Confessions of a Dirty Girl

It won't come as a surprise to anyone who knows me that sometimes I do bad things. But rather than queueing up with my fellow sisters in plaid skirts to whisper my transgressions apologetically to a faceless holy man, I was looking for an easier way out, something that would embrace the whimsical nature of my transient misdeeds, something that would allow me to wear my tarnished and slightly misshapen halo with pride. All I wanted to lose was the superficial grit of my shame.

Now I can combine three of my long time loves -- beauty products, good packaging, and that special feeling of being bad (no matter how religiously I floss or how clean my kitchen floor is) -- in one super nifty fetish item: Blue-O's line of soap. My two favorites are Wash Away Your Sins and Dirty Girl for obvious reasons. The packaging is whimsical and functional, providing the "yes, but how does it smell?" crowd with three tidy little whiff holes on the side of the box so one need not defile the cleansing bar to check out the goods.

Confession: I bought the soaps initially because I loved the packaging and the name. I just wanted to have boxes with nifty whimsical retro design (oh and what good design) sitting around. I mean, how can you not covet a box that says "Lather, rinse, repent"? I'm the kind of person who can't keep a good thing to myself, so it was more bars almost the minute my first order arrived, and I made a point of tucking a bar into my pocket to share with my favorite people. (If I must have it, so must everyone; the hallmark of a true compulsion.) Then my little lovable bar of great-smelling Caswell and Massey Goat's Milk and Honey soap ran out. It was time for the road test of Dirty Girl: I would use it to get clean.

If it smelled great in the box, there's no describing how amazing it smelled as I lathered. Creamy, nice oversized weighty bar, and an amazing, slightly desaturated sage color. My skin felt fabulous, it didn't dry me out, and it wasn't that weird slimy get-this-crud-off-me -- it was all I wanted from soap. I was clean, I smelled great, and it made me feel special for using a product that made me feel like I was really onto something.

I haven't road tested Wash Away Your Sins yet, but I'm headed to Europe in a couple of weeks, and all that French lust and British custard will more than likely give me something to feel guilty about. When I return, I'm looking forward to my soapy absolution.

Want to clean up your act? Blue-O's Dirty Girl and Wash Away Your Sins soap are sold online at DaFridge, and best of all, they're really nice people!

leslie@smug.com

in the junk drawer: