Bar Soap Mania part 1 (Natural Skin care)

I am obsessed with bar soap. I'm one of those people that have no less than two bars of soap in the shower, and sometimes as much as six! Now, of course, I'm not talking about that synthetic crap that is sold as soap, that strips the skin so much of its natural oils that it becomes red, itchy, inflammed, and chapped (this happens to me whenever I am shopping or at school or out in general and forget to bring my natural liquid soap with me). I'm talking about real soap: the kind that is made with vitamin-rich vegetable and nut oils, a wide range of herbals, with most if not all of the natural glycerin retained*.

One thing I don't get is people's reaction to the price of natural, real soap. True, it is generally more expensive than your typical bar of Dial or Dove, but they are a lot gentler and more nourishing for your skin (natural, real soap usually costs anywhere from $2-8, or more if made with expensive essential oils). And most important, they won't leave your skin red and itchy. And considering a bar of natural soap generally lasts 3-5 weeks, I really don't think they're expensive at all! If you've never used real soap before, try some of the companies listed below. Once you try one, you will never go back to the chemical stuff.

I love the soaps made by Karla the soaplady. Her soaps are definitely my favorite for my face, and are fast becoming my favorite overall. In the past, I used liquid castille soap for my face, since most bar soaps dried out my facial skin too much. As always when I buy a new brand of bar soap, I'll try it on my face, just in case. After I tried her bar soaps, I was amazed at not only how well they cleaned and how silky the lather felt, but also how it did not leave my skin feeling dry and 'tight'. And the scents, truly delicious! The only qualm I have is that while most of her soaps are 100% natural, some of them contain synthetic fragrances. They are sold at Karla's own company: Heart of Iowa Soapworks, and also at Jlynne Cosmetics and Prarieland Herbs. I usually buy them at Jlynne, since they have samples of the soaps and I can buy mineral makeup at the same time!

Aubrey Organics. If soaps smelled like heaven, then these would be pretty close! These soaps are probably my favorite body soaps out of all the brands I've tried. They are all natural, handmade in France, produce a very rich and dedacant lather, and smell absolutely wonderful. Aubrey offers tantalizing (and expensive) scents that most other soap companies don't have, like honeysuckle, sandalwood, and jasmine (they use real essential oils). They also use base oils that have many skin nourishing benefits like rose mosqueta oil (rosehip seed), camellia, and sea buckthorn. Those that are allergic to peanut oil may want to avoid these.

The Bee Folks. I just tried one of my soaps from the Rennfest. And I've got to say I simply love these soaps. These round soaps are made with a lot of nourishing honey--a wonderful substance that gently removes oils, dirt, and other toxins from your skin, yet doesn't dry out my skin. Their essential oil scent combinations, like ylang ylang, sandalwood, nutmeg, cinnamon are extremely lovely.

*An interesting note is that many people have never tried a bar of real soap before; the majority of the stuff that is sold as soap (which should be more adequately called cleansing bars, and sometimes called beauty bars) actually isn't real soap, but a blend of synthetic detergents/surfactants. The only bar of real soap that I can think of that is sold in your average grocery or drug store is Ivory (which is not what I would call a quality natural soap since it is very drying, and made with tallow!).