Soap.

 

Life is filled with pleasant surprises, as well as many disappointments, and they can arrive in the most unusual of forms.

For example, I like 'good soap', and I can't stand poor quality soap; what's the point in making poor quality soap anyway?

I always buy my soap in liquid form, I never buy solid bars. But occasionally one variety disappoints so much that it makes me fume. On the other hand occasionally I buy some that is so good that handwashing becomes a true pleasure.

These two above illustrate my attitude perfectly. One is rubbish, and the other is excellent. They probably cost the same, and the presentations suggest that they are both of equally good quality.

The one on the right, with the faux-classy name of 'Baylis & Harding', contains all sorts of wondrous ingredients; Jojoba, Vanilla, and Almond Oil. Sounds good doesn't it. It's RUBBISH.

The one on the left is 'La Corvette' Savon de Marseille. As it says on the bottle, it is Nature. No gimmicks, no nonsense saying 'Contains Zuxillio D47-S non-fatty* dermo-acids' etc etc. Just plain soap. It is PERFECT.

I want 'soapy' soap, I want a pleasant lather that feels nice. I also want it to clean my hands.

The Baylis & Harding contents will be thrown away, and the container re-filled with yellow good quality Fairy Liquid washing-up soap. It will then be used for hand washing either in the kitchen, or the outside loo.

p.s. I should mention that Jean Shrimpton once told me that she always used Fairy Liquid for washing her hair. What better recommendation than that! I now learn that she also happened to attend the same Secretarial College as my sister. The Langham in Park Lane.