Travel soaps!

As Telesilla said, I've been out of town for a few days in my favorite vacation spot -- Las Vegas!

Over the years, the hotels in Las Vegas have tried to distinguish themselves with everything from floorplan (the Venetian has particularly nice ones) to... well, soap. I thought I'd take a quick spin through some of the Vegas soaps I've run into in recent years. Obviously these aren't handmade, and I'm not suggesting anyone go to Vegas specifically for the purpose of acquiring soaps from these hotels, but I thought it'd be fun. I've got twelve "real" reviews in the queue after this, so no worries, I'll be going back to handmade and e-shops next time. :)

Caesar's Palace: Tangerine and Olive Flower
Caesar's offers a whole suite of things in the same scent: Tangerine and Olive Flower. Did you know that that basically means "tangerine and cucumber"? Me neither. (And I don't know if all olive flower scents smell like that or if it was just theirs.) I'm not real crazy about melon/cucumber scents, so this one didn't do much for me. They sure tried hard to give us all the soap we could want for a month (it's hard to make them stop).

I have turned up a few e-tailers that sell olive flower soaps, if you're curious about them! I haven't personally ordered any of these soaps (although at least one of them is now on my wish list), but just in case the information could be useful:

• Olive Blossom Soap from CandaLisa (Virginia locals, you can find CandaLisa stuff at a variety of local events and festivals!)


• Sicilian Olive Blossom from Swan Mountain Soaps (on vacation from August 17-27, orders shipping out when they return)


• Olive Blossom Vegan Soap from FlameWorks -- wow, that looks lovely!


• Olive Blossom Glycerin Soap from 4th Avenue Soap Co. (gorgeous!)

Palazzo: Lemon Verbena
It's not the most unusual scent out there, but the Lemon Verbena soap provided by Palazzo was actually very nice. If my memory serves, the soap was actually Agraria, and it was really nicely-scented stuff -- lemon without being overpoweringly ZOMG LEMON! -- and quite gentle on the skin. Definitely the nicest hotel soap I've ever used. :)

Treasure Island
What does Treasure Island have going for it now that there aren't any pirates? Well, it has some seriously interesting soap. They stock "massage bars" (you know, the kind with the little bumps) in rosemary mint (one of my favorites!) and -- this is the kicker -- oatmeal cookie-scented soap for face and hands.

I'll be honest here -- it's plain old garden-variety mass-produced soap, and if your skin is anything like mine, you'll probably need to use some serious moisturizer afterwards. But the oatmeal cookie scent is awesome, and it's one of the few soaps my husband has ever said "Wow, that smells good!" to. We packed away the soap they gave us every day, and are down to our last bar or two. It's good stuff. :)

There are, of course, any number of places you can get oatmeal cookie-scented soap! Here are a few that caught my eye on Etsy:

• Oatmeal Heart Ice Cream Sandwich Cookie Soap Bar from Sunflower Gardens (check out the rest of her soaps; they're adorable!)


• Oatmeal Creme Pie Cookie Soap from LoveLeeSoaps (also made of adorable)


• Oatmeal Cookie Handmade Soap from Willow And Fern


• and, of course, you can get an Oatmeal Cookie soap that's shaped like a sheep! (this one's from Shine Your Hiney)

Much as I like Vegas, I'm very happy to be home (I think my hair is the happiest thing around; I'm back to using my Serpentine Hair Shampoo Bars, and they are so, so, so much nicer than standard shampoo & conditioner), and look forward to writing up some of the soaps I've got in the review queue!