Castelbel Porto – Joy! – Elderflower & Prosecco Scented Soap

“Bubbly”

This is one giant bar of bath soap, 10.5 oz., which seems to be the hurt-yourself in the shower size, if you're not careful, or maybe just sit-unmolested in the McMansion powder-room size. It comes wrapped in off-white paper with large, gold polkadots, and a golden string—so of course I couldn't resist. Internet search first finds this on Amazon, where you might be able to buy it—or if it's anything like buying their iPhone charger, you could possibly end up with a dog-turd wrapped in a toxic cape. I picked up mine, I think, at TJ Maxx. Like I said, it was the polkadots—I have no sense of Elderflower, and I thought Prosecco was a kind of cheese. If there was anyone who could be remotely excited about a cheese soap (though, without researching it further, we'll just kind of hope none exists) it is me.

Anyway, I was immediately, and have been subsequently, so charmed by the fragrance of this soap, I eventually looked it up. Prosecco is an Italian wine, I think often presented in a version similar to Champagne—anyway, it's a delicious fermented drink made from grapes, and it perhaps translates as a soap fragrance in its somewhat sweet, deep, earthy and complex essence. Of course, I might be getting more a sense of the Elderflower—the flower from the Elder tree—which, if this soap is any indication, smells quite lovely. Elderflower is also used to flavor certain drinks, such as gin. I'll pretend I didn't see that gin part—it's the kind of thing that could lead to the slippery-est of slopes. Anyway, so it's Elderflower on top and Prosecco on bottom (except for maybe on Sandwich Nite, when they mix it up with a little mild roleplaying). Okay, I've run out of ways to try to describe the luscious fragrance, and even though this soap has an ingredients list that you wish was even smaller print, this is a real-life top-ten buy-again soap.

Soap Review No. 65