Hmm.. I just went over the ingredient list for Dove's Beauty Bars. Because the commercial sort of bugs me. "Soap leaves scum!"
So I took a look at the ingredient list for Dove's White Beauty Bars. And you know what? A lot of what they are is soap. Remember my entirely too long post about soap?
Soap is sodium hydroxide (lye) plus a fat. Major companies try to tell you that soap isn't soap by giving a chemical name to the result of combining sodium hydroxide with a fat.
So.. let's look at the list.
sodium lauroyl isethionate- detergent
stearic acid- fatty acid from tallow, lard or palm oil that helps make a harder bar of soap
sodium tallowate or sodium palmitate- sodium hydroxide + tallow= sodium tallowate, sodium hydroxide + animal fat= sodium palmitate
lauric acid- acid found in coconut oil and palm kernel oil
sodium isethionate- synthetic detergent
water
sodium stearate- sodium salt from stearic acid
cocamidopropyl betaine- Fatty coconut oil acids and sugar
sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate- sodium hydroxide and coconut oil or palm kernel oil.
fragrance
sodium cloride- table salt
tetrasodium edta- synthetic preservative
tetrasodium etidronate - a preservative
titanium dioxide- whitening powder

So, no, it's not all soap. In fact, the major ingredient is a soap like detergent. I checked the list a couple times, and it really looks like to me like most of the 1/4 moisturizing oils are actually.. soap. But Dove doesn't dry your skin like soap can! That's what the ads say anyway.
I don't know if they do animal testing, and I know most people won't buy soaps or cosmetics from companies that do, but I do know, from looking at their ingredient list, that they use animal products in their soaps.
Sometimes the synthetics can be an irritant to skin. Fragrance.. I have no clue what that is. A lot of fragrance oils are chemically created, not natural, and can be irritating or set off allergies.

As far as soap scum goes, it hasn't been a problem for me and my family. I asked Mike today about it. We've been using real soap for years. Two of my favorite sellers are Bath Bucket which I reviewed here and of course, Gladheart Acres. With Bath Bucket soaps, I really recommend them to people with a tendency to oily skin, because it is a bit drying. Not too drying, but in the winter, I want a cream after. Gladheart Acres is an old family favorite, and their bars are mildly superfatted. They also have a Honey Body Butter that's not listed on their site that I *love*. Almost all natural ingredients except the emulsifying wax and the preservative. It's got a lighter feel then The Body Shop's Body Butter, and absorbs a bit quicker since it's got water in it as well as all the oils and butters.


We always have leftover bottles of beer. Not because we drink a lot, we really don't. But people give Mike bottles sometimes, and occasionally we buy a 12 pack of a beer we like, and it lasts us about forever. I do plan to make bread with some at some point. Today though, I grabbed a bottle and used it instead of ACV after washing my hair with baking soda. I'll let you know how it turns out!