Review of Chagrin Valley All Products by vanja
I have loved Ida's soaps ever since I tried them back in 2005. First, something about the company: CS is great, Ida is so nice and she ships quickly.
The soaps are very earthy-smelling, so if you've mostly used products with perfume oils you may have get used to the scent of essential oils. I do not love the smell of all her soaps, but most of them! The quality is really top-notch, I've bought CP and HP soaps from more than 20 different soapmakers and Ida's are the best. Period. She uses lots of great oils and butters which makes for creamy, super-fatted soaps which doesn't dry out my skin even when it's dry and itchy in winter. As the soaps are also unusually large, you get a lot of value for your money.
I do not use her soaps exclusively, sometimes I want to lather up with soaps containing fragrance oils for example, but I always have at least one of Ida's soaps in my shower.
However, I do not use the shampoo bars. I've found that I really have to follow them up with a vinegar rinse (which is unpleasant to me since I hate the smell of vinegar!) and it strips my hair of dye. The shampoo bars work great as body soap, though, and that's how I've used them. (Just a tip in case you bought some and don't like them for your hair.)