problem. It was a man with irritated skin, not a marketing meeting.

The trick is to choose a bar by where you want to smell like you have been. The first grid is the core shelf, made from lye, vegetable oils and essential oils. Wood Barrel Bourbon and Lumberjack Lodge are the woodsy ones, Flannel Forest and Brichwood Breeze lean toward the forest, and Coconut Castaway is the beach one. Fresh Falls, Rainforest Rapids and Mountain Meadow take their names from water and open country, the ones I would hand to a guy who wants the outdoors without the bonfire.

Start with the season. The second grid opens with the campy bars, and they are seasonal for a reason. Drunk'n Pumpkin and Spiked Cider are for October, and I would keep Count Sudsula on the shelf for Halloween week and not much longer. They are fun in the way a novelty sock is fun.

Coastal Mist and Sierra Storm are the year-round ones, closer to the original outdoorsy register. If you like a scent in the bar, the same scent often comes as a wash: Coconut Castaway Body Wash and Wood Barrel Bourbon Body Wash are for the shower, so the bar can live at the sink. That split, bar for hands and wash for the shower, is what I would recommend to anyone who finds bars a bit messy.

The Fresh Falls Shampoo comes from the part of the story I find most interesting. Haldrup raised six figures on Kickstarter in December 2016 to make natural shampoos and conditioners, and viral videos starring the comedian James Schrader from 2017 helped grow the brand from a garage business to a national one. It is a reminder that this is a company that sold hair care before it sold colognes.

What I would skip: a pumpkin bar in July. Save it, and it will make October feel like an event.

One rule for scent: keep it to one family. Pick a scent for the bar, and let the deodorant and the cologne echo it, so you smell like one decision rather than three competing ideas. The third grid is where that rule gets easy.

Fireside Bourbon Natural Cologne and Midnight Birch Natural Cologne stay in the warmer, woodier register, and they are the ones for autumn evenings and a jacket. Rainforest Mist, Glacial Falls and Castaway Cove are the water-and-outdoors names, better for summer, a beach weekend or a day in the office when the heat is on. Cologne sits on skin longer than a soap smell does, so apply it after the shower, not before.

For deodorant, Wood Barrel Bourbon Deodorant is the twin of the bar of the same name. Fresh Falls comes as a Spray Deodorant and as a Fresh Falls Invisible Glide Deodorant, and the choice is really about whether you want a stick or a spray. I lean toward the stick for the gym bag and the spray for a quick morning.

A pairing I like: Fresh Falls in the morning, with Midnight Birch saved for the evening. It is a small change, and people notice.

What I would skip: a strong cologne on top of a strongly scented deodorant from a different family. It ends up muddy.

Here is a habit worth borrowing: when you try a different brand, change one thing at a time. Swap the bar or the wash, keep everything else, and give it a week. That way you know whether your skin liked the change.

The fourth grid is for men who like a good scrub. Jack Black's Turbo Body Bar Scrubbing Soap and Paul Mitchell's Tea Tree Exfoliating Body Bar both bring texture, and they are the ones for a gym rat or a guy who works outside. Aesop's Geranium Leaf Body Cleanser and Nécessaire's The Body Wash Santal are quieter and more minimal, the kind of thing that looks good on a hotel-style shelf. Salt & Stone's Santal and Vetiver and Saffron and Cedar washes are refillable, a little more polished than a garage bar and built around a real scent. Nature of Things' Charcoal and Cardamom Seed Oil Purifying Body Bar is the one for anyone who likes a dark, earthy bar.

Jack Black's Clean Team Body Cleanser Gift Set in travel size is a good one to pack, or to hand a friend who has been using the same drugstore wash since college.

What I would skip: a scrubbing bar on freshly shaved skin or on skin that is already irritated. Use it on the days your skin is calm.

I think the smartest thing to do with all of this is start with one bar and let the rest follow it. Choose your Dr. Squatch scent, add the matching wash and deodorant, and save the cologne for the days you want a scent that lasts beyond the shower.

If a bar ever feels too drying, Jack Black or Salt & Stone is a softer landing, and Haldrup would tell you the whole idea started with skin that felt tight and itchy. Keep the shelf short and change one thing at a time. Bigfoot is still blurry after more than fifty years. Your shower shelf does not have to be.

If one good bar is the plan, here are other makers to know beside it. Aesop Nurture and Refresh are the two bars I would put near the sink, and Kiehl's Since 1851 Exfoliating Bar Soap is the one for a harder scrub. Barr-Co. Reserve and Marine, and the evolvetogether Monaco Hydrating and Provence Exfoliating bars, are good for building a rotation. For after the shower, Jack Black Cool Moisture Body Lotion and the Jack Black All-Over Wash for Face, Hair & Body keep it simple. The BRAVO SIERRA Suede Musk and Marine Salt body fragrances give you a scent that lasts longer than a bar, and Surface Deep Full Body Deodorant Anti-Odorant Spray works for the gym bag. What I would skip: the exfoliating bars on skin that already feels tight. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Dr. Squatch Lip Balm and Other No Fuss Balms and Teleties, the Spiral Hair Tie Started in a Florida Garage.