Please educate me: Who makes the Best Soap? (Handmade or Otherwise)

[ShimmaPuff]

Summer is Annual Fragrance Provision Stock-up time, and this year, like the life and colon of Denise Richards, It's Complicated.**

How can I smell good for less?

Ironically, it was that very quest that originally drove me into the arms of Essential Oil Dependency, and now, having managed, in barely more than half a century, to single-handedly use up all the sandalwood India had spent several millennia accumulating, not to mention reducing the world's supply of rose and jasmine to such dangerous levels that the prices of these essences and absolutes have also now attained Sultan of Brunei shopping list status, I am now obliged to deal with the consequences of my flagrantly fragrant lifestyle and think outside the flacon.

Back to basics, one day at a time, and I am starting with soap.

Perusing the offerings of scent-mongers on eBay and Etsy, I notice that everybody and her sister appears to be making hand-made soap, and each one, naturally, extolls the virtues of their own product, all insisting it is the Bestest.Soap.Ever, but I know nothing of these people.

I do not even know the first thing about this handmade soap they speak of. Does it work? And the question of equal or more importance, does it smell good? And does it continue to do so after several uses, or is it like some of that fancy foo-foo scented soap people give you as gifts, that smells great the first couple of showers, but after that fades into a bare whisper of scent subsumed by a mildly pleasant soaplike aroma, suitable only for demotion to the guest bathroom downstairs, fine for the occasional visitor who wishes to freshen up a bit.

And so I turn to you, O People of tPF, surely, I mused, these wise consumers of consumables will be able to educate and enlighten me on this most slippery of subjects.

Which entity, whether company or individual, makes soap with the most intense fragrances?

My traditional fragrance palate includes specifically:

Sandalwood
Jasmine
Rose
Gardenia
Magnolia
Lavender

(My vetiver needs, thank goodness, continue to be met by the Most Venerable Hove family in New Orleans)

Please relate your experiences with soapmakers, both handmade and otherwise, and please tell me what is up with this goat's milk thing? I think of goat's milk as something one uses to make cheese, but so many soapmakers are now apparently putting it into soap that I am obliged to take at least enough notice to ask why.

In my experience, all goat products have a very characteristic odor - has this, like the scents of various fruit and dessert products that have so thoroughly infested the commercial personal care market, become a popular way to smell?

(Those blessed with keener perception and reading skills will have noticed that my list of preferred fragrances does not include "Goat.")

I will be very grateful for any aid you can offer to help me survive the Fragrance Crisis of '08.

**Related Link:
Help! Fragrance Emergency! Cheap oudh (agarwood), and/or sandalwood sources?

[gillianna]

My friend has bought me goats milk soap from Ebay for the past two years. The goats milk makes your skin soft. It is wonderful and my favorite soap ever. The fragrance does not go away and it lasts long. She has bought me 5 pound bars which come in a long block and I have to cut a square off for soap. I have used rose petal soap and mint soap and they both are great. The soaps are all natural made with herbs, rose petals and what ever else they put in to make soap. I hate to use any other soap on my body (but I do get others for gifts) and I love the goats milk soap better. If you have a health food store near you I would try a bar of goats milk soap and judge for yourself how you like it. Good luck.
You can also read on the internet how they make goats milk soap. I met a lady at a farmers market who made her own in her crock pot.
I think more people are going back to natural products on their body and since my kids have very sensitive skin the goats milk soap do not give them a rash or make them itch like so many store bought soaps have.

[harlem_cutie]

Handmade soaps are becoming expensive. I use soaps from Savor on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5358303. I love Dulce De Leche and Pineapple Buttercreme. Her soaps are creamy and moisturizing but lightly scented.

I also love Magic Hands Workshop: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5371465
I love all of their soaps and the scent strength depends on the soap.

On ebay try toadstoolsoaps: http://health-beauty.search.ebay.com/_Soaps_W0QQcatrefZC12QQsacatZ11845QQsassZtoadstool soaps
Great variety and her soaps are great for sensitive skin and scent strength depends on the soap.

I prefer citrus or foody smells so I can't really make any useful recommendations concerning your list but you can ask any of those 3 sellers to make recommendations.

[ShimmaPuff]

Originally Posted by harlem_cutie

...you can ask any of those 3 sellers to make recommendations.

Thank you harlem! I will send them my list of required fragrances and see what each one says about aroma persistence.

Originally Posted by gillianna

My friend has bought me goats milk soap from Ebay for the past two years.

Do you happen to know the name of the seller?

Originally Posted by gillianna

The fragrance does not go away and it lasts long.

Please reassure me that you mean the fragrance added to the soap, as opposed to the aroma of Goat.

[bnjj]

I ordered some goats milk rhassoul soap from an etsy seller last week. I will let you know how I like it once I've tried it.

[gillianna]

The fragrance is the oils and herbs she adds to the soap. It does not smell like goat.
With goats milk soap they are using goats milk to make it soft---not to be confused with what goats hair smells like.
I will try to find the ebay seller. I will email my friend to see if she has the name. She might have bought from more than one person because she buys tons of soaps and beauty products.

[agreenst]

I have some great handmade lavender and rose goat milk hand soap (2 separate bars) that my dad bought me while ago from somewhere... (not helpful, i know). For body though, I really love Pangea Organics bar soaps. Not handmade, but they are really high quality and smell super great. And the packaging contains wildflower seeds so you can plant it instead of creating more waste by throwing it away.

[VPT]

I think Lush Cosmetics makes the best soap, they're always smelling good and moisturizing.

[exotikittenx]

ShimmaPuff, I have always admired your writing skills and your posts from afar. To answer your question about goat's milk added to soap, as the above posters said, it aids in making your skin soft. In my own experience with goat's milk, I have never come across a soap with it that smelled of goat, and I have also used lotion made with goat's milk that did not give off the aroma, either. You do not need to worry.

As far as recommendations go, unfortunately I have none that would include anything from your list of required scents. Good luck and let us know what you choose!

[xjsbellamias13]

I would have to say LUSH!

[kiss_p]

From Lush, my favorite is the Sultana of Soap - smells good and leaves my skin feeling really soft.
http://usa.lush.com/cgi-bin/lushdb/00609?expand=Bath


Another one I like are the SoapRockettes from QVC. I think they sell them on other sites, but I'm not sure. In addition to looking really cool, they are very fragrant. The item number on qvc is A82687.

[ShimmaPuff]

Thank you, exotickittenx, for saying such nice things, and to you and others for your reassurances that I am not in danger of turning the Fragrance Crisis of '08 to the Summer I Smelled Like A Goat, and thank you all for such a lovely bouquet of recommendations and suggestions.

I have got my clicking cut out for me, and thanks to your help, I am confident that I will be able to continue to provide my smelling public, and me, with the delightful wafts of fragrance to which they - and I - have become accustomed.

[socaltrojan]

I think l'occitane makes awesome soaps and they smell amazing too.

They are doing F&F right now for 25% off and it ends today. The online code is FNF25

[Serayane]

Another vote for Lush! I love the Alkmaar (I think it's spelled like that...). It makes my skin nice and soft and smells heavenly!

[Biondina1003]

Lush!