Review: Friendly Soap Shea Butter Facial Cleansing Bar

I recently tried the shea butter facial cleansing bar from Friendly Soap.

We are friendly because…

…we use the traditional Cold Process method of natural handmade soap making, which not only generates zero by-product but also allows us to carefully choose every ingredient ourselves and make natural handmade soap that is Earth friendly, Animal friendly and Skin friendly.

 Friendly Soap hail from the northern town of Todmorden, not far from where I was born. They are vegan and cruelty-free and use no palm oil, parabens or SLS. They are leaping bunny registered. I really must find out how much it costs to register with cruelty free international because some companies have told me it is too expensive for them to register, notably a company who are sold in Boots (how can they not afford it?) and yet other small companies like Friendly Soap are able to do it. Quite strange and possibly unbelievable.

I have never used a facial cleansing bar before. I didn't really know they existed and probably haven't considered one before because the idea of using a soap-shaped item on my face is anathema to me lol. However I was sent three lovely samples from Friendly Soap (review on the other two coming soon) and was eager to try them.

Healing, nourishing and ideal for sensitive skin. 

This natural handmade Vit-A rich, fragrance-free Facial Cleansing Bar is 1/3 Shea butter, 1/3 Olive oil and 1/3 Coconut oil. Shea butter is used to reduce the appearance of fine lines and to ease psoriasis and eczema. We’ve had lots of fantastic feedback from customers with problem skin about these bars.Ingredients: Butyrospermum parkii butter, Sodium olivate, Sodium cocoate, Aqua

The cleansing bar lathers well and feels nice going on. It doesn't have much of a scent. I found it the perfect bar to have a quick wash with in the morning before work and also at night after micellar water if I didn't want to do anything more in the way of cleansing. However, I did notice while washing that my face squeaked, which worried me a little that maybe the bar was stripping too much oil away. I've used the bar for a few weeks though and I haven't noticed any tightness and dryness. I've also used it on my body in the shower and it's felt okay afterwards.

I'm happy with the ingredients in the bar and I'm especially pleased that there is no palm oil in it.

One last thing I might add is that I must give bonus points for the bar keeping its shape in the soap dish and not dissolving into a horrid mush. It looks pretty and dries quickly after use.

In summary, I like the Friendly Soap Facial Cleansing Bar and I am looking forward to trying more of their products. 


Friendly Soap is for sale at the company's website here.

*This sample was sent to me for PR purposes. I wasn't paid for my review.