If you are looking for natural soap, look no further! Ever since my awareness of how toxic our everyday personal care products are for us a few years ago, one by one I have been not only changing but also minimizing the use of all personal care products.
It has actually been fairly easy to replace all necessary items, for ones of superior quality, that are actually worthy of the name “natural”. The last thing that I had struggled with, believe it or not has been soap. Over the past couple of years, I have been mostly coasting on home made soaps by others, but these were not always as natural as one would think or economically viable. Thus I was, well to put it simply in Heaven, when I found Kiss My Face Pure Olive Oil Soap and at my local grocery store out of all places!
Kiss My Face is a company I had heard about in passing but was not actually very familiar with and definitely did not consider them to have any superior natural products. It is a company however that prides themselves on having natural body care, but as we all know that means little, until one really examines the ingredients. Well I did just that with this soap and was super impressed – 3 ingredients (olive oil, water and salt). I immediately looked at their other soaps, but no such luck. This is (as far as I know) their only truly natural soap.
I will quickly share with you my story of how I found it. I was out grocery shopping and I forced myself to go into the soap section, which I have not visited in months, as we were running low on soap, again. I thought maybe just maybe there is something new and there was! My eyes scanned the product shelves and landed on the “Pure Olive Oil Soap“. I had been using one a few times from another company, which I was not as happy with, so I thought let’s see this one.
Even though the ingredients were identical to the other olive oil soap I tried, there was one big difference – no fragrances. No fragrance, no parfum and no essential oils! I smelled the package and there was barely a hint of smell of a slight salty residue, perhaps it is the natural olive oil scent – that’s it. Remember, we do not need to have our bathrooms or bodies smell like vanilla fields or other chemically perfumed infusions.
On the Kiss My Face web site, they describe this soap as follows:
“The formula is the same as it was 150 years ago-without foamers, artificial colors or unnecessary additives. Each bar of Kiss My Face Olive Oil Bar Soap contains 86% pure olive oil, harvested from sun-drenched Mediterranean orchards (natural ripening is the reason for slight variations in color shades). ”
This soap cleans fantastic, lathers great, does not leave skin dried out, is economical and the best part is that it is widely available across North America. And the Skin Deep Cosmetic Database, which rates the toxicity of our cosmetic products, has rated this one a perfect score of 0, meaning low hazard, with not one checked concern.
Here is also one more bonus. With the ingredients that it has it beats any commercial baby soap out there, which are loaded with unnecessary chemicals. Hence it can be safely used on babies and children.
So this is by far the soap for me and if you are looking for a great and truly natural soap, I highly recommend giving this one a try as well. Until we hear otherwise (which I am not expecting to on this one) this soap is one that a natural and health conscious person can feel both proud and safe to use.
For more information, read the specifications about this soap from the source at Kiss My Face: The Miracle of Olive Oil
Ingredients
- Saponified Olive Oil
- Water
- Sodium Chloride (Salt)
Packaging
The soaps come packaged in common soap paper wrappers, which are fully recyclable.
Price (as of this posting)
- $2.99 CAD for 115g/4oz bar
- $4.26 CAD/$4.39 US for 230g/8oz bar from Drugstore.com (+ shipping)
- $4.69 CAD/$4.40 US for Well.ca (free shipping in Canada)
- $ 31.86 US for an 8-pack ($3.98 each US) 230g/8oz bar from Amazon.com
Kiss My Face Pure Olive Oil Bar Soap, 8-Ounce Bars (Pack of 8)
Price: $24.11
(58 customer reviews)
6 used & new available from $17.11
Availability
- Selected local pharmacies, grocery stores and health food stores in Canada and the United States
- Online stores like Well.ca, Drugstore.com and Amazon.com
- In Europe on Amazon.co.uk
The Good
- Excellent lathering
- Virtually fragrance/scent free
- No artificial colors
- No artificial preservatives
- No SLS or other foaming agents
- Made with natural and safe ingredients
- Naturally moisturizing
- Non-drying on skin
- Suitable for all skin types
- Was not tested on animals
- Vegan suitable – contain no animal ingredients
- Widely available
- Fair price
The Bad
- Nothing – this is as good as it gets!
