Giveaway - Real Soap & Good Rags! - CLOSED

Giveaway closed. Congratulations to Anonymous Commenter #69!

If you haven't guessed it by now, I liked to be pampered. I don't frequent the spa or even the nail salon though because frankly, I'm not in a financial situation to be able to justify such trips. However, I can guess that when we are free from debt and financially independent, pampering will be one of my luxuries I allow myself.

In the meantime, I will just pamper myself at home. And this pampering starts with a good soap. Now, I'm not talking about the stuff you can find a coupon for in the latest Sunday paper. In fact, soap in a misnomer in those cases. I came to this realization when visiting the website of today's feature company Real Soap and Good Rags. This is what I read that made me do a double take:

• The next time you walk down the soap aisle at your favorite store enjoying the fresh, clean scents and the bright colorful packaging, pay attention. Look at the labels. The vast majority of the products on the shelf don't say 'soap' on their labels. They might be called beauty bars, moisturizing bars, or body bars, but not soap. That's because these bars aren't actually soap and can't legally claim to be; they're detergents. The manufacturers have removed most of the 'good' stuff that occurs in the soap making process, and replaced it with synthetic lathering agents and harsh chemicals. These cheap, plentiful detergent bars are not only bad for your skin, but they're also bad for the planet, too....Commercial soap manufacturers make it a practice to remove the glycerine that is produced during the saponification (soap-making) process. The glycerine is a highly profitable substance, often sold to other companies who use it to make lotions and moisturizers, which your skin, now dried out from the harsh detergent 'soap,' desperately needs. Do yourself and your world a big favor and start using REAL soap!

And she's right. That stuff on the shelf, mostly just detergent. Look at the labels. Can you pronounce all of those ingredients? Then why do you want to rub them all over your body? And they are forcing you, in turn, to buy their lotions and moisturizers!

Grrrrr, I say.

So Real Soap and Good Rags is out to give us an outlet to buy the real stuff and treat ourselves to a real treat! They offer soaps made using the cold process method (they are also all vegan friendly except the goats milk), solid perfumes (long lasting and easy to carry with you!), bug sticks for those areas you don't want to spray, reusable (earth friendly) pads for your Swiffer, shampoo bars for you and your dog, lip balm, bath mitts (can also be used as an oven mitt), bath "poofs," and soap savers, which act like my son's Little Buddies Soap that I love for him to use so much. They help you grip the soap and allow you to use more of it and waste less! All of the textile products are hand crocheted using 100% cotton, eco-cotton, and hemp. She can also make up gift baskets or wedding favors if you'd like!

So I was sent a sample of her soap and her lip balm to take for a test drive.




First of all, let me say...that Cranberry Pear soap? YUM! It truly smells divine.

And happily, it works great too. There is a definite difference in using natural soap and the stuff that you are accustomed to buying at the store. There is no harsh residue, ultra-intense lather, or strong perfume. It just simply lathers up nicely, washes off so nicely, and leaves your skin feeling fresh, clean, and renewed. And you know? When I pamper myself, that is my entire purpose...to be fresh and renewed, not to go away smelling like a flowery meadow. Although with this soap, I did finish up smelling good enough to eat (note: Mrs Nespy's Frugal World does not encourage, authorize, or condone cannibalism).

The lip balm does exactly what you'd expect a lip balm to do, but does it with all natural ingredient. There is nothing on that label that you cannot pronounce. It unchaps my lips without leaving an oily residue. It's really good stuff.

Based on my experience with these two products, I would definitely recommend anything Real Soap and Good Rags has to offer!

Buy It:
Visit Real Soap and Good Rags or her etsy shop and buy some for yourself!

Win It:
One lucky reader will win one lip balm (of choice), one soap (of choice) and one soap saver!

Mandatory Entry (must be completed before any others are considered):
Visit Real Soap and Good Rags or her etsy shop and tell me the products that you fall in love with.

Additional entries:

1. Make a purchase at Real Soap and Good Rags or her etsy shop and comment here letting me know you did.
2. Follow Real Soap and Good Rags on Facebook and let me know that you did.
3. Follow my blog (via Google Friend Connect in sidebar or RSS at top of blog) and comment telling me you did.
4. Promote this giveaway via your blog (post the URL in the comments)
5. Promote/link to this giveaway via Twitter (post your tweet in comments) - one post per day. Leave a comment with each tweet you make.
6. Link to this giveaway via Facebook (leave a link in comments)
7. Tell me how you found this giveaway
8. Enter any of my open giveaways (1 entry per giveaway entered) - tell me which one in comments
9. Post the Back to School BLOWOUT button (right sidebar) on your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.
10. Grab my regular Mrs Nespy's Frugal World button (right sidebar) for your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.

Giveaway Rules:
Giveaway will run until September 15th at 11:59 pm EST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org. US only. Commenter must either leave email address with each comment or make sure email address is attached to your profile. Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to return contact before another winner is chosen.

This post is part of my Back to School BLOWOUT! Click for more details!