Castile soap is the gentlest and simplest soap, made simply with olive oil, lye, and water.  Plain castile is used effectively in laundry and dish soap when grated and prepared, and is gentle enough for sensitive skin--even baby skin. Olive oil makes a creamy white, hard bar that improves greatly with age, better and better, 6 months or a year down the road with a wonderful fresh soapy scent, that is a touch sweet.  A great investment!  The one trick to castile is that it does take a bit more effort to work up a lather--a few more seconds than other soaps--but once started, is creamy and mild. Unlike the Melt & Pour Soap Loaf we offer, this soap takes a minimum of a month to cure.  At this time, it is unlikely we would have one on hand when you order, so please keep in mind, the wait time for this product. Once you receive your soap, it could do with another 2 weeks minimum to cure before use.  The longer you wait, the gentler it will be to the skin. The loaf makes 17 1inch bars of soap plus a touch left over, and is a $15 savings off the individual bar price (if you were buying 18 bars.) Your choice of 17 rough cut 1 inch bars (plus leftover bits), or bars cut to your specified width, or cut in half lengthwise. (Loaf is too large to ship whole.) Rough cut bars means no beveling or other means of making the bars look "complete." (Photos show 5 lbs. cut, beveled, and finished in 1 1/4" bars.)