I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that this soap is an absolute wonder. Containing only saponified olive oil, water and mineral salts it is incredibly gentle on my skin, which is easily irritated and often reacts badly to harsh chemicals. I managed to purchase 125g bar from Holland and Barrett for 99p, which in my mind was an absolute bargain. Although the bar is not particularly attractive (dull green in colour) I think this only goes to prove further that no unnecessary chemicals have been added in an attempt to brighten up its appearance. I have since been using it as a face wash, a function which I find it is particularly useful for. The natural ...  Read the complete review

My purchase of Oliva, an olive oil soap was as a result of reading a review of the same on here and a comment from my mother that her favourite soap was a Greek, olive oil based soap that she'd been given as a gift. Although I knew that my mum hadn't got a bar of Oliva my curiosity had been raised sufficiently and on a trip into town I sought out a bar from Holland & Barrett. Parting with less than £1 I decided that I had nothing to lose. The soap has to be one of the simplest products out there - it's just saponified olive oil (with a little water and some mineral salts). I recall the process of saponification from my chemistry lessons at school and ...  Read the complete review

After a particularly "poorly time" suffering with my constant companion M. E, my immune system was so low it rendered my whole system all I can describe as extremely "delicate". I could tolerate no chemicals or artificial ingredients whatsoever and couldn't even drink mineral water from a plastic bottle as chemicals from the bottle contaminated the water for me(it would have no ill effect on a healthy person, so don't worry). All told this gave me a major challenge to source natural products such as soap that I could use without compromising my health even further. This is how I happened upon this lovely bar of soap ...  Read the complete review