NOTE: My video review of the soaps can be found here.
So I was contacted in mid-February by Ms. Acana about trying a new product based on a video review I filmed months ago about using the Dr. Bronner’s bar soap for my skin. She really liked my review and she wanted me to try all five of her soaps from her business named Godai Soaps.
Of course I accepted. Why would I say no to free soap?!
Unfortunately, due to me working at my current job, tensions between other family members and myself, and pressure from one of the parents to get a full-time job, I haven’t been able to review these soaps as quickly as I wanted to. But I finally used all five of them after they arrived and I can share my thoughts with you!
For starters, the boxes that the soap bars came in are aesthetically pleasing and very pretty! I almost don’t want to recycle the boxes. Almost…
The five soaps are based off the Japanese term godai, a term relating to the five elements of energy: Earth, Water, Fire, Sky, and Wind. Each soap was crafted to each of the five terms and are different from each other in many ways.
I’ve tested all of them so I’ll have a review for each soap.
Sky (Calming)
I knew this bar was going to have lavender in it due to the element representing peace and calm. As expected, the fragrance of this is very floral and fresh from the lavender and eucalyptus oils. The color is a rustic, grayish purple color that I’m guessing is from the alkanet root (not sure). When rubbed against my body, there was some exfoliation from the soap, but not too harsh to where I started to see red patches on my skin. The lather starts off as bubbly, but turns foamy after a while and it cleans very well.
Earth (Cleansing)
This one is the grittiest of them all; since Earth is based on the “base” where everything rests, I had a feeling this one was going to be a lot scrubbier than the others. I was right on the mark due to it being a bit more harsh when rubbed on my skin. When the bar is wet, I could see little grains of sugar and something else in it and the olive green color becomes more pronounced. Unfortunately, this bar was too harsh for my dry but delicate skin, even though it cleaned very well. I will be using this bar as a foot soap or hand soap from now on because of this.
Oh, and this one is unscented. There’s no scent whatsoever when I sniff this.
Wind (Nourishing)
To be honest, I was expecting something else when I went to try this one. This soap uses Wind to represent a “breath of life” and upon reading this, I was expecting the soap to be more on the refreshing side. Instead, this one is a rustic brown bar with specks in it and has a strong spicy scent that I didn’t really like due to a weird “after-scent” that it has. This bar contains turmeric, ginger, clove, and cinnamon cassia to warm up the skin and it did…somewhat. There was some exfoliation in this soap when rubbed on my skin, but just like the others it cleaned very well.
I think this bar is okay, but I don’t like the scent. When I think of wind, I think of a cooling breeze that comforts my skin and awakens my mind. Perhaps the fragrance can be changed to one that’s minty with a hint of woodsy underneath? Like maybe some peppermint and spearmint with hints of pine needle and cedar wood? I think that might suit the Wind element better. But for now, this bar has been designated as a future shampoo bar.
Fire (Rejuvenating)
This one is actually my second favorite! For starters, the rich red color of the bar is grounded, mature and pleasing to have in a plain bathroom like mine. With Fire being displayed as the element of transformation (and believe me, it is), this bar was meant to wake me up and keep me focused for the rest of the day. The rosemary scent is strong in this soap. In fact, so strong that I can’t really detect the lemon oil underneath. But that’s okay!
As always, the lather is bubbly and turns foamy when rubbed against my skin after a while, but the herbal scent really comes to life once the bar is lathered up. It cleans well and wakes me up for the next few tasks I have ahead! The bar is also smooth; there’s no exfoliation whatsoever.
I haven’t used this on my hair yet, but I can’t wait to try!
Water (Hydrating)
My favorite out of all of them? This bar right here! Water is considered the element necessary to all life on Earth and it happens to be my element too! I immediately expecting this bar to be hydrating for my dry skin and it certainly was. With the shea butter, cocoa butter, and white clay, this soap was smooth in texture and a pleasure to use on my body and face! The lather from this one is much more on the creamier side even though it starts off foamy, but my skin came out clean and not dried out.
As for the fragrance? A wonderful citrus scent with floral notes. It’s a delight for my nose every time I put the bar up to my nose to sniff it!
All of the bars came in the original 4 oz size and if used with a wooden soap dish, they can probably last a few months. These soaps were great and I enjoyed using each of them to figure out which ones were my favorites. I didn’t get to use them for my hair, but that’s for another time.
I would purchase from this company again in the future, but for now I just need to work through my current soap stash since I went nuts and bought more soap bars from a small business recently.
I’m a soap bar junkie; I can’t seem to help myself…
Anyway, if you want to try the soaps, the link is provided at the start of this post! There is no current discount and I was not financially compensated for giving my review on the soaps. But I think that it’s awesome that companies reach out to me after watching one of my reviews on my YouTube channel!
le fleur artsy 