I love to hear success stories. I love it when people start with a dream and make it a reality no matter how crazy that dream seemed. I like it even more when the stories not only have a positive impact on the people who live it but also have a far reaching and possibly life changing impact that goes beyond borders.

That’s exactly the type of story that Melanie and Haskell, owners and founders of Moska, could tell you. It all started with an idea: a Clean Revolution. This revolution is fueled by social entrepreneurship and has as its core values a love for environment and nature, a desire to play an active role in our world and to be a catalyst for change, and a will to protect endangered species.

With this Clean Revolution idea, they decided to launch a line of organic soaps that goes above and beyond the other organic soaps out there. Not only do they carefully choose each and every ingredient so that their ingredients have the least impact on the environment but they make sure everything is certified organic and also fair trade whenever possible. They choose locally grown products when available. They use no chemicals or synthetic ingredients or fragrances whatsoever. They started out making bars of soap and expanded their line of products to include liquid hand soaps, body wash, body butters, body oils, and bath salts.

Melanie and Haskell’s dedication to their project is such that they make everything themselves, by hand from mixing ingredients to create their soaps and skin care products, to wrapping and packing them.

Not only are the products green but they also made a point of choosing green packaging options. For example, the paper used to wrap soap bars and for labels is made of 100% post consumer waste and printed with soy inks. For the body oil labels, they use TerraSkin which is a kind of paper made of stone powder that requires no chemicals and minimal water to produce it and is  biodegradable. Their containers are either 100% post consumer resin or recycled glass. Moksa also received its federal certification as a carbon neutral company. They make every effort to be as efficient and sustainable with their production process as possible by taking direct actions to reduce the waste of raw materials, reduce water usage and energy consumption, etc. They are even working to create a totally off the grid facility!

The products and the packaging are eco-friendly but if that wasn’t enough to make you feel good about supporting Moksa, this fact might: for every purchase, a designated amount is given directly to a non-profit organization that helps protect the environment, educates people around environment issues, provides micro-finance loans to people in developing countries, etc. For example, they’ve partenered with the Conservation Initiative for the Asian Elephant, the Sea Shepherd, the Rainforest Action Network, etc. For each individual product in their store, click on the ‘non-profit’ tab to find out which cause you’ll be supporting with your purchase.

I’m sure you can tell by now that I’m thrilled with the social mission and dedication that Moksa has but what about their products? Do they work? Do they smell as good as you think?

For this review, I received an Icelandic Mint Organic Soap Bar, a Kilimanjaro Organic Bar Soap, and the Mint Rosemary Organic Body Butter.

I chose the Icelandic Mint Soap Bar because I LOVE the scent of mint and this soap didn’t disappoint. Actually, the clerk at the post office even asked me what was in the box because she said it smelled so good! I like that it is very fragrant (with only essential oils and actual ground peppermint leaves) and smells wonderfully refreshing in the shower but leaves only a delicate scent on my skin. I want to specify that the scent, even thought it’s both minty and musky, is not overly masculine (my husband agrees!) and is actually a good gender-neutral soap.

The Kilimanjaro Soap Bar is totally different: it has a more delicate and feminine scent. Well, I say ‘feminine’ because of the vanilla and cocoa but I’m sure there are guys out there who love it too. The scent is both subtle and soothing. Whereas I like the Icelandic Mint Soap for a morning wake-me-up shower, I choose the Kilimanjaro Bar when I take a long hot calming bath.

Both soaps contain olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter  and other oils so they leave my skin soft and moisturized. I was also surprised when I found out that both soaps make a rich lather because other organic soaps I’ve tried didn’t lather much.

The Mint Rosemany Organic Body Butter is a wonderful product as well. It is made of  fair trade shea butter, organic jojoba and sunflower oils and is good for all skin types. You can also use it as lip balm or when you massage your feet (or get someone to do it if you’re lucky!) I will definitely be using it on my belly as the months go by and my skin begins to stretch and itch.

I have been using it regularly on my hands and on my legs. They were very dry and I’ve seen a noticeable change since using the body butter. I like that I can only use a tiny bit and that my skin absorbs it all very quickly. It is not as creamy as the body butters you see in TV ads or at your local drugstore but don’t worry, it melts in seconds. No greasy residue (and no harmful chemicals absorbed), only the crisp scent of mint and rosemary remain.

Since my daughter sees me rub it on my skin, she has asked many times that I rub her belly or back with it as well. Because it’s totally natural, I know it’s okay to share but I really just want to keep it for myself! Just kidding, I’m glad that I found a product that we can both safely use and works wonders on my dry itchy skin.

As you can see, Moksa goes above and beyond both in terms of green design and production process and in terms of its social mission and commitment to sustainability as well as in the overall quality of their products. I like that they are not going green because it’s a trendy thing or because it’s a smart move marketing-wise. They are really doing it for the right reasons: long term impact on the planet and its inhabitants, understanding that we each have a role to play and that each step along the way matters.

I totally share the same values and I can’t think of a reason not to support them. Plus they is such a great variety of products and they come in so many different scents, you’re sure to find one (or most likely many) that you’ll love! I personally couldn’t wait to try more and just purchased a few more soap bars just last week. So head over to Moksa to see for yourself all the wonderful organic skin care products they offer.

Don’t forget to like them on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest news and promotions. Speaking of promotions, during the month of April, Moksa is offering a very special promotion: use the code NOTAFOOL to get 20% off your order!

Moksa is generously offering one of our lucky readers a $30 gift certificate. The giveaway is open to US residents. The giveaway will end April 26th. For your chance to win, enter the Giveaway Tools below. Good luck!

Rachel