10 OUT OF 10
About the author:Evita Ochel, B.Sc., B.Ed., CHN - is a certified holistic nutritionist, biologist, educator, writer, researcher and speaker in the areas of health, science and holistic wellness. She is a nutritional science expert and her teaching and writing focus on natural, wholesome, plant-based and organic nutrition to achieve optimal health and longevity. Learn more about Evita Ochel or Follow Evita Ochel on Twitter.
23 Comments to “Review: Kiss My Face Fragrance-Free Pure Olive Oil Soap”
Interesting. Because I remember how horrible Kiss My Face’s body lotions smelled.
I, too, have figured natural soap is one of the safest things, and have been using Aubrey’s Rosa Mosqueta soap. If my memory serves right, this, too, was rated 0 by EWG…
I’ve been washing my hair with soap, too. It doesn’t dry out the hair like I thought it would. Some people insist we don’t even need conditioner when we use natural soap as shampoo. Try it once to see how you like it :)
@ AKEMI – Yes I was so surprised by this too Akemi as, when I mentioned in how I heard about this company in passing, I looked at them like those “natural wannabe’s” with lots of fragrance. I have never smelt or even seen much of their other products, for some reason we don’t have a lot of them here, but based on the other soaps from them that I smelt, they are LOADED with fragrance.
That is why I say, I don’t support their company because if you really want to be taken seriously in the natural product world, then fragrance should be one of the first things to go, but they got it right with this soap, so I am happy at least about that.
I have heard of Aubrey and will look into reviewing some of their products perhaps in the near future. We just don’t get a lot of that here either, I can only readily get their stuff online.
And I have thought about your idea too of washing hair with the soap. My husband tried it for a bit with this soap but it didn’t work for him very well, it left sort of like of waxy layer, but almost like a not washed feeling. I haven’t tried it yet, and I have completely different hair from him, so I will try it and we will see how it works on my hair.
But I totally agree, we shouldn’t need conditioner and in fact I don’t use conditioner at all. There were only a few very poor shampoos in the past that left my hair really tangled, so I had to, but other than that no need.
@ AKEMI – I just looked into the Aubrey’s Rosa Mosqueta soap you use and for our other readers out there, this sounds like another great choice of soap to use. Here are the ingredients:
AUBREY’S ROSA MOSQUETA SOAP INGREDIENTS: Palm Oil, Coconut Fatty Acids, Peanut Oil, Rosa Mosqueta® Rose Hip Seed Oil, Borage Oil (21% Gamma-Linolenic Acid), St. John’s Wort Oil, Alfalfa Extract, Water.
Yeah, soap doesn’t lather well when the water temp is low, which affects the ease of use. I use fairly hot water when I wash my hair with soap.
It’s so difficult to find cosmetics that is safe AND feels good to use. So this is where your reviews come handy and valuable.
Evita, thank you for reminding me of this soap! My family used it many years ago, but it was difficult to find. More recently, I’ve seen it go “mainstream,” and recognized it, but I guess it just didn’t “register” because I didn’t pick it up. My husband’s allergic to *everything*, especially fragrances (even botanicals, especially lavender), so the hand-crafted soaps I purchase are iffy in the husband-pleasing arena. As I recall, the KMF olive oil soap was so *clean* smelling. I’ll make sure to look for it, again.
Thank you for your reviews. I do so appreciate them!
Hi Evita- It is highly unlikely that what you listed as the ingredients of this particular product is actually all the ingredients. You can’t make a hard bar with only a vegetable oil. A hard fat or nut oil has to be used. It also doesn’t list the color- The bar would be beige or dirty brown otherwise.
