Stoney River – Patchouli

“Hippie Creek”

This is maybe the most hippie-ish soap I've bought, and I mean that in all the best ways. Sometimes I think I should give up this quest to try—and try to write about—soap after crazy-ass soap—some which are probably not all that environmentally sound or ethically good or healthy or pleasant. Though, honestly, I rarely come across a soap that gives me a headache or rash. But anyway, sometimes I think I should just settle on this kind of good hippie soap made by local soap-makers. This one comes from Oxford, Wisconsin, which isn't that close to where I live, but if you got a lot of these shitty cars and trucks off the road, I could safely and enjoyably bike there. It's one of those small towns where you had better stay on good terms, if you live there, with the one cafe—you know, the one that probably has gingham curtains and a hand-painted sign of a stack of pancakes.

I bought this at a local store, moderately priced, in minimal packaging (a band of paper with the name, ingredients, and a crude drawing of some hippies). It has a modest beige color, and I feel like I detect a very slight green tinge, but that may be my imagination. There is no chemical-y bullshit in this one, it's: olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, lye, water, patchouli, cedarwood, and ylang ylang (essential oils, those last three). At first it had that, what I've come to love, natural olive oil smell, with patchouli, definitely there. As I've used it, the fragrance has mellowed out, but is still evident. They don't hit you over the head with the patchouli (not that I'd mind that, I love patchouli). It is a really nice lathering and healthy feeling soap. I admit I'm wishing right now there was more bold fragrance—though I suppose it was stronger when it was new. Sometimes I really appreciate the subtle, and other times I want more. Can people change? Yes, they can, and do, and will—day to day. Anyway, you can send me a gallon of patchouli oil for my birthday, that wouldn't be weird.

Soap Review No. 58