This is my updated review of the lavender soap bar! At first I didn't like it very much and had not bought bar soap for many years using only liquid soap for face, hands and body. I have tried this and a few others that are similar in price (or even more expensive) and it's growing on me now. The reviews of this soap are basically good and I can see now why they are. My skin has not been dry after using this and I did test it by not using any lotion on my body which I normally do every night after a shower. I also used it to hand wash some underwear and it was quite good. The lavender fragrance is not too strong for those who want to have the smell linger afterwards. As I said in my first review this bar is rather large and a bit awkward at first. I found it slipping out of my hands but am using a washcloth now to prevent this from happening. I did want to revise my first negative review for people like myself who do read them before buying something they're not familiar with online! The original version was: This is the first soap bar that I have purchased in many years - I use bath and shower gel and liquid face soap. I thought I would try something different and since this had many good reviews and I like the smell of lavender I bought it. I recently noticed that my skin was looking 'thin' and I attributed this to the many showers using a washcloth on my skin with the liquid soap. My skin is normally dry (bar soap has always been drying to me and I do apply moisturizer after every shower) and this one didn't feel dry right after using it which I did like. The bar is large and should last a long time but it does get slippery when it gets wet and slides off the built in soap bar in the shower and it's somewhat awkward to hold on to. The lavender smell is not so strong and it really doesn't have any scent unless you put your nose on top of the bar before it gets wet. As for the price of this soap I think it's a little too high and possibly because of the name L'Occitane and the fact that it's made in France the way it is described.  I'm not sorry I bought this and will use it eventually, perhaps for some hand washing of delicates. I will say this soap lathers very well!