Alquimia Holistica – Horchata

“No Tomorrow”

When I bought (at a little pop-up place at the Milwaukee Walker’s Point Zócalo Food Park—a place I visit far too infrequently) the other bar of Alquimia Holistica soap (named: Greens, which won the Soap Exotica fragrance of the year Golden Nose Award), I was allowed to pick this bar up out of the free box… but it’s had to wait its turn! I have to admit, as well, that I was a little afraid of this one. Why? Because I have found that sometimes soaps that are styled after a delicious, sweet, confectionary, turn out to be scary and gross. I don’t know why this is. But imagine, a soap comes your way that’s called: “Vanilla Ice Cream Cone”—danger Will Robinson! Horchata can be a lot of things, I guess, but what I’ve usually had is a Mexican version that’s a delicious, cold, rice drink that’s sweet and flavored with vanilla and cinnamon. Somewhat of a non-dairy vanilla milkshake dessert. Almost too good. It disappears out of your cup like there’s no tomorrow. But when it comes to soap, I’m wary of vanilla, wary of cinnamon, and wary of anything based on a sweet food. All of my fears were dashed, however, once I finally started to use it. The fragrance is subtle and sublime—it smells exactly like horchata without being gross. It’s a smooth, luscious, clean soap. Good on your skin, too. Could it possibly win this year’s Golden Nose? Well… little chance of that… because I just made up that Golden Nose business. But in a more delicious world, absolutely!

Soap Review No. 199