Friday, October 12, 2012

Handmade Soap Challenge


Who knew that I'd fall head over heels in love with SOAP?  It was "Love at First Try" when I received a sample of Fresh Snow from RWest Designs.   I couldn't believe the difference I felt over commercial bars and body washes!  They either left me feeling oily or dry, with no in between that just felt Clean.  I knew I'd never go back, so I started a quest to try as many handmade soaps as possible.  I promised a review of my favorites in October, so here we go:

My mission was to fully explore each bar, not just do a quick hand wash test.  I quickly discovered that these long lasting soap bars would take me months to enjoy, so family members from ages 2 to 80 were engaged in my challenge.  My Dad enjoyed washing his hair with one; my little granddaughter needed some skin soothing softness.  I adored the long soaks in the tub with soothing lather and scents.

Bars were sliced into pieces so a full range of opinions could be gathered.  That said, there were NO losers.  Every single bar of soap was a delight to use.  Soap qualities were graded on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest standard.  So here we are to share all our winners with you.  We hope you will try some of these amazing products and find your own favorites.  (Please visit these fine shops by clicking the embedded links)

As you can see, the highest rated soap of all was the aptly named "True Love" by Uber Dreamer Concepts.  The lather is luxurious and leaves the most amazing silky smoothness to your skin.  The scent is simple and clean.  Check out Uber Dreamer, as the research and insight into each product's ingredients is obviously well done.  Additionally, all Uber Dreamer soaps scored highest among Men, so there's a fine gift idea for the Males on your list!

On the subject of gift giving, it's a great idea to keep some extra bars around for last minute gifts.  Who wouldn't love these sweet handmade treasures?  My favorite packaging reflects the simple goodness of all things Handmade.  Tierra Verde won the highest marks for packaging, and her soaps are lovely and diverse.


Our other recommended shops are Soaps that make Scents and Tenth Avenue Soapworks.  I hope you'll check out all of these fine handmade soap shops.  Every single bar was a delight to use and far superior in every way to commercial products.  There are still dozens of soaps in the cabinet to discover, so join us for another edition of our Soap Challenge soon!

Just one more thing...check out that fantastic washcloth in the photos...you can find them at The Needle House!  They are super!


4 comments:

  1. LOL Yep that Lavender Seas Mud Soap is a bit tough to cover up that "sea mud" scent!! However the benefits of the mud outweigh that seamuddy smell! That smell actually takes me back to my younger days when we played in the mud sound side of Atlantic Beach, NC when the tide was low! {catching little crabs}
    Thank you so much for including us in your review. Your review makes me want to order some soaps from these other soap makers also! There is definitely no comparison when it comes to natural over commercial!! Be on the LOOKOUT for our silky smooth luxury bar to debut at the first of the year {if not sooner} !

    Thanks again! Enjoyed this, and looking forward to the next one. :)

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  2. What a fun challenge and a lot of wholesome, "clean" family fun...(pun intended ;p ) Your story is very entertaining and I can't wait for the next edition!!
    Of course, then I got to look at more of your wonderful pictures of Ireland...enchanting!!

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  3. I had no idea you were going to be so thorough in your soap testing - awesome!
    The thing about UberDreamer Concepts soap is that it is designed for function, not just smell, which is probably why the men liked them so much.
    Definitely sharing your results (I'm the proud girlfriend of the brains behind UberDreamer, Ian Hill, after all)!
    ~Sunfire

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