New Product Wednesday: Claus Porto Banho Citron Verbena Bath Soap

A lifetime ago, my friend BKJ and I spent part of a summer backpacking around Western Europe.  We had a copy of Let's Go: Europe - Harvard Students' Budget Travel Guide.  BKJ and I did not attend Harvard, but we were more than happy to sponge off of Harvard Students knowledge.  BKJ and I had no set itinerary.  We decided that we would let fate decide where we were headed.  We would walk into a train station and see what trains were leaving next and that's where we were going.   


Using this technique, we found ourselves in Germany, staring at a destination timetable board with a train leaving for Lisboa.  I looked at BKJ and in my best American public school educated voice said "Um, I think that's in Portugal.  I think Portugal borders the ocean."  Well bing bing, thank my Honors Social Studies classes - Portugal is indeed on the ocean.  Well done, Lily!


So BKJ and I figured that was good enough for us and we boarded the train.  I grabbed the mini phonebook sized "Let's Go: Europe" and turned to the Portugal chapter.  I kid you not when the opening line said "Two women traveling alone to Portugal means they are looking for sexual excitement."  I had read this out loud to BKJ and we screamed in unison.  Was it too late to get off this train?  Were the fine students at Harvard jerking us around? 


After a very long train ride between Germany and Portugal, we arrived in Lisboa (a.k.a. Lisbon) on a cloudy Sunday morning.  I can say that in all my years on this planet, I have never been groped as much as I have during 9 hours in Lisbon, Portugal.  (And trust me, my friends, I have been to many a party city and I am well-known for being gropeable ... just ask anyone who knows me ... anyone I have pre-paid $10 to say I am extremely gropeable...)  BKJ and I fled Lisbon the same day we arrived.  It took us longer to get to Portugal than we actually spent in Portugal.  BKJ has bright blond hair and she was basically a spotlight beacon telling all horny Portugese men "Crazy American women here!  Come grope them!"


After such a fervent day of being groped, I wanted to take a long, hot shower ... which brings me to today's "New Product Wednesday" feature.  Now if you're a loyal Lily on the Lam reader (and really, why wouldn't you be?), you should remember my Shop Here Now! blog post on Cleanse Apothecary in Seminole Heights.  One of the products I purchased at the fabulous Cleanse Apothecary is Claus Porto Banho soap - Portugese soap - in a citron verbena scent. 

By the way, are you digging my soap photo styling?  Yes, at Lily on the Lam, I take soap and stick an Egyptian cat and an Asian dragon in the picture - because that's what I do.  That's who I am.  And that's how I take pictures of soap.  (FYI - I've been re-reading Chuck Palahniuk's novel Fight Club because I am Marla Singer and Chuck, you owe me some royalties.  Ha ha-- maybe, I'm joking, maybe.)


While I am not a fan of crazed Portugese groping by strange men, I do enjoy this Portugese soap.  I do wish the citron verbena scent was stronger though.  I loves me a generous dose of lemon verbena.  The soap is clean-rinsing, makes my skin feel soft and I like to stand in the shower and just sniff the bar.  Wait, I might have said too much there.


Get yourself over to Cleanse Apothecary and check out this soap.  They have a wide variety of Claus Porto soaps, including one that supposedly smells like an illegal in America plant ... so if you like smelling like marijuana, get yourself some of that particular variety of soap.  Just ask the good people at Cleanse Apothecary, they'll know which scent I am talking about.