Salt Bar Lather Testing

May 15, 2012 by | 13 Comments

For me, a great handmade soap needs just two things:

1. It has to have LOTS of lather – and not just any lather: STABLE lather.
2. It has to leave my skin feeling moisturized.

I hold salt bars to the same high standards, so when I tested the three salt bars that I made in the shower, I had some mixed results.

My 3 Salt Bars
My 3 Salt Bars

I’ve tried all three of these salt bars in the shower now at least once. I measure the stability of the lather based on whether or not I can load up my nylon scrubby with soap just once and still have some left over after I’ve washed my entire body. (Remember I have soft water!) The brown one did the best in this test. The pink and blue one came pretty close.

My legs are the first place to show dry skin, so if I see dryness there, I know the soap isn’t moisturizing enough. The pink bar failed this test pretty miserably. The blue one worked pretty well, as did the brown one.

Out of all three of my salt bars, if I were handing out points, I would give the most points to the brown one (Cedarwood Sage salt bar made with beer) in overall performance.

I sent one of the Cedarwood Sage bars to Cecelia of Soap on a Whim in exchange for this most decadent salt bar:

Monoi de Tahiti Tiara Salt Bar by Soap on a Whim

She was curious about a salt bar made with beer, and I was definitely curious about a salt bar made with Monoi! If you’ve never heard of Monoi de Tahiti Tiare, it is a pure coconut oil infused with tiare blooms (Tahitian gardenia) – and it is lovely!! The full ingredients list for this soap is as follows: saponified Monoi de Tahiti Tiare Oil, Virgin Coconut Oil, Cocoa Butter, Avocado Oil, Shea Butter, and Castor Oil; also pure canning salt and coconut milk.

I am happy to say that this soap passed both of my tests in the shower quite handily! The lather felt creamy smooth, and the light scent of gardenia was intoxicating! I even made my husband try it without telling him what it was. (He’s not a fan of salt bars.) His comment, “It sure beats those salt bars!” So there you have it! Fabulous salt bar indeed if my hubby says so!

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  2. Husbands…how can you NOT love them:) Thanks Amy for the great info and testing. I have made many salt bars, many beer bars but never in combination. Now I will.

  4. Hi Amy what a good follow up. I too judge a soap by how it leaves my legs feeling after the shower! What a fun swap with soaponawhim, your link does not work in this post. I learned my cube salt bars don’t move in the hand like I want, but the soap is great.

    Pam

  5. Thanks for the kind comments on my salt bar! I look forward to receiving and trying your beer salt bar. Love your blog and challenges. Glad to find out about them.

  6. Very nice report Amy! I love to read reviews of soap products. You mentioned canning salt in Cecelia’s bars. What exactly is this? and how would it compare to sea salt or other salts we’ve seen used? Is there added benefits in it? Just curious and always looking for other options…lol

  7. Salt bars can be a bit tricky sometimes, but it looks like the Cedarwood Sage Salt Bar that you made with beer turned out really well. I really love the packaging on the Monoi de Tahiti Tiare Salt Bar, it’s totally cute!

  8. @Diana – I was meaning to find out the answer to this as well, so I just looked it up. Apparently, canning salt is finer than the other salts and is pure sodium chloride, while sea salt is contains only about 85 percent sodium chloride by weight. Other minerals, including magnesium and calcium, make up the remainder.

  9. I can vouch for Cecelia’s other products as well- all fantastic!

    Amy, your husband’s comment made me laugh out loud! God bless our men for putting up with the constant product testing, right? 🙂

  10. @Pam & Cecelia – I cannot figure out why the link to Soap On a Whim isn’t working!!! It’s inserting the URL of this blog post at the beginning of the link for some reason. I’ll keep working on it!

  11. I am so happy you got to try Cecelia’s Monoi de Tahiti salt bar. They are truely delightful!

  12. I’m surprised about the result! I thought 100% coconut milk would make up the creaminess and moisturizing power, but it did not pass your test! I’ve been using my salt bar starting this Spring, mine gives me squeaky clean without salt water tackiness even though I used more than 80% of sea salt. Now you got my curiosity up again with beer and salt bar. I will have to make it now to see what you are feeling!

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