We're hip!

We're happening!

If you saw page 24 of the New York Times Magazine on April 5, 2010, you know what I mean.  According to this article, soap, real, honest-to-goodness soap, rather than "cleansers" and other such modern facsimiles made with various detergents, is the way to go.

Seriously!

And the Samurai Shopper is talking about washing faces, not just bodies.  I speak truth!  Observe:

She might as well be talking about Reef Botanicals soaps!  They're olive-oil-based and primarily animal-fat-free. They've got no preservatives, which are unnecessary in olive oil soaps, and use no synthetic fragrance oils.  The Coffee, Cool as a Cuke, Fudge Chunk, Honey Chocolate, Oatmeal Honey, Purity, and Root of the Matter are actually free of all fragrance, even those from essential oils.

I use Purity on my face every day.  That's our pure Castile made from the original Spanish plan:  just olive oil, lye, and deionized water, superfatted just a bit to prevent drying.

The Samurai Shopper also notes the convenience of bar soap in travel.  No more fussing and funneling allowable portions of liquid cleansers into those tiny bottles before dealing with TSA, just throw a bar of soap into a container, and you're off.  The same benefit holds for solid bar shampoos, of course.  If you travel a lot, solid shampoos are the way to go!