Review: Kirk's Original Coco Castile Soap

I've been on a bit of a "natural product" hunt lately. Since I am close to finishing most of the body soaps I have, I thought I would pick out a few different soaps to try out. I bought Kirk's Original Coco Castile on a recommendation my dad made. He said he loved this soap when he was younger, so I thought it would be worth a try. Apparently Kirk's has been around since 1839, which I thought was interesting. To me, it says the brand has loyal fans and it is probably still around for a reason.

Kirk's Castile soap has two versions (Original and Fragrance Free) and very short list of ingredients: Coconut Soap, Water, Vegetable Glycerin, Coconut Oil, Natural Fragrance. Of course, the fragrance free version has that same list of ingredients with the exception of "natural fragrance"

Something I loved about Kirk's was that it just used paper for the packaging and the soaps are inexpensive. And by inexpensive I mean each bar costs about $1.50 (or less, depending on where you buy it) for a 4 ounce bar. You can also buy a pack of three, which is what I did. Now... I don't have any pictures of this soap because I don't have it with me. I do have a cropped version of the picture from my haul, so that way you can sort of see what the packaging looks like from the side (I don't like to use stock photos, so that's why I'm not using one).

I really enjoyed the way this felt on my skin. It lathered nicely and made me feel clean. The issue is that my skin didn't react well to it (I was getting bumps on my arms). However, I've noticed I sometimes have this problem with Dr. Bronner's soap too. My guess is that my skin probably just doesn't work well with coconut-based soaps. Thankfully I have the Kiss My Face soap to try out, because it looks promising. I still recommend this because it is inexpensive, other people seem to love it, and it made my skin feel nice. I also think that at the price, it's worth a shot if you are looking for something new. I will probably give these to my dad or find another use for them.

Have you tried Kirk's? Have you tried any other castile soaps?

Haul: iHerb

Although I am not too terribly close to finishing my Lush soaps, I did want to place an order with iHerb because I stumbled upon the site (probably a month ago now) and they have this great deal where new customers get $10 off orders $40 or more and $5 off orders less than $40. Needless to say, I was intrigued.

iHerb has a variety of products: from vitamins and supplements to foods and yes, to beauty products. As I finish the products I have now, I want to replace them with more natural alternatives. This has been and will continue to be a long process.

When I placed my order I didn't have much of a strategy. I just picked things I thought I would need soon. Here's what I picked out:

Soaps:

• Kirk's Original Coco Castile Soap: This is the version with fragrance. I picked this over the fragrance free version just because it came in a pack of three. My dad's family used this when he was young, so I thought it would be interesting to try.
• J.R. Liggett's Shampoo (Herbal Formula and Original Formula): I've been using solid shampoos a lot more lately and it's been a great experience. These are a little cheaper than Lush solid shampoo bars and in theory these can be used without conditioner (but we will see if that is true once I've finished my Lush solid shampoo's).
• One With Nature Honey Almond Soap: I figured this would smell nice and it does. I'm hoping to use this around December because I just like to use nutty/almond scents around the holidays.
• Grandpa's Thylox Acne Treatment Soap with Sulfur: I tweeted a few days ago that I was almost out of my cleanser. Apparently I had forgotten I'd ordered this! I'm excited to try this because it has 3% sulfur and I've really experimented with sulfur less than other ingredients.
• Kiss My Face Olive & Green Tea Soap: This bar of soap is a whopping 8 ounces. I think I am probably the most excited to try this.

Miscellaneous:

• Earth Therapeutics Bath Sponge: I always use one of these when I shower so I can get extra exfoliation.
• Stash Fusion Green & White Tea
• Stash Chai Black & Green Tea
• Swisspers Organic Cotton Balls: There isn't much to say about these. I just needed them.
• JASON Sea Fresh Toothpaste: I'm not sure if I will like this or not, but it is worth a shot because it is SLS free!

What is so great about this order? It cost me less than $35! As I begin to use these products I will post reviews. I had a great experience with iHerb, but I do want to try out Vitacost since it is also a popular site for natural health and beauty products.

What have you bought recently?