Of Toys and Co: Soap Crazy Part XVI

It's been five years since my last Soap Crazy post and I've got a whole list of soap bars to post about. Also, is it me or the years are just flying by faster and faster?

Let's start with Chivas Goat Milk Skin Care. This is a "farm-to-home" brand by a mother-daughter team with their family-owned farm in Fillmore, California. They make soaps and essential oils with goat milk and herbs from their farm, and their products are wholesome and supposedly gentle for use on the face in addition to the body.

- Oak Meadows Ranch Pure Goat Milk Soap Invigorating Rosemary Fennel, 128g/4.5oz.: I didn't used this bar on my face but it was great for everywhere else! And good thing I didn't use this on my face, because it's super duper scratchy with huge exfoliating particles that's scratchy even for my knees and elbows. I end up using it to scrub my feet, which says something. Not recommended unless you're also looking for a feet-scrub bar.

These 100g bars of Cousu de Fil Blanc Soaps were from the same Beauty Habit order as the Chivas bar above. These were artisanal soaps made in France, and even their wrappers were of paper sewn together with threads still hanging loose.

- Almond Milk: this one didn't smell like almond at all, more like generic soap :(

- Cotton Blossom: smelled lovely at first, a powdery floral scent, but like the others below, this one too lost its fragrance after a while.

- Green Tea: had bits of tea leaves in the soap for exfoliation, but didn't smell anything like the green tea I know and drink. Actually, it didn't even smell anything remotely of tea, more like a grassy herbal scent, which I suppose you could argue was "tea."

- Orange Blossom: this was fragrant when I first opened it, but after a couple of weeks the soap lost its scent and all I could smell was generic soap. It produced a creamy lather at least.

I was exploring the brand Klorane and thought to give these Cream Soaps a try. These felt like pretty stand soaps to me, although I do admit they were pretty mild and not at all harsh. They made a decently creamy lather too. I probably won't get any more though because I have a ton of other soaps to get to still.

- Eau de Yuzu, 100g/3.5oz: smelled nothing like yuzu at all. In fact, I couldn't smell any citrus at all, just a slightly fruity soap scent.

- Fleur d'Hibiscus, 100g/3.5oz: had a nice floral scent but I also have no idea what hibiscus flower really smelled like ^.^"

I'm no stranger to L'Occitane soaps so there's no need for an introduction here. I ordered this Bonne Mere Soap Set last summer and it came with three 100g/3.5oz. in different scents. However, the products weren't properly packed within the package and the soap bars weren't sealed--it was literally three bars of soaps in a box with 3 huge holes to show what they look like. So the bars arrived a bit roughed up and pretty much jumped my soap queue. At least I enjoyed all 3 bars. Being 72% oil they were indeed very mild on my already-dry skin.

- Lime & Tangerine (orange): mild citrusy scent.

- Linden & Sweet Orange (light pink): mild and sweet fruity fragrance with a slight twist of citrus.

- Rhubarb & Basil (dark pink): mild fruity scent.

Le Baigneur is a men's grooming brand from Montreuil, France, and while picking up some shaving goodies for hubby, I spotted this Soap Trio with three 100g bars and was curious to try it. These soaps were made via the original, traditional cold process and then were cured for a month. They were indeed super gentle on my dry skin. Glad I tried them!

- Exfoliating: beige colored bar with coconut exfoliating soap. This bar was pretty rough at first so I only used it for my elbows and knees until it got softer over time. Hubby loved it for his arms and elbows though!

- Relaxing: dark olive colored bar that was super mild so no complaints here. It had a faint woodsy herbal scent and honestly smelled like generic soap to me ^.^

- Tonifying: black colored bar with charcoal powder, same faint woodsy herbal scent.

Thann is a Thai boutique spa brand that I recently quit, because so far all the products I've tried was meh, which made me think they're over-hyped and over-priced. So I stopped buying. That said, I still have several items I haven't even gotten to so you'll see this brand come up again ^.^"

This 22mL/0.75fl. oz. tube of Aromatic Wood Orange and Tangerine Hand Wash was part of the hotel toiletries set hubby and I received from our stay at Marriott City Center in Durham, NC, when he was there for a work conference. The first item I tried from this set was the Aromatic Wood Rice Bran Oil Soap Bar and it impressed me so much I became obsessed with the brand for a while. The irony was, while I've tried and liked several other items from this hotel toiletries set, I didn't care for other full size products from the brand. Ha.

Anyway, this liquid hand wash was super mild and didn't dry out my super dry hands, and of course it smelled lovely. I would have loved to have an endless supply of this for use throughout my home, but of course they don't sell these :(

I was very much looking forward to this Soap Bar Trio Gift Set--imaging the full size version of the mini bar from the hotel toiletries set above! However, in the end I was severely disappointed. While the bar I used smelled lovely, it was also way too rough for my skin. It was too rough for hubby, and he's a fan of scrubby soaps!

- Aromatic Wood Rice Grain Soap Bar, 100g/3.5oz: this had same Aromatic Wood scent I love but the rice powder scrubbies were just way too rough. It honestly felt like a soapy loofah, and while that would be great for elbows and knees, I couldn't use it where I wanted to use it, like the underarms for example. Even hubby could only use it for his elbows and knees because it was too rough for his skin as well.

- Rice Grain Soap Bar with Rice Scrub and Charcoal, 100g 3.5oz: surprisingly less rough than the Aromatic Wood bar above. The scent was lovely too, and I liked it just as much as the Aromatic Wood scent.

- Oriental Essence Rice Grain Soap Bar, 100g 3.5oz: this one smelled nice as well, although I couldn't discern any lemongrass. More like a grassy herbal with a tinge of spiciness.

This Tocca Sapone da Viaggio set was from a super generous GWP from Beauty Habit, with 3 bars of 85g each. They were mild soaps that produced creamy lathers. I liked them well enough to later pick up a Hand Cream set with the same fragrances. Welp, those fragrances turned out to be too strong for me, but I did like the actual hand creams ^.^"

- Cleopatra (purple print): a creamy fruity scent, supposedly with grapefruit but I didn't smell any grapefruit. Couldn't discern any cucumber, but over all it was still a pleasant scent.

- Florence (green polka dots): I could actually smell the gardenia in this bar! And a whiff of cucumber too, although no bergamot. Over all a creamy and flowery scent, not too overpowering.

- Stella (orange print): supposedly blood orange but I couldn't discern any citrus at all, just a creamy somewhat fruity scent.