Nirmal – Aritha Shampoo Soap

“Aunt Damyanti”

This is a small shampoo bar soap from India—it comes in an attractive box and costs almost nothing. You don't have to use it as shampoo—you can use it as hand soap if you like—there's no soap police that are going to swoop down. I tried it as shampoo, a bit, though. It didn't make my hair thick and silky, and exactly like the woman in the picture on the box—had it, we'd have to “report the miracle.” The ingredients are as follows: “Soap Noodles, EDTA,TiO2, Perfume, Filler, Colour, Aritha Ext.”—which, while perhaps could be considered some form of poetry, tells me absolutely nothing about the makeup of this soap. On the box, besides the amazing-hair woman, are three little brown things. If one was to guess, out of context: apricot pits, bonbons, buckeyes, Milk Duds, meteorites? No. What they are, are soap nuts, the source of Aritha powder, which is the essence of this shampoo soap.

The soap is a kind of unnatural bright orange color, that mildly says “industrial.” The fragrance is harsh, intense, perfume-y, and not entirely pleasant, but also, to some degree, nostalgic—it reminds me of something—I can't place it! I would like to figure it out—it's a strong association. I want to say “public restroom”—but that sounds gross, and it's not gross. Okay, I know some people wouldn't like it, the smell, but I like it. I think it's been growing on me, too, as the smell-memory deepens. Can nostalgic memory build that way? I wonder if one of my relatives, as a kid, had perfume that smelled kind of like this soap (or soap that smelled like it, or rooms that smelled like this, in their houses)? I wish you could get out old smells and sit around and reminisce with them, the way you do with old photographs. That would be something. I could directly compare those old smells (I might have hundreds!) with soap, and then we'd be able to nail it. As it is, though, I just have to make an assessment—and I say, Yes!—and let its mystery reign.

Soap Review No. 109