Essential oils are distilled from natural plant matter. Fragrance oils are mostly manmade. Some scents cannot be created with essential oil (vanilla) or can be harmful to skin (some woodsy scents), which is why some of my bars contain a very small quantity (less than 2%) of fragrance oil.

All bar soaps, but especially handmade, should be kept dry between uses to prevent the soap from becoming mushy. A slotted tray made of bamboo or cedar will help to lengthen the useful life of your bar.

Many "soaps" found in stores are so full of conditioners and stabilizers meant to preserve the bar for a long shelf life, that they can hardly be classified as soap. Handmade cold process soap is made from oils and butters, such as olive, coconut, and shea butter combined with lye water, clays, natural colorants, and essential oils to form pure soap. The resulting bar is cleansing, moisturizing, and free of toxic and unnecessary chemicals.

That depends on how you use and store your bar. If you are like my husband and like to slather that bar all over your bod, then you will likely go through 2 bars per month (reason I started making soap in the first place). However, if you are more conservative with your bar and use a loofah or puff to create a lather, your bar will likely last closer to a month. Of course, how you store your bar determines useful life of the bar as well. See "Why did my bar dissolve so quickly?" for more on that.