REVIEW: Chagrin Valley Soap and Salve

I am OBSESSED with soap. As in, I have a stockpile of it in my pantry. As in, there are times there is more soap in my pantry than food. As in, I have a rotation of soaps all lined up in my bathroom so I can enjoy the earthy goodness of many different soaps in any given week. Where did this soap obsession start? With Chagrin Valley Soap and Salve.

So I've always been a little nuts about beauty products. I am totally that girl who has 4 different shampoos and conditioners in the shower at once. I have three different face washes, more moisturizers than I know what to do with, and enough hair products to fill an entire under-sink cabinet area. Don't get me started on the bags of makeup. No, I am not exaggerating. However, I started doing some research and I've put most, if not all, of those products to rest.

Here's what happened - after I had Picky, my face and hair (not to mention other parts of my body) just weren't the same. My hair had these weird curlies around my face and was falling out in handfulls - and I don't have much to start with. My face was breaking out like I was 13 again - nasty pimples and these little white bumps around my eyes and temple area (later I found out they are called millia). Gross, no?!?!?! I went online and spent quite a bit of money buying different cleansers and moisturizers. Clinique's foaming face cleanser helped some, and I bought these Complexion Corrections pads from Peter Thomas Roth that burnt the s*** out of my skin but maybe was a little brighter? I probably spent upwards of $250 on skincare that didn't work. I kept thinking, there has GOT to be an easier/cheaper way to do this without burning my skin off with acid.

I was bumping around online one day looking for natural skincare when I came across the Oil Cleansing Method. This was very intriguing to me, because an esthitician I used to work with told me she would never use any of the products we sold because of the chemicals and she just used olive oil to cleanse her skin. Of course it was flawless. I came across a nifty little blog called Crunchy Betty who explains the whole thing. I gave it a try and my skin began to heal. I became more and more curious about natural skin and hair remedies. I also found the "No-Poo" method. I don't think I'm quite ready for that, so I started looking for all-natural and organic shampoos when Chagrin Valley popped up. The rest is history.

I kid you not when I say my skin is CLEAR, no millia/zits, it is bright and I swear to you I look less wrinkly. My hair has grown faster than ever, I don't have to clean the drain every time I shower and I use NO products. It's bouncy, shiny and healthy.

I poured over all of their offerings online and finally made my selection. As this review is exponentially longer than intended already, I'll cut to the chase. I've tried quite a bit of their products, and here are my favs:

FACE
Sea Salt & Seaweed 
Squalane Face & Eye Mousse


BODY
Goat Milk Honey Oatmeal
I use this on my face too, the lather is delicious.

HAIR
Cafe Moreno
Lavender Rosemary

These are all bar soaps - even the shampoo. I'll do another post on my shampoo bar experience soon.

I keep wanting to try other companies to see what else is out there, but they keep coming up with all this new yummy stuff! They just put out a henna shampoo bar and hair balm conditioner. I think I know what I'm getting next! And a HUGE plus... the have EXCELLENT customer service.