#FairtradeFortnight - Visionary Soap Company Review

Fairtrade Fortnight is coming.  25th February to 10 March 2013, to be precise.

Fairtrade Fortnight is about spreading the word, getting involved, and promoting Fairtrade.  Fairtrade products guarantee a fair price for their producers in the developing world, ensuring they are paid enough for the good they produce, so they can make a living.

Fairtrade products available in the UK include coffee, chocolate, sugar, tea, fruit, clothing, and even soap!  That last one surprised me, but thinking about it, why not?  Products like cocoa butter, shea butter, olive oil and herbs & spices, can be traded fairly to their producers, and they can carry the Fairtrade mark just as easily as the products that spring to mind more readily.  So for me, joining forces with the Visionary Soap Company is a really good way to get involved with Fairtrade Fortnight, because I'm learning about new Fairtrade products, challenging my beliefs about what a Fairtrade product would be, and spreading that information to you, my beloved readers!

The kind people at Visionary Soap Company offered me the chance to review a couple of products for Fairtrade Fortnight, and I was delighted to receive a parcel containing Lemongrass soap, and Lemon lip balm.  I absolutely love citrus scents, so these were perfect for me.

This is the point where I realised I should have taken a photo of the lip balm before I broke it out of its box & started using it. Sadly I'm not great at patience or self restraint, and within moments of it landing on my doormat, I was smacking my lips together, with a slick of balm.  The lemon lip balm is lush.  No, that's the only possible word for it. LUSH.  It's come in so handy during the cold snap of late, going in & out from heated houses & offices to the great British outdoors normally plays havoc on my lips, and I end up with cracked lips that invariably lead to a very fetching collection of cold sores.  Not so this year.  The balm is soft to apply, more so than brands I've used in the past, but feels really light and not at all greasy.  And my lips, well they're soft enough for Squeaky to lay a smacking kiss on, and that's what matters to me!  The smell is lemony without being overpowering, and slightly sweet.  Kissably delicious.

I managed to be slightly more sensible when it came to the soap, so you get a better photo.  Let's go for the obvious first.  Yes, it's an odd colour.  But I kind of like that.  It looks authentic, rustic (and a little bit expensive!).  And there's a certain high street soap company that makes all sorts of crazy colours of soap.  It doesn't have to be bleachy white!  Moving on from the colour, again the smell is divine, sharp lemon, not as sweet at the lip balm.  The scent comes out stronger when you use the soap, the hot water seems to bring it out more.  I sort of expected there to be less lather from this soap than a bar of ordinary white soap, I don't know why. But I was wrong, it lathers up perfectly, and leaves my hands feeling soft and clean. There's shea butter and olive oil in there, which is probably why they feel so soft.  I'm keeping it in the kitchen, as it's great for getting cooking smells off my hands.  As my new year's resolution is More Home Cooking, this is definitely a big help.

The lip balm is available in 4 flavours, including Lemon, for £3.45.
The soap is available in 8 fragrances, plus unscented, for £3.69.
You can order these, plus other Visionary soap products direct on their website.  Wouldn't you like to spend Fairtrade fortnight smelling & feeling great, as well as making a difference to the lives of the farmers who make our treats possible?

Disclosure: I was provided with the above products free of charge for the purposes of this review. I was not told what to write and all opinions are my own.  Links are provided for your convenience only, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme & will not receive payment for their use.