Bar Soap for Your Face?! Osmia Black Clay Facial Soap Review

Uhm, yeah, I know. Even I, a seasoned and fearless skincare roadtester, audibly gulped at the sight of Osmia's top sellingBlack Clay Facial Soap bar ($22 for 2.25 oz), recommended for normal, problem and combination skin. But there are very little things I wouldn't do in the name of blogging (that, and good skin), so I focused on the redeeming qualities - it's adorably small, it's funky-colored, it has clay and it smells great - and I decided to go for it.
If you haven't heard about Osmia Organics (what kind of blogs do you read under that rock of yours?!), it's a small Colorado-based skincare line that blends luxury with simple, natural and deliciously-scented ingredients. They have a well-edited skincare line but also make great body and lip products; more on that in future posts. The basic principles of Osmia not only tick all of my boxes, but I'm also totally jelly of beautiful mountain scenery shots which Sarah, the brand's founder, posts on her Instagram profile every day as I slowly wither here in the concrete jungle that is Midtown Manhattan. I may or may not be a bit of an Insta stalker.
But, back to the soap: as you can hopefully see, it comes beautifully packaged and a delicious scent of citrusy essential oils wafts even through the paper, and manages to scent up my whole medicine cabinet. The size of Osmia's Facial Soap is more or less half of a regular soap bar but so far, I've found it to be extremely efficient - I've been using mine for a couple weeks now and can't notice it having gotten smaller at all. I also received a clear rubbery soap saving dish to help dry the soap properly between uses and thus preserve it for longer.
In terms of use, I slightly dampen my face and hands with warm water, do a couple of passes with the soap on my hand and then lather it up on the face. It gives quite a generous, creamy white lather that feels lush on the skin and doesn't make it feel stripped or tight after rinsing; quite the opposite in fact, I find that while I'm rinsing, there's almost a slightly slippery barrier left behind. The soap does not transfer any of its color on the skin, a disappointment I'm still coming to terms with - I totally wanted to scare my husband with a black clay face one evening.
Compared to some other clay cleansers, Osmia Black Clay Facial Soap is a lot less drying than the Claymedix French Red Clay soap (I only dare to wash my hands with this one and even for that, I find it rather unpleasant) but quite similar in result to a non-foaming REN ClearCalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser, reviewed here. I would say it's a bit quicker to use because it lathers and rinses more easily than the REN, which has to be massaged into the skin and then rinsed/wiped rather thorougly.

In terms of overall results, I'm not quite convinced that this facial soap is more effective than my preferred method of cleansing with a non-foaming balm. I haven't found it to be particularly acne-reducing or shine-minimizing. I was however pleasantly surprised at how comfortable my skin feels after using it; not too tight, not too oily, calm and mostly without redness, which makes it a perfect choice for the mornings in my book. I will continue to use and enjoy my little black bar but I'm not sure if I'll repurchase; I guess I shall have to take more long-term results into account before adding it to my shopping cart in the future.

Have you tried any bar soaps for cleansing your face? What are your favorite Osmia products?

Disclaimer: The product featured is a press sample I received from Osmia Organics for review consideration  All opinions are 100% honest and unbiased, no matter if the products featured were purchased with my own monies or provided as a free press sample. All links are non-affiliate and simply provided for your convenience. Thank you for reading!