Picky about your soap? Here’s one that meets all sorts of socio-eco criteria you can come up with. Chivas Skin Care soaps are made with organic ingredients, fair trade shea butter that supports a women’s co-op in Togo, Africa, and the fresh milk from two French alpine goats that are raised humanely by a local family in Ventura County, Calif.!
Chivas Skin Care was founded by Donna and Lauren Johanson, a mother-and-daughter team that bought the goats to get healthy milk, yogurt, and cheese for the family — but soon found the goats produced way more milk than they could keep up with! Thus, a soap company was born.
Now, Chivas has a line of six soaps — some of which incorporate herbs like spearmint from the family garden. Watch how these soaps get crafted in this short video put together by Lime.com:
I loved the smooth texture of Chivas’ soaps, which smelled great and left my skin feeling moisturized. Plus, the weighty 4-oz bars last a very long time, more than making the up for the $9 sticker price.
But while the Chivas team’s clearly honed its soap-making skills, the facial cremes left a lot to be desired. What I found in the jar I got was not creme as I know it, but a whitish curd-like goo-island floating in oils! Ick!
Hopefully Chivas will perfect its facial creme as it has the soaps. In the meantime, you can get Chivas Skin Care soaps — including some very cute gift sets for the holidays — on the company website.
[crossposted on BlogHer]
Siel, I’ve never seen our creme “curd” like that! I’m guessing that because I had the wrong address and ended up shipping the product twice in L.A.’s abnormal heat wave that there was some sort of freak accident. I feel terrible for the mix-up.
I will say though that our creme has been very popular with repeat customers – they like that it is very nourishing, yet not oily, beautifully scented, yet not overpowering. I want you to experience the creme we know and love, so I will be shipping you a replacement. Maybe we can hear more from you once you’ve had the chance to use it.
Also, I wanted to remind your readers that we has a “Satisfaction Guaranteed” policy. If for any reason you are dissatisfied with a product, we will either send a replacement or refund the difference. We are very proud of our products and our company and want our customers to be just as happy! ((And I’m glad you agree that our soap rocks :-))
Comment by Lauren — November 10, 2008 @ 11:26 pm
I loved your article! I am a HUGE fan of the Chivas soap line – I never knew what it was like to feel truly clean until I tried Donna and Lauren’s Chivas soap! I also get super dry skin, so it’s nice to have a soap that moisturizes at the same time.
I just wanted to add that I ADORE their face lotion. I’m kind of weird when it comes to moisturizing (I moisturize about 100 times a day), and I haven’t found a good face cream that does the job of keeping my skin soft and moisturized while not causing break outs… until I tried the Chivas face cream. I put it on once in the morning and once at night, and my face never feels dry or oily. I wonder if something was wrong with the cream you got, because my cream looks nothing like the picture above (which definitely is “ick”, haha). Anyway, thanks for the cool article, I love reading about new products! especially those that are green friendly!
Comment by Nikki Paglione — November 11, 2008 @ 1:52 am
It’s great that your featuring a truly local company. I got introduced to Chivas Skincare at Green and Greener in Studio City. I use it for myself and my two girls (2 & 8 months old). I love the product line, it’s so gentle and I’ve been very happy with the results. My favorite is probably the sweet nothings soap. I’ve also used the face creme and I’ve been very satisfied, and my 2 year old loves to put it on as well (all over not just face). I’m very happy with the results and would definitely recommend it! Also everyone should try their vegan lip balm it is so soothing.
Comment by Miriam — November 11, 2008 @ 7:45 am
I think the face cream would be much too oily for me even if it had arrived looking the way it’s supposed to look, but I’m using it as an effective foot cream at the moment :)
Comment by Siel — November 11, 2008 @ 10:10 pm
Being a middle-aged woman, I love the emolliency of Chivas Goat Milk Creme, which I use all the time. I love that I don’t have to wear perfume when I have it on.. the light scent is just enough for me. My products are always creamy and fresh, not separated, so the one you had must have been a fluke.
Comment by Audrey Walzer — November 12, 2008 @ 8:39 am
I first tried Chivas soaps at the Unique LA show about 1 month ago and I am hooked! I’ve had “okay” skin my whole life, not acne, but frequent clogged pores and blackheads. I also have some skin allergies (ie, I get rashes from any metal) but not skin that’s super sensitive/dry/subject to rosacea. I’d been trying to whip my skin back into shape for about a month before I discovered Chivas. About 3 days into using the Clear Complexion bar twice daily my skin transformed. Unprompted, my boyfriend asked what I’d been doing to my face- “It looks so bright and clear and feels so soft!” Honestly, I can’t remember my skin looking better. Plus, the scent is great AND the soap lasts SO LONG! I’m still on my first bar after 4 weeks- and that’s after using it twice a day and in the shower on my body (I’m sure my boyfriend has been using it too). I haven’t tried the Cremes yet, but I am eager to see if they enhance the benefits of the soap.
Comment by Rachael — January 4, 2010 @ 10:43 am
BTW — I got a new jar of the skin cream — which arrived uncurdled — and it was indeed a nice moisturizer :)
Comment by Siel — January 6, 2010 @ 10:46 am