Abo Najdat & Znabiely

“Fragrant Carry-On”

I found this soap at Al Asalah Mediterranean market on Layton, out near the airport (Milwaukee), which a fine store—I wish it was in walking distance. A great place to find soap. I'd never seen this one before—very inexpensive, though I don't remember exactly—about the price of a tall, fancy coffee drink—and it's a bag of soap—four bars—so it's around $2 a bar, or less. The bag is pretty cute, too, with a little handle, and a clear window—I don't know what you'd use it for after the soap is gone—unless for more laurel scented soap. Four bars—so one hopes one likes it—but I do! It's good on my skin—I use it in the bath. A lovely laurel fragrance—pretty strong, which is okay with me, but it might be a bit much for you wimps. The bars are in the Aleppo olive oil soap style—compressed blocks, stamped with its name, I guess—can't read it. The bag has print in a language I can't read (perhaps Turkish) and English. “Features: specification made of olive-oil, laurel perfumes, alkalies.” Also: “Party no: 001 Made in Turkey.” There's a production date and a Turkish address and phone number. Also, a printed seal of approval that says 100% and has five stars—which inspires my confidence, 100%. I'm just kidding—I'm always a little cautious about new soap—I have to try it—but this one is excellent. I like the name, too. Abo Najdat & Znabiely—it would be a great name for a band. Though it probably is one. Or a stand up duo, big guy and little guy—you can't understand a thing they say, but they're funny. Or a law firm, with a downstairs office in a shopping center out on S. 76th—their slogan is “One call—and you're entering a world of pain.” Oh, one more thing—ever since I discovered that some of the olive oil soap actually floats, I now test all my soap for floating or sinking. Pretty much all soap sinks, of course—but I had hopes for this one. But it sinks. Which got me to thinking—maybe the floating is a function of both its olive oil density and its shape—since those Aleppo soaps are cubes. This one is not a cube, but a rectangle—so could that be part of the reason it sinks rather than floats? I'm going to research this, soon—though I'm afraid I might be getting into a subject area that's suspiciously akin to physics—which scares me a bit—physics—that's seriously a world of pain.

Soap Review No. 137