Soap Review: KBShimmer Southern Belle
I had the pleasure of getting a full-size bar of KBShimmer Southern Belle and a sampler set of six other soaps. I’ve been eyeing her soap for quite a while, attracted first by her incredible color and swirls and later by the wonderful descriptions associated with each bar. Christy manages to put the most incredible color palate into her soaps, and I’ve always been obsessed with color.
The hardest part of shopping online for soap is that you have no clue what the soap smells like. After all, you can’t tell how well a soap will condition your skin just by holding it in your hand, but at least if you’re buying a bar in a shop or market, you can judge the smell right on the spot. But online you can’t actually smell anything (trust me, I’ve tried, and now my monitor is a little smudgy), and you’re forced to trust the descriptions given by the seller. KBShimmer does a great job of describing her scents just enough to make you want to buy every bar!
(Please forgive the iPhone photos, future reviews should have much better images)
Here’s what Christy had to say about Southern Belle: “Sweet peaches ripe from the vine, hives dripping with golden honey, white picked fences and green grass, ahh, summer in the south.” Lovely!
I found the actual scent quite pleasant once once I got the bar. She describes fragrances of orange blossom, rose and jasmine, along with musk and woods. I wouldn’t say I smell all of these things, but I do smell a good bit of peach and mango, though not overly so, and definitely the musky undertones that make this a well-rounded scent. For me, the only downside to the scent was that it just wasn’t terribly strong, but that is a personal preference. It also lasted quite long after hand washing, I could smell it more than an hour later, through a finger-food lunch!
The bar is just beautiful, with gorgeous swirls of white throughout the peachy bar. Christy’s description says there’s also mica to give it an in-shower shimmer, but I can’t say I saw that.
The bar is a hefty 4.5 oz, and just slightly too large for my hand to maneuver on its own. I made the mistake of cutting it in half, and was surprised by just how small two halves of a lage bar can look! Lesson learned, I suppose.
Southern Belle moisturizes nicely, though I feel that it could use ever more conditioning for dry skin. On the flip soide, it feels SO luxurious with its blend of Shea and cocoa butters. It lathers well enough, in a muted, smooth kind of way. It does start with a big, bubbly lather but relaxes into a slightly creamy foam and gives small bubbles, much like other olive oil soaps. It did feel a little draggy after a while, but throwing a little more water on my hand fixed that well enough.
Lastly, the packaging for this soap was just perfect. I mean, look at this!
One small hiccup, I did notice a slight itch or tingle on my sides while using the bar, for multiple uses. Not sure what that was about.
I may not recommend this soap for particularly dry or trouble skin, but for normal skin or hand soap, it’s a dream.
Scoring
Scent: 4
Scent Strength (does not factor into score): 2
Moisturizing: 3
Lather: 3
Appearance: 5
Packaging: 5
Total: 4
Overall, a good bar of soap! From smelling the fabulous samples I got as well, I can say that the faint scent of Southern Belle is not true of, say, Paradise or Lemongrass or Kaleidosoap (omg puns!). I can’t wait to try all my samples, then grab some full bars as well.
-
mutedwater likes this
-
soapthishelps posted this
