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"Syndets such as Dove, Zest and others are better bar cleansers for most persons over pure soap."
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I absolutely agree with you. I have been making homemade soap using lye and animal fat for a couple of years. I make beautiful bars that my family and friends really enjoy. My own skin, however, reacts poorly to the soap that I make, regardless of recipe or additives.
I actually got in to soap-making because I wanted to copy the Dove Beauty Bar. That's when I learned that not all soaps are true soaps. Syndets are Synthetic Detergents, whereas true soaps are comprised of saponified oils/fats. Sodium hydroxide (lye) binds with all of the oil molecules and chemically changes the oils into soap molecules. When the math is done correctly, a bar of soap will not contain leftover lye. This process is known as saponification. It's also worth noting that true soap often leaves the skin with that squeaky-clean feeling whereas a syndet beauty bar will leave the skin feeling smooth and conditioned. Anyway --
I was loyal to Caress-brand beauty bars for many, many years. They were my favorite. As to be expected, Caress reformulated and re-scented their original bar soap about a year ago. I admit that I was a good sport about the reformulation! I just could not get behind the new scent. I used to frequent bargain stores to find rare Caress flavors, but I haven't seen any flavors other than the reformulated one -- very disheartening.
I have since switched to Dove's "Pink" flavor of bar soap, but I'm not too crazy about that scent -- much too powdery with no real floral notes. The Dove bars also gets slimier than Caress. I do like a perfumed soap that lingers on the skin, so these days I do an initial wash with a beauty bar and then I use my perfumed Korean shower gel (absolutely divine, by the way) with a washcloth to get a really good scrubbing. A double cleanse creates an extra step but it makes a big difference. It's kind of like shampooing twice.
