Dark Limes Soap v. (Meißner Tremonia)
★★★★★ lime, petitgrain, bitter orange, black clay
Though petitigrain gives the scent a green herbal side note, mostly this soap smells like limes, both the pulp and the peel. Underneath the citrus there's some black clay that reminds me of warm cement. It's an unexpected pairing – citrus & cement – but it creates a dusky tart accord that keeps Dark Limes from smelling like furniture polish.
MT offers Dark Limes both as a shaving paste and a hard soap. The paste smells more intense; the hard soap makes a far superior lather. The soap, however, may require a little practice. The puck is so dense I've had trouble loading with a brush. So now I just whittle off a small ribbon of soap and rub it into my bowl. It makes mounds of lather. In fact, it's the only soap that's filled my Sori Yanagi bowl right to the rim with suds. Like many vegetal lathers, it starts out bubbly, but some sincere agitation soon leads to a stiff, protective emulsion and a faultless shave. The Shea butter comes on strong about six hours after the shave, making for a smooth but heavy finish. It's a good soap for chaffing winter weather.