Soused Soapery - Herb's Tie product reviews

I was lucky enough to get to try one of these soaps already, so I was rather pleased to see another one in my next review parcel. The size was initially off putting but more from a holding it point of view because price wise you want a decent sized bar and one that will last a good length of time. The official Facebook page and the website both mention that the best way to make your soap last is to allow your soap to drain and keep the soap out of water directly. Also, and rather than washing with the soap, soap it up in your hands and then wash yourself.

I don't like to get a lot of soap on my hands, they are very sensitive, so I opted to use a flannel to at least give a little buffering for my skin. This gave a nice amount of lather and did a good job of making me feel nice and clean afterwards. I also opted to use this in my hair as I'm one of those people who can't be bothered with multiple products, of course heeding the warning and making sure not to get any in my eyes. The soap lathered up amazingly well in my hair and actually did a really good job of minimising the dandruff, so a major plus there. My skin did feel a little tight and rubbery at first but once I was dry I was left with lovely feeling skin.

The price may seem a bit off putting but as with my previous bar of soap, it lasts a really good length of time if used properly and not played with by little hands. There was no scent to it but it left me smelling clean and using it with my flannel left my skin feeling nice and clean without any horrible dryness that many products have left me with in the past. I like the colour of this soap, as if my kids do get there hands on it I won't be left with dark specs all over my bathroom basin or mirror. This I a well presented product that I know will get well use by me instead of tossed, figuratively, in the kids direction and I could see myself treating myself to this soap in the future.

We are quite an environmentally conscious household, and because of this we have moved to solid shampoo and conditioner bars. I have tried to use solid soap bars before as both an alternative to ordinary hand soap and shower gel, however I have tended to find that they dry my skin out. For this reason I have always shied away from them. However, this Herb's tie from Soused Soapery was really appealing to me. Being an unscented soap, and containing all natural ingredients, I was really intrigued as to how my skin would react.

When I first unpacked my soap I was very excited to see that the packaging was completely compostable- a win already to me! Being individually batched-produced they are all unique, but it was a relatively large bar and I loved the individual character of the soap. The ingredient's list was all written in plain English, and I was so excited to see that it didn't contain anything unpronounceable. This has to be a positive as the less chemicals going both on my body and into our waterways has to be better.

The smell was mild but very pleasant- it made me think of a Summer's day in a flower or herb garden. Certainly not like beer (it was a small fear of mine with beer being the second ingredient on the list). I loved the fact that the smell wasn't overpowering- so often the perfume of a product is half of the issue with irritation of my skin. This bar would be suitable for so many uses- as a hand soap, as a shower-gel alternative or even in the bath.

When I used the product it lathered up well without being really 'sudsy'. Being a user of solid shampoo bars already, I'm used to things not creating a thick lather like you would find with a more synthetic liquid soap, however this may be off-putting for some. However, I can assure you, that the clean of the product is just as good, if not better, than that produced by liquid soaps. The other revelation for me was that my skin wasn't left dry or tight like it has been with other soap bars.

The price may come as a bit of a shock to some, however, when you compare the amount of cleaning that this one bar would give you to an equivalent amount of a liquid soap or shower gel, this bar is so much better value. Overall I have found this product such a pleasure to use. It may not be as flashy as some of its counterparts, but its mild but caring manner will intoxicate you from the first wash. I will definitely be buying this soap again, and I am so pleased to have found such a great alternative for my washing needs. As the bar suggests- 'spend some time with Herb, you won't regret it'- I couldn't agree more.

Opening up my review box, I was delighted to see I had received a hand crafted soap from Soused Soapery - a unique soap maker who uses actual alcohol (usually beer or cider) in the bars. I was intrigued to actually see if it smelt anything like the alcohol used in it and I did have a chuckle at the catch phrase "Please bathe responsibly"!

Perfect timing as it were, saw me using the soap a few days after receiving it. We usually purchase bulk supermarket soaps as with three children that like to play in the shower or bath, often the soap disappears to the bottom, is left in a soggy mess on the bottom of the shower or squeezed through hands like a little rocket.

The first thing that I noticed was the packaging of the soap. It is simple and effective - all paper and therefore recyclable. The blurb on the soap about Herb's Tie was witty and made me smile - clearly time and though has gone into each one of the soaps descriptions. The soap itself is a good size at roughly 7 x 9 x 2 cm, and for measurements sake - is approximately two bars of store bought soap. What I love is that it is the block is too big for little hands to handle comfortably - AWESOME!!!

From the website and facebook page it is mentioned what is best to do to get the best out of your soap. The advice was to allow your soap to drain, keep the soap out of water directly, and rather than washing with the soap, soap it up in your hands then wash yourself. I was very appreciative of the advice - was a nice personal touch!

Onto the soap and its usage.... as the blurb suggests, Herb is simple, and this soap is a unscented soap with a pale lemony colour. It suds up beautifully (is that even a word??!!) True to what it states there is no smell to it at all which was well received by my hubby and his sensitive nose. I really liked the feeling it left on my skin - not drying or harsh - just a really nice soap - made with great ingredients!
Leaving it to drain in the soap holder I left it to see what it would be like over the next few days.

Fast forward a few days and an update on the soap and how it is holding up again kids and usage. It is an awesome soap so far - and lasting really well - even when the kids mistakenly left it on the shower tray! Eek!!

I totally recommend these soaps - they are beautifully made, with love, care and pride. They are a unique handcrafted item that would be amazing in a gift basket or as a pick me up for someone. There are a lot of varieties on the website and all of them sound amazing in what they use in them - almost good enough to drink!!

I'm very lazy when it comes to many things. One of those things is looking after my soap. I don't have a drainage area for my soap, so I usually buy the soaps in cardboard boxes so I can store them in the box between washes. But as a large, hairy male, I tend to have a few issues with odour; mainly that I seem to gain immunity to deodorant's before it runs out, so I generally have to swap brands frequently to keep myself smelling fresh. So I was interested to try a handcrafted soap to see how it fared.

The soap itself was a good size. At 7.25cm x 9.5cm x 2.5cm, the block is nearly double the volume of the average mass produced soap, though it is wider and flatter, giving it a larger surface area to volume ratio. As I mentioned earlier I tend to just leave my soap in the box, as I don't have a proper place with drainage to put it. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit in the previous box I was using, so instead, I left it in the wrap that it originally came in. This was a bad decision, as after two washes the wrap would become stuck to the soap and rip all over the place. Not ideal. So I just left it sitting out as is. Issue no, 2 that I then had was that I live with 6+ other people, and when they use the shower, they clearly don't care where the showerhead has aimed. I ended up losing 75% of my soap in 3 days. And that is ignoring the fact that I use the soap directly on the body.

So three important things to definitely do (which are also mentioned on their website):
1. Keep the soap somewhere with drainage
2. Keep the soap out of direct water
3. It's best not to use it directly on the skin (especially if you are hairy like me)

All of these factors led to my soap lasting nowhere near as long as it should have lasted. Almost running out of soap in just over a week. But judging by the rate that I was going through the soap before the flatmates were spraying it with water, I would estimate the bar would last a good 3 weeks, even with me using it directly on my body.

But on to the soap itself. Called Herbs Tie, there is a very light scent to the soap itself, but during the wash, there are no obvious scents made when lathering up. As far as feeling and smelling clean afterwards, it lasted maybe an hour or so less than my usual mass-produced soaps. Which is pretty reasonable, but as a man that sweats a lot, it's safe to say I would be better off with a scented soap to cover myself for a little bit longer.

Overall, it is a good soap if you have a proper place to store it, but the unscented option is not the best option for me and my job in manual labour.