If the soap does not smell oily when used then there is a fragrance. I find many companies claim that they have a fragrance free product but still actually use a fragrance and don’t list it on the package.
Natural is not a protected word and there are are so many fake natural ‘soaps’, cleansers and washes.
I have been selling real authentic products to the health food industry for years. However, many people still buy chemical based products for a lot of money because they believe in all the deceptive marketing. And even ingredient listings on many products can be false.
I read the Omnivore’s Dilemma and started to look at how pervasive corn and other oleo-chemicals are in our ‘natural’ bath and body products.
My company makes castile soap and I have created a video called ” Are You Washing With Corn”- view http://mountainskysoap.com/video.php
People have to make choices as to what they buy, as that will drive the market, their health and the planet’s overall sustainability.
I find Nina’s comment above very interesting. I never made soaps myself, but it makes sense. Olive oil has only light olive color — why is the soap dark olive green?
I actually bought this soap. It’s okay, but it’s not wonderful. I think the best soap is probably soaps from small companies who make simple castile soap, with essential oils for aromatherapeutic purpose. My current favorite is from a company called Camamu in Portland, Oregon. Here is the ingredients of their Calendula Sun Soap:
Olive, coconut, palm, and castor oils, organic calendula infusion, scented with essential oils of geranium, clove and sweet orange.
It feels very natural, with gentle sunny smell, lathers nicely but not excessively, and doesn’t dry me out.
If we look around, there must be other companies who make soaps on a small batches the old way.
@ JULIE – Yes, as I have learned, finding a good soap can be really tricky today.
I am not allergic or sensitive to anything, but I just don’t want anything fragranced. As I went more and more natural in every way, I find all scents both unnecessary and actually a turn off. What scents do I like, real pine smell from a pine tree, real rose smell from a rose bush, etc.
And what I have found is that as much as companies try to duplicate smells, it just is not the same.
So I am glad you used to enjoy this soap and that it works for you and your husband.
@ NINA – Hello Nina and thank you for stopping by with your thoughts here.
The first part of your comment got me thinking about these not being all the ingredients, as that was a thought that crossed my mind at one point, thinking this is “too good to be true”.
However, I did two things:
1) Consulted the Health Canada Website, which thoroughly explains the laws put in place here in Canada for all personal product/cosmetic labeling. By law all companies now must list all their ingredients on the packages, in descending order. As of 2006 – “The Regulations now require mandatory ingredient labeling on all cosmetic products sold in Canada.”
More details can be read up on this here:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/person/cosmet/ingredient/faq_cons-eng.php
So if there is some way, or some loop hole that I am not aware of, that a company can “leave out” an ingredient, then perhaps there can be a chance for more ingredients, but in this case I don’t think so. I have heard that companies in the US may sometimes leave out ingredients(and this goes for both food and products) that are less than 0.5 units, as they can round down. However, I am not sure how strict the laws are on this, and if it is in fact true here in Canada, as there is nothing about such an allowance on the Health Canada web site.
2) The second thing I did was consulted a chemist I used to work with. Although they said that it is odd to see soap listed as having an oil and salt, and no lye (which is the typical ingredient used in the most basic soaps), it is not impossible. This is because the label lists that the olive oil is saponified, which may very well mean it is already mixed with lye to ensure a proper binding process.
There is also another company that makes this soap with the exact same formula, except they add essential oils, and I did not enjoy that one bit.
It is Olivia’s Oasis. These soaps are made in Greece or Turkey, and actually have a long history behind them.
Based on this, I have to tell you, I am very skeptical of products and companies, after all that is why I do these reviews, but on this one I really don’t have any hesitations.
Now you also mentioned color. The color of this soap in fact, as I have now gone through several bars, varies quite a bit from bar to bar in terms of various shades of a brown-green (perhaps some would even see it as beige), sometimes lighter, sometimes darker.
