Tremendous lather, even with some significant water hardness. With softer water, unbelievable lather. Very natural. I have dry skin in the winter, but with Kirk's it's much diminished. Scent is excellent, unassuming, very mild. This is real soap, in the chemical sense.
I recommend this soap without reservation to everyone on the board. This is one of my favorite products, actually. I intended to make a special post about it, but since this is the thread, it's appropriate.
I use a "pouf" and lather up with this. Without a pouf or wash cloth, one can still get a great bath/shower. Buy a single bar, and try it out. It's cheap! If you're like me, it will be the benchmark for bar soap performance. As I said, the scent is subtle, but smells "clean". I am sure many here will appreciate it.
I don't get the difference in terms, but I do know that Dial, Irish Spring, and harsh soap are like acid on my skin, while triple milled French soaps from Trader Joes smells great without that acid like (detergent) feeling. And Anthony's Logistics is great. The good stuff lasts, and at $3 a bar at Trader Joes, they are a bargain. I just picked up Lemon and Green Tea, and they smell great.
Soap, chemically speaking, is the salt of a fatty acid. Everyone who's ever had chemistry should know that acids react with bases to produce salts. Fatty acids, while not necessarily corrosive as we think of battery acid, are still acids. So, when fatty acids (palm oil, olive oil, lard, tallow, etc.) are mixed with bases (lye), the resulting substance is soap, the salt of a fatty acid mixed with a base.
Many people are sensitive to non-soap surfactants. Some people are sensitive to soaps as well. But one thing to keep in mind is that soap is something one can make in his own home. Most non-soap surfactants (detergents) are difficult to make at home. My test for most things I consume or to which I expose myself is, "Can I make this at home?"
I use Kirk's. It's a great soap, and it's cheap. It is coconut based though, and this can sometimes aggravate severely dry skin (as well as eczema and dermatitis). I also like to use Sallye Ander soaps (www.sallyeander.com). They have a variety of natural handmade soaps, and I've found that their Milk and Mint soap is very moisturizing (it also smells just like freshly picked spearmint). They are more expensive ($6.95 for 4 oz bar), but it lasts a surprisingly long time. Just leave their shave soaps alone (horrible).
I use the one for sensitive skin. Someone suggested the cucumber version. You might like it, but the scent was so overwhelming that I literally felt sick. I threw away an entire $10 package of six bars.
I would consider reading the informative 1979 article "ALL THAT LATHERS IS NOT SOAP" by Harold Hopkins.
Much of what we think is soap is labeled "bath bar" or "beauty bar" because they cannot be legally labeled "soap" since they contain a synthetic detergent product. Soap (according to the article) is defined by the FDA as a "product in which most of the nonvolatile matter consists of an alkali salt of fatty acids and whose detergent properties are due to these alkali-fatty acid compounds."
Dove always works best for me, but I get bored of the sent after a while. I buy the goats milk and oatmeal soap from Soap Works. I just bought a bar of their hemp soap yesterday. Trying it out tomorrow.
Claus Porto (DECO) is the best is a 12.34 ounces , is a big soap bar 7 time milled
for $15 still with you for 2 month or more if you take a shower 2 times a day