I have sensitive and very fickle skin. It hasn’t always been this way; in fact, during my adolescence and teen years, I could pretty much just wash with plain drug store brand bar soap and my skin was clear, smooth, and had very few issues. As I have gotten older, I have developed skin that dries out, sometimes to the point of becoming red and raw at the change of every season, that breaks out after using a product it previously had no reaction to, and I also have psoriasis (which runs in my family) that rears its ugly head during times of stress. Due to these increasing skin issues, I have tried quite a few moisturizers, medicated cleansers, body butters, the works. I have had a lot of success through my years-long process of trial and error. I have a small collection of go-to skincare products that I like, even while my skin will embrace a product for a little while only to turn around one day and break out in a brand new set of blemishes because it decided that it no longer enjoys a particular chemical makeup. What I never did change, however, was the base of what I was using on my skin–soap.

I have used a lot of different soaps and body washes; generally whatever was on sale or what I enjoyed the smell of. I didn’t pay much attention to what it was made from or what chemicals were in it. Instead, I stocked up on moisturizers and lotions made to soothe and heal because that was obviously where the problem was, right?

I was recently introduced to LifeSoap Company, a truly inspiring company created by two really awesome guys with big hearts and sensitive skin.

Aaron Madonna and Juwon Melvin had both spent some time away in 2010 when they met up in their hometown to discuss where they had been and what they had been up to. Aaron, who lives with eczema, had used a cheap bar of soap while abroad that made his skin break out. His skin had such a terrible reaction that he was prescribed special medication to clear it up, but was too embarrassed to even leave the house until his skin had returned to normal. Juwon had traveled to Morocco and Nicaragua where he got a first-hand look at the water crisis affecting developing countries today. He learned that a lot of children living in these countries are not able to attend school because they must walk several miles to get water for their families. Combining both of their experiences, they created the LifeSoap Company–a simple and easy monthly soap service that delivers three bars of soap made with only the best natural ingredients to your door, while contributing a portion of every sale to improving the health, safety, and quality of life of children in Central America and Africa by bringing them clean water.

I was given the opportunity to try out LifeSoap Company’s USDA Certified Organic line of soaps and was really impressed with them.

Sol: To Rejuvenate

Created with a combination of citrus, including orange, tangerine, and lemon essential oils and lavender, the Sol soap smells incredible. In the very early mornings when my body just didn’t feel like it wanted to wake up, just taking in the scent of the Sol soap woke me up and left me ready to start the day by the end of my shower. When there was just a small amount of the Sol soap left in the shower, my fiance came out of the bathroom one night and asked where the tangerine soap went and if we had more, so he is also quite a fan of it.

Ingredients: Saponified oils of safflower and/or sunflower, palm, and coconut (with retained glycerin); essential oils; annatto seed; orange peel; rose hips; rosemary extract

Peace: To Exfoliate

Created as a way to relieve stress, the Peace bar contains shea butter, honey, and finely ground oatmeal that exfoliates your skin and leaves it feeling smooth and very soft. Some exfoliating soaps I have used in the past has contained oatmeal that has been harsh on my skin; not only feeling like it was peeling back layers of my skin, but causing pain because of how much oatmeal was packed into the bar and how it coarse it was. I was really happy to see (and feel) that the Peace bar has just the right amount of oatmeal that exfoliates gently rather than with a harsh and somewhat painful hand.

Ingredients: Saponified oils of safflower and/or sunflower, palm, and coconut (with retained glycerin); oats; shea butter; honey; rosemary extract

Love: To Refresh

The Love bar was actually my favorite of all three soaps I received from the LifeSoap Company. Its combination of sage, lemongrass, and spearmint essential oils left me with that good, clean feeling. You know the feeling I’m talking about–the feeling of freshness that makes you feel just a little more human after you use it. With the addition of calendula petals, each Love bar is distinctive and looks like art, which isn’t exactly something I look for, but is nice to see just the same.

Ingredients: Saponified oils of safflower and/or sunflower, palm, and coconut (with retained glycerin); essential oils; calendula petals; rosemary extract

I realized after taking photos of each bar of soap that you can’t really see how large they are. These are not your average-sized bars of soap. Take a look at just how thick each bar is:

LifeSoap Company’s soaps exfoliate, refresh, and leave your skin feeling healthy and clean, and that’s reason enough to give them a try with your skin. But that’s just the beginning of what LifeSoap Company is all about. When you subscribe to LifeSoap Company, you receive a Box of Bliss including a selection of their three soaps for $20; for every Box of Bliss that is sold, $2 are contributed towards the efforts of providing clean water to children and communities in Central America and Africa who need it. Last year, LifeSoap Company was able to contribute funds to go towards well rehabilitation and latrines at two schools in Nicaragua. How amazing is that?

You can Shop LifeSoap on their website. Their options include monthly and bi-monthly subscriptions, as well as the ability to gift a subscription to a close friend or family member who has sensitive skin and loves to give back! They also have custom orders available for events and parties. At this time, they only ship within the United States.

To keep up with everything LifeSoap Company is up to, you can “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

I received a Box of Bliss for review. No other compensation was received, and opinions are my own.