Pré de Provence – Starflower

“Almost Not Blue”

I bought this soap on a whim one day—well, always a fan of the Pré de Provence bar soap—but kind of taken by its bright blue color, and also wondering what “starflower” is, exactly. I haven't been able to find anything definite about which version of starflower is represented here—it could very well be Borage, which has a lot of lore connected to it, but since I don't know for sure, I'll allow that to remain a mystery. The fragrance was pretty off-putting to me, initially, though I admit that it's grown on me and mellowed out over time. I eventually decided that it reminds me of Chanel Allure perfume, which I had a small bottle of once (and also found initially off-putting). While I can find no documented connection between Allure and starflower, I know what I smell, and unless and until you get me some Allure again, and I can do a head to head comparison, you're not going to convince me that this soap fragrance isn't an exact match with that Chanel fragrance—in all of its brashness and lack of subtlety. As far as the color goes, my eye sees it most accurately matching to “periwinkle,” a light blue color that gets its name from the periwinkle flower, which is, of course, that color. I wonder if one might mistake a periwinkle for a starflower? A little more looking also finds Argentinian Blue as a close match—the light blue color on that country's flag. I'm most familiar with that color from watching World Cup soccer when it rolls around—I always really appreciate that beautiful color on their cool uniforms.

Soap Review No. 69