Wednesday, July 6, 2016

HANDCRAFTED SOAP REVIEW

We were recently sent some items to review by the wonderful people at "Double Up Farm".  They are the ones that sent us the wool dryer balls that we reviewed HERE last Fall.  

We are still using them by the way, they are wonderful!

The direct link to them on ETSY is HERE.




She sent us an assortment of scents and a couple of sizes.  Opening the box was sensory overload, they smell wonderful!  The bars are made using essential oils for fragrance.  American Honey was my favorite.  2nd Man loved the Rosemary.




Since they are handmade and of course hand cut, it gives them a nice, rustic appearance.  They look great sitting on the edge of the sink at the farm AND in town at the apartment.  
Double Up Farm handcrafted soaps
As for using them (we were sent some loofah sponges as well, grown on their farm), they lather up with a nice and rich lather.  We like it when soap has a nice lather.  It's probably the shea butter but we swear it's making our hands softer.  Each bar is made with natural ingredients and does not use animal products. As there are no preservatives, you must use within six months.  I'm certain that ours won't last long enough to worry about that!

As for ingredients, here it is from their own website:

Ingredients: oil (olive, coconut, palm, avocado, sweet almond), Shea Butter; Sodium Hydroxide (lye), essential oil for scent. Some soaps use an all natural colorant (i.e., mica, coffee, sage)

A huge shout out and of course a big thank you to DOUBLE UP FARM.  Please stop by their website (they have a wonderful blog that was started this year) or their ETSY SHOP and say hello.  And pick up some handmade soaps or dyer balls or something else...it's always nice to support a small Mom and Pop farm. 



22 comments:

  1. thanks for the soap recommendation; I am always on the lookout for non-commercial soap bars.

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    1. They are good! Glad you enjoyed the review!

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  2. Yes, Thank You for the recommendation. I bet the lavender would be awesome as well.
    The loofah sponges are wonderful as well. I would much rather use a sponge than a wash cloth.

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    1. Lavender is great. And yes, loofahs are so nice. She even sent us some seeds, I will try them later. Not sure when they should be planted though but I'll try it, can't hurt,ha. The soaps are really nice.

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    2. I would say that you where sent Loofah Gourd Seeds.

      On the vine, these gourds can reach anywhere from 6 inches to 2½ feet long, and about 4 to 7 inches in diameter. They ripen to dark green in late summer, and should be left on the vine until the skin begins to shrivel. When this occurs, harvest them and scrub the skin away, revealing the porous, dense network of tan-colored matter within. They will be full of seeds; just cut the gourd to desired size and shake out the seeds. They're ready to use!

      Sow seeds directly in full sun after the soil has warmed. Train the vine onto a trellis or fence to save space and to produce more rounded fruit.
      Best of luck in growing the seed and hope you get many gourds. I would plant just a few seeds now and store the rest in the freezer to plant next year just in case this years don't do much being it's already July.

      https://www.gardenamerica.com/store/information/science/tip/growluffa

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    3. Thank you!!!!!!!!!! Not sure if I have time to deal with it this year. I'd have to find the right spot first, ha. I'll save it for next year. Maybe I can find a dedicated "gourd garden", ha.

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  3. These look lovely. I like handmade soaps like this

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  4. Yum! Can you say yum about soap? Haha. Seriously they look nice and I bet they smell wonderful. I like a soap like this. I will check them out. Thanks!

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    1. Soaps can definitely be 'yummy'! Go visit their site, either the blog or etsy. Great people!

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  5. I've tried making soap, it ain't easy though. I love buying them online. Thanks for this review. Good job.

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    1. I tried once too. It came out but is a lot of work. I commend them for getting out such a nice product. Thanks!!

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  6. Beautiful-looking soaps! And I know they must smell wonderful.

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    1. They are very nice looking and smell great.

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  7. And, I just look for homemade soaps without scent.

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    1. I'm sure she could make them without (though don't quote me on that, ha).

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  8. Homemade soap is the best. I've been making mine for over 7 years now and we would never go back to the store stuff. Use it for shampoo, laundry soap and general housework cleaning. I'll be sure to check out Double Up Farms blog page. Here I go!

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    1. Hope you enjoy! She's got some cool stuff. Homemade is the best. I wish I could make it (and someday I just might!) but until then, yep, homemade as much as possible.

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  9. It's funny - I carry a line of unscented bars at the Farmer's Market, and no one has EVER bought one (but I love the smell of just soap, so I use them!!)

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    1. Yay! It's the awesome Kate (the owner of Double Up Farm). That's funny that no one will buy unscented. Heck, we might have to try some sometime too. Thanks for the soaps, hope you liked the review and we love the soap and the dryer balls are still doing great.

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  10. 1st Man,

    Thanks for the review and shoot out. I'll be going over to check out the Double Up Farm.

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