Clean Up, Island Style

Soap used to be just an everyday necessity for hygiene but now it’s more like home décor. Whether left in a guest bath or used as persuasion to get a recalcitrant child into the tub, these unusual offerings may come in handy. Or they may just be too pretty to use.

Raised images of lighthouses, angels, and footprints in the sand appear on soaps at Sanctuary in Oak Bluffs. One called a massage bar has nubby bumps that could almost pass for a horse’s rubber currycomb. Another is a hexagon-shaped, clear glycerin soap with real seashells and sea glass embedded in it. That could be a bit scratchy after the first few baths.

Dogs gone wild could be the warning at Alley’s where one collection of soaps comes in the shape of pugs, Westies, Chihuahuas, and golden retrievers. They keep company with cats, hens, horses, and robin’s eggs nesting in an apothecary jar.

They also carry Mental Case Soap, which suggests that you check yourself in to five ounces of deluxe therapy. The box carries a warning about symptoms, including an intense desire to upgrade, thigh-high boots, an attraction to shiny red things, and cleaning up for the pool boy.

Conveniently, Rainy Day carries different breeds than Alley’s so here there are black and chocolate Labs as well as Westies. Rounding out the menagerie are doves in a ceramic dish, bee-shaped bath beads, and soap with a raised butterfly design in a wicker basket.

Pinecone and acorn shaped soaps are collected in an apothecary jar while cupcakes looking incredibly edible turn out to be “bath bombs” that detonate under warm water.

What happened to Ivory? After all, it’s still 99 and 44/100 per cent pure — and it floats.

» Share Your Feedback

Your town





Security Check

Please type the text shown above

Your name


Your Email Address


Your Comment

Submit
Feedback

The Vineyard Gazette welcomes reader comments. The comments are selected for publication but are not edited. Please keep your comments brief and on topic. The Gazette reserves the right to remove comments at any time for any reason, and will restrict access of registered users who repeatedly violate our terms of service.

Print Article

Send link by email

More from this issue

Back to top

---

© 2010 Vineyard Gazette