So while I will be the first one to admit that “natural” is very misused today – this is why again I conduct these reviews – to find the real between the fake. And my readers can also depend on the fact, that if I learn something new about a product that I reviewed in the future, the review gets updated accordingly. This is an ongoing learning process.
Ultimately, it is not this company that I am fond of or promote as I stated in the review above, because I do not agree with their other products, but this particular soap meets my standards.
Now as for your soap company, I am happy that you decided to share it with us here today and I have heard great things about castile soap. I have gone on your web site and while the soaps look and sound great, I did not find a specific listing of ingredients. If you could share those, exactly as seen on a package, that would be great. And if you would like a review done on your company’s soap, that can also be arranged.
@ AKEMI – Hi Akemi, great to hear from you and thank you also for sharing your experience with this soap.
In terms of the color, do you find that it is dark green, because as I listed above, I find that from bar to bar, it varies between a browny-green.
The soap from the company you have found sounds nice too!
Now as for small companies, I have to tell you, my first instinct when I was looking for natural soap was to go to people who made “homemade soaps”. What I found after 3 various people is that they focused way too much on making the soaps look and smell pretty. And that is just not what I am looking for or what natural means to me. So I am not saying that there is no one out there (small based) that makes truly natural soap – I just haven’t found them yet.
And so, having used this soap now for a couple of months, I still really like it and have nothing to complain about when it comes to quality, drying properties, smells or anything else.
There is one other soap that I would like to try, it is Wedderspoons Manuka Honey – all natural soap:
http://www.wedderspoon.ca/shop/organic-honey/honeydew-honey-soap.html
They are a small company and I love their lip balm, it is the only one I use at this time. But I still have to figure out how I feel about using “honey” products. I think Green Beaver, a company that I really stand by, as you may remember for their pledge to really making a difference (and being local and small) makes a soap too, but it is hard to find at this point still. http://www.greenbeaver.com/
Anyhow, thanks again Akemi.
Hi Evita
I am glad you do so much research into the products that you review. It is really impressive as a lot of people do not do much research.
Firstly, yes there is a law about ingredient listings in Canada that came into affect two years ago.
However, Health Canada does not enforce anything. In fact, I have made a trade complaint to Health Canada a couple of months ago about how many companies are not following the rules. I gave them a list of products that we directly compete against. As it is not fair when we provide a complete list of ingredients on all our labels and other companies do not comply.
Health Canada’s response was that there are too many life threatening other problems and they sent a letter to the companies asking them to comply. So unless, health canada is willing to pull these products off the shelf then these illegal labelling will continue.
I have also asked some of the larger Health Food chains why they continue to sell products that are not listing all the ingredients. Their response is that Health Canada has to enforce the law, not them.
Listing ingredients like * Saponified Olive Oil
* Water
* Sodium Chloride (Salt)
is not to INCI Health Canada code.
We have been in the business as a small producer for 16 years. We know what people do in this industry. Deception is top of the list.
We list all our ingredients in order and it is on the label. We did make an unscented bar a couple of years ago but no one bought it. Real unscented soap smells like oil.
I don’t have a complaint with companies whether they are scented or unscented or ‘natural’ or unatural. What bothers me is the ingredient listing lies.
If you like this soap then use it. Everybody is different and you like what you like.
did you watch my video on washing with corn? I would like to know what you think? go to my website. Http://www.mountainskysoap.com/video.php
@ NINA – Thank you for the detailed reply Nina and all the details about your products.
I have now had a chance to watch all four of your videos. Your company’s products are definitely great sounding and you make a great case against the corn-based surfactants and fillers. Many people really have no idea what is in their so called “natural” products, never mind the regular stuff on the shelf.
Hopefully with more and more information like this coming out more people will be able to learn and understand their products for better health and environmental protection results.
