New Face Soap! I hope the Orangutans will forgive me.

There are very few products to which I would consider myself "loyal". You know, the products you always buy, whether or not they are on sale and heedless of whatever new-fangled sparkly formula a competitor dreams up to tempt you away.

But I have been a very happy and very loyal Olay face products fan for several years now. Olay Regenerist products work well for my acne-prone skin that suffers from breakouts AND creeping wisps of fine lines. It is reasonably priced (around $7 per bottle), and it smells nice.

I squeeze every last bit of face wash from the tube:

After it stops being squeezable, I'll cut it open and scoop out even more.

I was reluctant to move over to a more natural face soap. Sure, I want to use less packaging and keep petroleum-based products out of the shower. And rubbing carcinogens into my face has sort of lost its appeal. But darn you, carcinogens and petroleum and magic chemicals! You work soooo well! My face is so happy to have your moisturizers and zit-zappers! Why do yo have to have it in for me?

I've been using this nifty bar of soap, found at Dominick's for $2.79, for about a month and half now:

The only packaging is the 100% recyclable cardboard box. It's crazycheap. It smells pretty nice, and has lovely lather-y foam WITHOUT the sulfates. It has just 7 ingredients, and they are all things you could buy at your favorite health-food store. My skin looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. The only major difference I've noticed is that my face is a bit drier than usual. But I'll deal with that if it means that I can have an eco-gentle face soap that does the job without the scary chemicals.

Bonus: Apparently, proceeds from the sale of the bar soap help provide educational materials to children in Africa. You can read more about the company on their website: http://outofafricashea.com/

My only hang-up about this effective, inexpensive, and minimally-packaged soap is the palm oil.

I can hear you gagging. For the love of all that is Good and Holy, what's wrong with Palm Oil?? Well, it turns out that you pretty much have to clear-cut rain forests to get palm oil... check out NPR's story about it here. Or, take a look at adorable Indonesian orangutans here whose homes are being slashed and burned for palm oil cultivation.

The Out of Africa soap's box states that their ingredients are "Natural and Sustainable", but I couldn't find anything on their website about where they source their palm oil.

So, do I have to choose between my health and the Orangs? I really do like this soap.