[whitecrow]

Originally Posted by Shellie

Coconut oil? I thought coconut oil was drying to the skin?

Well, it may be drying to SOME skin, that's according to reports. In practice I have never known anyone whose skin was dried by coconut oil either used directly on the skin or in soaps. I have made a 100% coconut oil salt soap, and even it seemed very moisturizing!

Originally Posted by Shellie

Here, we use aged ghar soap, or an olive oil/laurel oil soap from Aleppo. Perfect pH balance, great for skin and hair (you have to make a vinegar rinse though- 1 tbsp vinegar to a gallon of water).

I used to be in touch with a soapmaker in Istanbul who mentioned laurel soap, and I've searched unsuccessfully for laurel oil. I can get bay essential oil, but I think it's a different oil. I'd love to try that. What is ghar?

The rinse will be according to the mineral and salt content of your water. Real soaps do leave a residue in many kinds of water, which is why synthetic detergents gradually eased them out of the marketplace by 1952 or so. A vinegar rinse on the hair, or a dash in the wash, solves the problem naturally. You can make some nice herbal vinegar rinses for the hair, too.

Originally Posted by Shellie

Olive soap has pretty much cleaned up my case of hereditary acne. It alone has done what four dermatologists and a round of acutane couldn't. The vitamins have healed and smoothed out a lot of discoloration. It costs about a buck at the import stores around Detroit, but you can buy it online for the outrageous price of $10 each (but each piece is about 4-inches square).

http://www.oliveoilsoap.com/varieties/syria.cfm

Pure olive oil soap, such as made by Kiss My Face, is actually the only true castile soap, made since the middle ages and still one of the finest soaps available for the skin. It moisturizes without leaving a residue, and it cleanses gently but thoroughly. It does not lather abundantly, and it's expensive, which is why most soapmakers add things like coconut oil and palm oil. That price is outrageous. I charge $6.50 for a 4.25 oz. bar, except for handmilled and specialty soaps.