La Florentina – Agrumi

“Maybe It's Because”

This is a big (10.5 ounces—considerably more than 10cc), off-white bar of soap from Italy, stamped with the “La Florentina” logo—the variety is “Agrumi”—which is citrus—there are pictures of lemons and oranges on the packaging—and the soap has a subtle citrus scent. The packaging is really beautiful—I could probably flatten it out and write a letter on it or something. For all that, this should be a soap I'm really excited about, but it's just been kind of a ho-hum soap for me. Maybe I'm just spoiled because I have, in the past few years, used so many fantastic soaps. I'm sure that's it. But also, maybe my olfactory sense is just not that sophisticated—and that's a genetic thing—and it will never be, even with practice, and training (though training, in this case, is an exciting idea). At any rate, the fragrance of this soap just doesn't excite me. It's just not extreme enough, or groundbreaking enough, or nostalgic enough. It's fine, but really, just fine. Maybe citrus doesn't lend itself to soap fragrance as effectively as some other floral scents—or maybe, with this one, they just didn't hit it. I recall visiting Florida in the dead of winter and just being intoxicated by the smell of the orange groves (though it probably helped that I was literally intoxicated, as well). But you know, scratch the peel of a fresh lemon or lime or orange and is there anything better? Or maybe—and this may be—just maybe, the Italian version of citrus is different than the one I've grown up with—and so we're talking about a cultural difference. After all, appreciation of other cultures often requires immersing yourself fully in order to appreciate. Well, I did immerse myself into this soap, for as long as it took to shrink down to a sliver, but it's still just okay, to me. It's a good friend, but I'm not in love.

Soap Review No. 97