Did you know that the minimum requirement for soap to be certified as Fairtrade is just 2% of the ingredients?
Soaps from The Visionary Soap Company contain a minimum of 60% fairtrade ingredients, which makes them a great choice if you are wanting to do your bit to help those in developing countries all over the world.
The Visionary Soap Company sent me a couple of bars of soap to try out. And when it arrived I could smell the soap through the jiffy bag! Not a horrid chemically soapy smell, but a lovely, fresh, natural smell.
The two “flavours” I received were Geranium Rose and Lemongrass – and wow, what a feast for the nose! And the eyes – just look at these cold-pressed, hand-trimmed soaps:
It’s not difficult to describe the scent. For example, imagine what lemongrass smells like, and you’ve got it. There’s nothing else here, just a very natural and expected perfume. And it’s strong – your whole bathroom will smell amazing!
Each soap comes in at approx 100g and is made using Fairtrade certified oils and butters (as relevant to the particular soap), along with essential oils to give them a real kick. They are soft soaps which lather up really easily with a bit of warm water – great for the sink, bath or even shower. Despite being soft mine still appear to be lasting very well.
They’re £3.25 each and there are eight scents to choose from and also an unscented version if you prefer. There’s also a soap of the month club if you’d like to be sent a new bar every month – what a brilliant Christmas present idea.
But they’re not just about soap. I was also sent a lip balm and a hand salve to try out.
This is the Rosemary and Lavender Gardener’s Hand Salve. I admit, probably oweing to the fact my fingers aren’t very green, I have never tried a hand salve before. It is basically a oil based product that repairs and protects well used hands. It says you should use liberally on the bottom of the lovely brushed-silver 60ml tub, but actually that’s quite difficult to start with because it’s really packed in there and is solid. After a bit of use, though, it softens up and is easier to get out of the tub and onto your hands.
This is really lovely on dry hands, and it smells fab too – just like the soaps. Actually this one reminds me of roast dinners (being rosemary) but I guess the scent has been chosen to match the gardening theme.
The hand salve is £6.25 and they do a gift box that contains this and the Gardener’s Soap which would make a fab present for whoever is getting your garden ready for winter right now (even if that is you!).
This little green glass jar is the Peppermint Lip Balm. You all know by know that my preferred lip balm is the Burt’s Bees sticks, and any product is gonna have to go a long way to beat that for me. But this is really nice actually. Again, the scent is good – and it doesn’t taste bad either (oops!). The jar is great for sitting on your office desk or on your bedside table, so I guess there is no reason why this and the Burt’s Bees can’t both be in my life!
The 5ml jars are £3.25 each and I love how the colour of the glass matches the scent – pink for grapefruit (which I really want to try), yellow for lemon and orange for, well orange! I reckon if you’re buying from The Visionary Soap Company then you have to add one of these to your shopping basket… it would be rude not to.
The Visionary Soap Company is well worth a browse as they have a range of other products too.
If you’ve tried these or any of the other things they make please let me and my readers know what you think by commenting below.