Soaps, soaps, soaps

As you may know, I am a big fan of natural soaps. I no longer use commercial brands of body wash or soap other than Philosophy Falling In Love because of this set I've purchased that includes body wash, lotion and perfume-- not going to waste it but I tend to use this in summer when my skin isn't so dry. Otherwise I use soap I have purchased at Natural Soap Warehouse   I first purchased from them last year before Christmas since my MIL loves Anise/Black Licorice scented soap but she's so afraid of computers that she won't even turn it on, let alone purchase anything online. I also like to purchase FIL some unscented natural soap since he has extremely dry skin.
So Christmas is coming soon and it's become my tradition to purchase these two items for them and then I load up on other scents for our own use and to make goodie bags for SILs. A 3 pound loaf  usually ranges between $12-14- which when cut into sizable bars- I usually get at least 10- makes  price per bar relatively inexpensive. I can get a month of showers from one bar and it's well worth the extra pampering my skin receives.
I now stock my kids up with this soap because I think most of the cleansing options out there are pretty harsh. The key to natural soaps is to use a poof or scrubby because they don't lather as much as traditional body washes.

So recently I ordered-
LOAVES-
Coffee Soap- Rather disappointed in this one as far as coffee scent. I LOVE coffee scent and this one is minimal. It does contain real coffee butter so this one is actually pricier. I haven't used this yet but it may be worthy for skin conditioning aspect. I plan to add a few of these to FIL's gift because the scent is minimal and may be the best soap ever for dry skin.

Grapefruit Margarita- Yummy citrus combo. I am a foodie and especially drawn to citrus smells. This was a good purchase. I feel that citrus smells are the one fruity smell that men and women can use without the guy smelling like a girly man. Liked this enough that I purchased another loaf in today's order so I can give some away.

Key Lime- I bought 2 loaves of this last year and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. It's my usual choice because the lime scent wakes me up and pairs well with any of the perfumes I wear. My boys pick this scent quite often too.

Vanilla Mocha- Again, love coffee so thought this was going to be a winner. It has more scent than the coffee soap but still not enough coffee in my opinion. This one is more chocolaty scent than "mocha" but at least it's not overly vanilla which seems to "turn" with my skin chemistry.

Black Licorice- MIL's favorite scent. It really truly smells like this. I cut into bars and give most to MIL but keep a bar or two for my own use because it's a lovely spicy scent for wintertime.

Tea Tree- This one is definitely medicinal scented because of the tea tree but I purchase because it seems to help DD's "back-ne." My middle son, 14, also uses this on his face- although he doesn't seem to have any acne issues  yet other than the time he tried Max Clarity system-- poor boy had some sort of allergic reaction because every pore was a tiny little bump. I wouldn't use this soap on certain parts of the body- if you know what I mean-- same goes with any mint scented ones. (Last year my ordered included tea tree peppermint and tea tree eucalyptus soaps- kids use these routinely-- these are really nice in the winter  - invigorating.)

Super Shea- This goes to FIL. Unscented and seems to pamper his dry skin. Like most males he won't go any extra steps to take care of skin, so this is the easy way to help out.

SAMPLES-

Biscotti- LOVE! Blend of almond, orange and sweet that is just perfectly yummy. Not too scented so could see this being unisex. I've almost used up this sample so I ordered 2 loaves of it for personal use and gifting.

Chamomile Neroli aloe & organic options- Reminds me of MMBB Neroli spray... LOL

Coconut- I really liked this one for it's very subtle coconut scent-- actually rather cocoa butter smelling rather than fake coconut overpowering scent. It remind me of lingering sun lotion. I ordered a full loaf today because this is an excellent scent for entire family use- rather clean smell rather than scented. This one seems to give a thicker lather too. Been using it already.

Dragons Blood Natural- Pretty heavy scent. Definitely floral yet rather fruity with a spicy baby powder scent finish... actually reminds me of a lot of perfumes on the market now which I tend to dislike so not my type at all.

Lemongrass- Definitely a winner. I love lemongrass because it has that lemon scent but also very clean and clear. I don't even consider this one so much a foodie scent because of it's very clean finish. I ended up ordering two loaves of this one because I'm planning on gifting this scent.

May Chang- This one was touted as being more lemony and sweet than lemongrass but I found this one actually fainter, although sweeter. I prefer the lemongrass one a bit more.

Orange Spice Tea- I would prefer this one to have more orange. Has the spicy baby powder finish like dragons blood.

Orange Vanilla- Know the pop-up creamscicles? That's what you get in this scent. A little too sweet for my tastes but I could see "tweens" and kids really enjoying this one.

Raspberry Riptide- Definitely berry scented but can't really distinguish it as "raspberry" per se. Seems to have the spicy powder finish of dragons blood & orange spice tea.

Raspberry Rush- Slight berry scent with a bit of spice. I actually prefer this one to raspberry riptide. This one reminds me of a candle shop-- combo of all the fruity and spicy scents combined in one.

Spearmint- This one is actually quite a clean scent... get just a hint of sweet mint with soapy scent. I'm guessing this one would be a bit tingly on more delicate parts.

Today I ordered: 2 loaves each of biscotti and lemongrass, another  loaf each of grapefruit margarita and  key lime, and a loaf of coconut. I will be gifting biscotti, lemongrass, grapefruit margarita and key lime to SILs. The coconut will be for family use since it's a nice neutral scent. Also took chance on full loaf of Autumn Apples- I usually like this scent so thought to go whole hog on it.
Also ordered samples in- clean cotton, creme brulee, kiwi, mango, mango papaya, mountain air, ocean breeze, ocean reef, and strawberry shortcake. (I'll give you my take on these scents when they arrive.)

It may seem like a lot of money for soap but when you break it down into cost per gift/ personal use- it's very reasonable. I can make very special gifts for SILs for about $5 that doesn't seem cheap at all. I slice loaves into bars. Wrap each in wax paper. Then add a band of wrapping paper- dollar store kraft wrapping paper with gold stars printed on it- gives very "crafty" look to it. Then I put computer printed labels of scent on each. Bath and Body Works samples would cost way more and seem skimpy. Throw in a poof and you have a great gift for all those people on the Christmas list that you don't want to forget but also don't want to break the bank buying for.  As I said, I get about a month of showers out of a single bar of soap- cheaper than even the cheapest body washes out there and I feel like these soaps pamper my skin.