Saponifico Varesino – Green Vetiver

“Peter Joshua”

This “Triple Milled Artisanal Scrub Soap” is from Italy. It’s a big one, yet it fits in your hand—like a brick that you’re poised to throw through a window. It’s slightly exfoliating, the way a brick would be if you took it into the bath. The star here, however, is the fragrance. I’m writing this while watching Charade (1963) on TV—and I can imagine Cary Grant smelling like this soap. For that matter, James Coburn would, as well, just not in this movie. Audrey Hepburn would not smell like this soap (though I’d love to know what she does smell like). This is manly soap, for sure, not for the ladies, I’m afraid, and that’s due to the fragrance. Cary Grant with his raincoat, spray-on grey hair—that scene where he’s taking a shower with his clothes on. The fragrance is at least in part Vetiver, which is supposed to evoke the leatherbound study, decanter of whisky, pipe smoke, old books, money. This soap does it times XXX. If I went to a fancy department store with this bar of soap, I bet I could match it to one of the high-end men’s fragrances—but I’m not going to attempt it—I’m afraid I’d look a bit crazy walking around with a half-spent bar of soap, sniffing here, sniffing there.

Soap Review No. 209