[unpaid/sample/affiliate/ad] Until I made my own soaps (or rather, had them manufactured), I was wary of facial soaps. But when I think back, I was always intrigued by them – I think Clinique 3 Step had one but now I see that they offer liquid soap instead. Actually, when I was testing my own, I felt quite daring in the early stages using it on my face. I notice that The Body Shop call their soaps ‘slabs’ – I called mine a ‘cleansing cloud’ because there are too many negative connotations with soap for facial use but the right formulation in a saponified formula is perfectly okay. In fact, I have so many soap fact which I’ll spare you (except for one of my favourites which is that soap molecules are somewhat whale shaped – the top mixes nicely with water while the tail mixes well with grease and grime which is how it manages to surround the dirt and then wash it away) but there is so much to know!
Soaps are definitely on the up – call them cleansing bars, clouds, slabs or whatever you like but they’re good value for money and less wasteful in production. I see that now The Body Shop is targeting skin issues with their slabs other than just cleansing the skin. I’m eyeing the Tea Tree somewhat for teen skin both on face and body – someone who is reluctant to ‘cleanse’ as such might be more keen on a soap. I’m thinking of my nephews here – it seems like a great sports bag accessory.
The one I’ve tested is the Shea Smooth & Scrub (Community Fair Trade shea butter, obviously) and ground walnut shells. I think I’d prefer it without the ground shells which are so tiny I don’t think they’re doing anything and there are better, and kinder to skin, exfoliators than walnut shell. These are extremely fine so I’m not thinking of them as damaging – just a bit gritty! But in terms of how it feels on the skin, it’s perfectly pleasant, cleans nicely, smells creamy and earthy and didn’t leave either my face or body dry or taut. I don’t know what else you could want from a face and body ‘slab’ :-). I notice a review on TBS site that says ‘Wears down quickly and splits when drying. Small particles make shower floor lethal’ so I suggest a soap dish and not leaving any soap in a wet (i.e. under a running shower when you’re not using it) environment as it is moisture change that can cause cracks. At £7, I think it’s very reasonable – you can find the Cleansing Face & Body Slabs HERE – Shea, Tea Tree and Hemp variants are brand new.
Non affiliate HERE.
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6 comments
I would love to see more companies produce solid bars of cleanser. I’m trying to move away from plastic bottles, but some of the options for scent are not great. Here’s hoping more follow (cough Molton Brown cough).
haha – I still can’t get my head (boom boom) around bar shampoos or conditioners.
There’s a real learning curve on them and I feel like I am not mastering it. I wish they’d just sell more shampoo concentrate for me to reconstitute at home.
I love that soap molecules are whale shaped!
Whale or tadpole – somewhere in the middle! Yep, I haven’t been persuaded yet that they will be as good as liquids.
I started using shampoo bars when Cosmetics To Go (previous incarnation of Lush) invented them (I think or at least were the only ones I know who sold them around that time) and continued through their Lush years and have never had an issue with them. I waste far less than with shampoo and just need a quick rub with wet hands for enough to do my hair so they last for a good 80+ washes. There are lots of different ones for different hair types, although I don’t tend to like the conditioner bars as much and they don’t match up scent-wise. Often I don’t need conditioner after one of the richer shampoo bars. It might be worth popping into a branch and having a chat with one of the assistants to find the bar that’s right for you, if you fancied branching out. Not affiliated with Lush at all but happy to sing the praises of any product I find that works!
On the other hand, I’ve tested a couple of other brand eco-friendly shampoo bars and they made my hair a greasy matted mess. Some of those brands and eco websites say you need to give your hair time to adapt but who wants to spend weeks with disgusting hair in case your hair decides to be OK with the shampoo? Unfortunately, I can’t remember the brands that did that to be able to warn you off those.
I think that it was a Christophe Robin aloe cleansing bar that left my hair in a tragic ball of mangled strands – I’ve never touched a bar shampoo since I don’t think.