Review: Gagey Grace Designs Goat's Milk Glycerin soap

As a participant in the Sampler Village sample boxes since September of this year I try to send in 100 samples of my own so I qualify for a free box. Recently I also won a Tiny Teaser grab bag through the Sampler Village Facebook page. In it was a variety of samples and this is the first one I picked to review.

I'd been having a rough couple of days after some fall out from my previous review and was intrigued by the pretty packaging and the pretty colors of these soaps.

Item to be reviewed:
Goat's Milk Glycerin Soap


Company/seller info:
Gagey Gage Designs - "where everything is Gage approved." - one business card gives the owner's name, email address and a no longer used web address. There's another web address on the back of this card written in by hand - http://handmadegifts4you.webs.com . Additionally on the front is another link: http://lavioleteyes.silkfair.com and a phone number.

I will note I had a few preconceived notions about this soap going in. I'm not a huge fan of glycerin soaps as they tend to be drying in more cases than not.

Price: as this was a sample included in the Sampler Village boxes I'm not sure there's a reasonable comparison of pricing but you can see prices of some items at the last link above.


Customer service:
N/A - again this was a sample through a sample box.


Item name: Goat's Milk Glycerin - scent isn't listed anywhere which is sad. I loved the scent of the soap but there wasn't any trace of scent name listed anywhere :(


What it smelled like:
The single larger flower that I tried for my test smelled like fresh baked oatmeal cookies. Like I said I liked the scent but not knowing what it SHOULD smell like as a bit of a downer. Judging by the fragrance list on the webs.com site its possible the scent is one of these: cinnamon sugar, cream cheese frosting, warm vanilla sugar (most likely), brown sugar, or aquolino pink sugar. I'm just guessing here.


Packaging/Wrapping:
The bag was a cut off bottom of a likely larger bag but you couldn't tell until you untied the 6 strands of curling ribbon knotted at the top of the bag. In addition to these knots there was also a twist-tie that was knotted to the curling ribbon. [easy open packaging would be a plus here] The contents of the bag are two small individual flower shaped soaps and one larger string of flowers. Unfortunately my sample of the larger string was broken in half. This by no means is the fault of anyone other than my mailman, the package the samples came in was shoved and bent in half to fit in my mailbox. I'll blame the mailman before I blame the seller. Its soap. I'm going to be able to use it regardless of whether its one long flower strand or two partial strands The seller has a love of curling ribbon. There were little nests of soap shaving covered strands of curling ribbon in black & white in the bag themselves. I like this as a way to cushion oddly shaped soaps.

Ingredients: Coconut oil, palm oil, safflower oil, glycerin (vegetable origin), goat's milk, purified water, sodium hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Soy bean protein (condition), Titanium Dioxide (mineral whitener used in opaque soaps). No scent listed.

This label reads ~Handmade Soap~ Keep out of reach of children & pets. Adult supervision required.

Testing: The shapes while cute are a pain in the butt to work with as a soap. They're almost small enough to be used entirely in one washing lasting 30seconds to 1 minute. Lather was rich and thick once I got the soap to cooperate. The flower shaped bars are thin and slippery as soap tends to be when wet. I spent 20 of the 45 seconds I used making a lather in chasing the bar around the sink and counter area. Amusing if a bit frustrating. Soap rinses clean but the scent as light as it was washed off with the soap. Dried hands and already smelled like the towel I dried my hands on. So the soap doesn't have much of a lasting scent. Not a huge deal but it may be to some of you who prefer a longer lasting scent.

Here comes the hard part. Like I said I had preconceived notions about it being glycerin soap. Its first ingredient is coconut oil. The seller says all her soaps are melt & pour. She's using a pre-made base most likely. The base is drying enough that it requires sorbitol as a moisturizer. Sadly that doesn't help. This soap dried my hands out terribly. I have sensitive skin but there wasn't anything in the list I know is an aggravator of my sensitivities but I hoped for a happier outcome. By the time I was ready to go to the store 10 minutes after washing my hands, they were itching from being so dried out. I had to apply lotion three times to restore the moisture lost in just one washing. Sad because I liked the scent.

Pros:
Great scent
great packaging if a bit tough to get open and re-close easily.

Cons: Coconut oil based glycerin soap - can be drying
scent doesn't throw beyond the sink nor does it last past rinsing
no scent listed on packaging - could be bad for someone sensitive to certain scents
drying to skin to where I needed lotion 3 times after the test to restore moisture removed during washing.

Please note:
Coconut oil is notorious for being a moisture killer but makes for a rich luxurious lather. This would be a good soap for someone with more pre-existing moisture in their skin or someone with oily skin who needs something that will help dry out their skin. Not good for sensitive skin or those with pre-existing dry skin. Sadly that's how it goes.

Overall the experience wasn't entirely bad. The packaging was pleasing and the scent was rich and warming if only it lasted past rinsing off.



-the frawg.




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