Soft lights always look better on people, that's why they are the main light in any portrait studio. They tend to be larger  than spots, and can't be easily directed to hit one location and avoid an adjacent area. Despite those drawbacks, they are increasingly popular, because they create flattering light--and newer instruments are more portable. Specifically:

LED SOFT LIGHTS

LED lamps put out very energy-efficient light; and LEDs don't heat up in the manner of old-school spots.

FLUORESCENT SOFT LIGHTS

These are different from the fluorescent lights illuminating an average garage workbench. The kind of fluorescents sold for home use have a green tint to them. More importantly, they flicker on and off. This flicker isn't visible to the human eye--but it can mess up a video recording. However, special fluorescents built for moviemaking do not flicker and are not greenish—but they are much more expensive.