Oatmeal & Honey Soap- Pure Vegetable Soap From Trader Joe's- REVIEW

This may seem like an unlikely candidate to be reviewed on this beauty blog, but having just spent a good deal of time at Trader Joe's on the second day of the New Year had me thinking about some of the most basic beauty & grooming products that we use each and every day. That I needed to pick up some more soap made me think about how much I love their Oatmeal & Honey bar. So while I stood in an endlessly long line, with what seemed to be the entire population of Los Angeles (all seemingly hungover), I thought it would be a good idea to feature this soap because it is good enough to warrant a review.

We first started using this soap several years ago when we decided to remove as many toxic chemicals from our lives that lurked in the most seemingly innocuous of places.  Also being avid animal lovers we decided to stop supporting companies who animal tested. Shockingly these two criteria virtually eliminated most of the regular products that we used to run our household. In fact, we quickly realized that we needed to find new brands for things like toothpaste, lotion, shaving cream, soap, shampoo, conditioner, laundry detergent, and dish detergent to name but a few. That was about the time that I realized that these two criteria were met by the products sold at Trader Joe's. When I first saw the short list of ingredients in their Oatmeal & Honey Soap (click on the second picture to see a close-up of the ingredients), and saw that it was cruelty-free I nearly did the happy dance right in the aisle. Once the safety rating was further confirmed by EWG's Skin Deep Database- I was sold. Now the issue was whether we actually liked it or not, and thankfully we loved this soap. It is super gentle, the lather is creamy (without Sodium Lauryl Sulfate- which can be drying and irritating to the skin), the smell is yummy, and it's moisturizing. The combination of oatmeal and honey makes this soap moisturizing enough to use it on your face- which my husband does every single day. I, on the other hand, only use it on my body. I do, however, find it magnificent for shaving my legs and underarms. You also can't beat the price- at under $2.00 for two 4 oz. bars you simply can't go wrong. They also have a Tea Tree Soap two-pack, but my husband complained that it was too drying for his face.

Overall assessment: A great value for a great soap that boasts safe ingredients and is cruelty-free. A must have in our household.