Hopefully companies like yours will be able to lead the way and deception in natural companies will be a thing of the past. As I mentioned before, if you are interested in having a review done, let me know.
i have used KMF’s olive oil soap off and on for years. it works very well for me for a number of things! i cut the big bars into smaller pieces and use a piece by the sink for washing dishes and hands and i also wash my hair with it and when the pieces get too small and slimy to be fun to use i throw them in a jar and save them and make laundry soap with them.
to make laundry soap (no it will not turn your laundry green) you can add either baking soda or sea salt. i usually add salt to the actually soap and water goo and lavender essential oil and add some baking soda when i wash white clothing. i also use a vinegar rinse for my laundry and an apple cider vinegar rinse (very diluted and infused with rosemary) for my hair.
i have made soaps in the past. the only ingredients i used was olive oil water and lye. it took about 4 – 6 weeks to cure (get hard) and was not much more cost effective than just buying these bars!!! because i bought good olive oil…
my olive oil soap was pretty beige/white in color – but i asked the company why theirs is green and this is because they use the olive oil pommace – which is the last pressing of the olive oil and contains more chloryphyl (sp?) in it. hence the green/brown color…
so this is a great soap – but you can make even better 100% organic olive oil (expensive) soap at home and it will be even better! just be prepared to wait quite a while for it to be ready :)
Hi!
I haven’t tried this soap, but something you, Evita, mention is you haven’t found a real natural soap… but you have, at least the brand. I use the Paptounsanis olive oil soap. It’s the original soap from the company that makes the Olivia products you tried. The recipe has not changed. It is as it was 130 years ago, and yes its a dark green colour – I suspect those made with coconut oil or olive oil from other regions might be a whiter colour. In any case the ingredients are : saphonified olive oil, sodium chloride (sea salt) and citric acid. That’s it, no essential oils, and once my hair got past the transition phase (3-4 weeks), and I got used to what my hair is really supposed to feel like, it’s looks amazing! And no conditioner. My skin too is soft, and I don’t need a moisturizer, even in November in Canada, where I’m used to using a moisturizer all year long.
Just thought I’d let you know… even if it is a year later. ;)
Well, time has past, and to be honest, I have stopped using soap all together. I use a shower puff to wash my skin with water, which takes the dead skin off, but leaves my natural sebum, and so far my skin hasn’t felt softer! For my face, and armpits and netherparts, I use coconut oil and rinse.
Also, for my hair, I water wash it every 4 days or so, and every 3- 31/2 weeks I wash my hair with and egg yolk. So far conditioning is being done wih jojoba oil, but my ends aren’t as happy as I’d like so I’m still working out the conditioning part.
Hi Rhonda
Wow, I am so inspired! I have heard more and more people going soap free and I find it a path I resonate with so much.
Since probably over a year ago, as satisfactory as KMF Olive soap was, I stopped using it as I found a natural, local soap maker. It feels good to support truly local business and know directly the person who makes the soap, and how they make it.
p.s. thank you for mentioning and sharing about the other olive soap you used to use too!
I always look to see if a soap is SLS free but now I may try to go further and see if all of the ingredients are natural.
Hi Janine
That is a great first step. SLS we know today is associated with many various health problems, not to mention it is plain drying, so ruins our skin in the process.
I would just like to add something. When it says saponified olive oil that is olive oil with lye added. I came across this and thought it was worth mentioning since someone earlier in the comments said they weren’t sure how it bonded with no fats.
Hi Amanda
Thank you so much for adding this in and your experience with the soap!
Also mine smells like olive oil, so I know there are no fragrances in it. I hate the smell but love the soap!
The reason the KMF olive oil soap doesn’t have lye listed is because if you look at the ingredients the first one is Saponified Olive Oil. This means that it has been made into soap with lye already. i think they put this instead of listing lye on the ingredients because people who don’t know about soap making prefer it.
The lye is all gone from the soap when the saponification process happens.
I have made a soap like this with just olive oil and lye before. (and of course water because lye is in granules and you mix it with water to activate it).
Hi Dianna
Thank you for sharing that explanation, it is valuable to understand for others and appreciated.
just wanted to add that all REAL soap is made with lye and oil.