I will have a similar color scheme (white tile, gray grout, medium stained woodwork) and am going with soapstone. But I am aiming for a more traditional look. If you are going more updated, now kind of took,maybe quartz.

IMHO, quartz is best. I have soapstone in my kitchen because I like to put hot pans on it w/o a problem. But is does require some up keep to keep it looking perfect. The Caesarstone in my bathroom (for 1.5 years) requires next to no upkeep.

-Babka

I have quartz in my kitchen, granite in a guest bath, and hope to do granite in the MBR. I would ask the manufacturer if the resin in quartz reacts with hairspray. You can dull the sheen of resin, so no abrasive cleaners should be used. Not that you'll need it as it cleans easily. But granite can be repolished back to its original sheen and quartz can't. You should avoid bleach with quartz. I believe it can yellow lighter colors, where sunlight can fade darker colors. I would not be comfortable putting curling irons on quartz.

You can get small samples of quartz from the manufacturers. I'd give them a few coats of hair spray and see what you think.

I have 24 year old cultured marble in my master bath where I do my hair. I use hairspray, but it's a pump spray, not aerosol. Anyway, it eventually lands on the counter and builds up, like yours with a rough, gritty feel, not sticky. I've always used 409 to clean the cultured marble and it doesn't affect it at all. Not saying you should get cultured marble, because I don't care for it and will replace it when I get the chance. I'm pretty sure I could clean the spray residue with water + Dawn, which I use on my kitchen quartz with no problems. It cleans everything. I find spray takes a while to build up to be noticeable. If you clean your quartz vanity top everyday, it shouldn't get a chance to build up.

Thanks for the replies. Looks like there is a mixture of suggestions. Guess I need to get some samples and do some testing myself. What is Caesarstone, Babka?

Caesarstone, Zodiaq, Cambria, Silestone, and others are all engineered quartz. Get some samples and see what you like. You can abuse the samples to see just how well they will hold up under the specific products you use.

-Babka

Solid surface will outperform granite, soapstone, and quartz in a bathroom.

I'd do porcelain tile. There are some great large format tiles that can be laid to look almost like a solid surface, some smaller ones, or even glass that look very current. use an epoxy grout and be worry free.

[Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by Brentwood Interior Designers & Decorators Gates Interior Design
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[Modern Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2105) by Philadelphia Home Stagers Busybee Design

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[Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Berkeley Tile, Stone & Countertops Tileshop

OHHH, Olychick, I like that look. Would I have to worry about the joints molding? Would the cost be more than doing the granite or manufactured stone?

We considered porcelain tile but you can't undermount your sink. Kohler has some nice sinks that overmount though. We don't want to clean the grout line around a sink.

Granite and quartz are pretty expensive for a 60" vanity. It's hard to find a remnant in 60" if you have a certain color in mind. We found some granite half/partial slabs where we were quoted about $1000 installed, but the slabs were black or very dark. That's with one sink hole. We can buy a half slab of some Pentalquartz colors for $1200 installed. Caesarstone was $1700 for a half slab. Silestone doesn't sell halves and we got a $2400 quote! Cambria sells by the square foot but will only sell a minimum of 15 sq. ft. I know their prices are at least $100 a square foot here. Marble is sold by the half slab but I don't want etching.

Good luck. I've put my project on hold because I was getting too frustrated trying to coordinate the floor, counter, and shower tile. I'm hoping a light colored granite remnant will miraculously appear at our fabricators when spring remodeling ramps up.

Besides quartz I'd look at Corian. Zero upkeep, non-porous. Had it in my kids bath, looked perfect when we moved after 6 years.

The one thing I worry about in a bathroom counter is probably the resistance to heat. I use curling irons and flat irons both and the black granite we have right now is bullet proof for those purposes, even if it needs a little work to look meticulous.

I am interested in quartz for a guest bath, but it is so small, the new counter won't meet the minimum required square footage for quartz. Has anyone had any experience getting remnants, and having an installer who would want to "be bothered" with a small job?

You can go to the granite places and they will let you look at their remnants and most will fabricate and install for you.

We thought we wouldn't have enough quartz to do our shower seat and had them hold a remnant and for the remnant and installation it was 235.00

While talking solid surface, don't forget Swanstone. We are likely getting their roll-in shower pan and walls. Some of their newest colors are not the speckled look, but more swirly. Don't know for sure about the curling iron for that, though. Couldn't you put a granite or other stone or porcelain or metal trivet down to set it on?

I saw a kitchen reno on DIY network recently that used an epoxy resin laboratory benchtop material for the kitchen. I have that in my garage as my workshop countertops because I bought metal lab cabinets off Craigslist. This stuff is heat, acid, VOC and pretty much all-substance proof. It now comes in colors. If you want to see some of the original black stuff, go to the Smaller Homes forum here and search for Mama Goose's Kitchen. She has it next to the fridge, if I remember correctly. Hers is used, from a high school chem lab. You can refinish it if it becomes marred.

Mrs. Nyef_nyef, they will always be bothered if you want to pay the price. We did a 36" vanity with a granite remnant for $650--no backsplash. They quoted me $586 for a 24" powder room counter and backsplash, using a remnant. It's all labor cost since another customer paid for the slab that the remnant came from.

DebR52 and May_flowers - thank you for that advice. I am glad to know it will be possible to use quartz for a small countertop in a guest bathroom. I will be choosing a plain white color, which I hope will make it even easier to find a remnant.

My daughter and son both recently redid small bathrooms in their homes and had no trouble finding remnants from a fabricator that we had used for our kitchen and bath.
My daughter's top was less than 60". She wanted a dark counter top. She found just what she wanted in a quartz. The fabricator actually had more white options than dark.
My son's counter top was 67 but he was still able to have a choice of quite a few remnants. He ended up finding a granite that he liked.
Be sure to check with several fabricators. there remnant selections probably vary quite a bit.

I agree with a couple of the other mentions . Quarts is a strong and resistant countertop ( 2 x more impact - resistant than granite) and is heat resistant, up to 365 degrees F, for curling irons and etc. http://aecdai.ly/pt - if you`re interested in more info on quarts. Hope it helps !