How is this soap different than the 3 for $1 bars at the discount store?

Good question! Most commercial soap isn't soap at all. Most bar soaps are actually detergents. Back in the 1970s, one company based an entire marketing campaign on the idea that its product was not soap. But do you really want to use detergent on your skin? Several of our regular customers have found that they can discontinue their daily ritual of applying moisturizer when they use our soap, which still has all of its naturally-occuring glycerin and moisturizers. That's why it doesn't dry out your skin the way commercial "soaps" do. You will also notice that our soap is softer than commercial soaps. That's because of the emollient nature of the goat milk. If we use exactly the same recipe and substitute water for the goat milk, the bar will be quite hard!

How is this soap different than the kind I see at craft shows?

Although some of the soap at craft shows may be homemade, a lot of it is "melt and pour." That means the person who is selling it was not the person who made it. It was probably made in a factory and sold in a long uncolored, unscented loaf. The crafter then melted down the soap, added color and fragrance, and poured it into molds before drying and selling. Some soap sold at craft shows has been homemade, but may contain inferior ingredients, such as lard and vegetable shortening. Grade A olive oil costs four times as much as lard or vegetable shortening, but the quality of soap made with olive oil is far superior. Finally, our soap is made with goat's milk for added gentleness.

Does your soap leave a film on your skin?

Yes, of course! If you saw those television commercials back in the 70s, you might recall that they said their product didn't leave a film on your skin the way regular soap does -- as if that were a bad thing! When most of us heard those advertisements, we believed it was bad to have a film left on your skin ... eeeyew! So, we happily used their detergents-in-a-bar, which stripped our skin of everything -- but, hey, we were clean! Then we put a film of lotion on our skin to replace the moisture we had washed off. That "film" is the moisturizer that is naturally present in soap. It's the oil that the soap was made with (and in our soap, it's more than 50% Grade A olive oil). Before we had our goat milk soap, there was a bottle of liquid soap and a bottle of lotion next to the sink, because we used the two products together. Wash hands, then put lotion on hands! With our goat milk soap, handwashing is now a one-step process, and the skin on our hands is never dried and chapped!

Are your products tested on animals?

No, but we do have one customer who uses our soap to bathe her pot-bellied pig! There are two reasons we don't test our products on animals. First, animal testing is against our philosophy. Second, we use natural ingredients and processes that have been used successfully for centuries. By combining natural ingredients from the past with the modern technology of a digital scale, we are able to create a soap that is extremely gentle on the skin. And our family personally tests a bar from every batch we make.