Today I'll be exploring the brand that has made me ditch shower gel. I spoke about my newfound appreciation of bar soap in my brand focus of Lather of The Land, and it has only continued to grow after being introduced to a wonderful Oklahoma based brand called Dulce de Donke. What began as a quest to find a cure for a little girl's autoimmune disease, blossomed into a handmade soap company and conservation effort of the critically endangered American Mammoth Donkey. Dulce de Donke soaps feature donkey milk as their star ingredient, sourced from their very own American Mammoth Donkeys. The family behind Dulce De Donke breeds the wonderful animals to bring up their population, utilizes their precious milk to keep their little girl healthy, and then every remaining drop of milk goes straight into the decadent soaps.

I was sent two bars of soap, Rosemary Mint and Charcoal. Each contain a base of saponified olive oil, coconut oil, and of course, donkey milk. These rich oils and soothing donkey milk are hydrating on the skin, and don't strip you of your natural oils. My dry skin loves such a gentle soap, and donkey milk is wonderful for psoriasis and eczema. Because of the donkey milk and oils, this these soaps are high in fatty acids which help to keep the skin plump and youthful.



With such skin loving ingredients, some of these soaps are fabulous to use on the face, as well as the body. I personally don't do very well with coconut oil products on my face, but if you don't have such a sensitivity, acne and oily prone skin would probably adore the Charcoal soap. Activated charcoal gives this black bar it's drawing properties. Charcoal can bind with the impurities in your pores, drawing them out and clearing your complexion. Combined with the antimicrobial and antiseptic properties of clove and lavender essential oils, this soap makes for a simple yet effective acne cleanser. Though I don't use this on my face, I have had great success in clearing the acne on my back and shoulders.

Rosemary Mint is probably a soap best designated to the body (or at least not rubbed directly on the face) because it is very scrubby, and has strong but refreshing rosemary and mint scent. This soap is perfect if you're trying to streamline your shower routine and nix the sugar scrub - it's wonderfully exfoliating on it's own. I also really enjoyed the scent of this soap for the summer because the peppermint is so cooling on hot days, it makes your body tingle! The rosemary oil is also a fabulous antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, making this the perfect soap to do some repair work on your skin after a long day in the sun.

Both of these soaps lathered beautifully, cleansed effectively without stripping, and had absolutely heavenly aromas. They felt like a truly luxurious shower product, while being ecofriendly and low waste. I am totally prepared to ditch plastic shower gel bottles after trying out these soaps, and I cannot wait to explore more of the scents! Saundra has done some wonderful work on these soaps, and I highly recommend them!