Marie's Chef Soap

I participate in the Foodie Blogroll. You may have noticed the widget if you scroll down on the right side. You may have even clicked on a link or two. I've found some pretty interesting food blogs that way, and you may have even found me through Foodie Blogroll!

Anyway, asides from finding new food blogs out there, they hold lots of giveaways and cooking contests (which I really should be participating in, don't you think?). So a few months ago I ended up wining a drawing for Marie's Chef Soap. This provided me with a huge ass block of handsoap. And I say it's a huge ass block of soap, because it is. Weighing in at 16-oz, it's dimensions are approx. 3"x4.5"x2". But, this bar of soap is guaranteed to last a year!!!
You can see on the back of the package, that it is 100% natural and all that fun stuff, which means there's no scents to be transfered to your hands, or your food! It's made in Vermont (go Vermont!). It's supposed to fight germs and kill all those little microscopic creepy crawlies on your hands, and on the soap.
So what do I think? And do you really care? Of course you do!

Sometimes with 'natural soaps' I don't always feel clean. I know that sounds silly, but it's hard to explain. Sometimes they are filled with scrubby things, and oatmeal, and honey, and that sort of stuff. And all that feels too 'warm' for my liking. I know that makes absolutely no sense to you, I'm sorry.

This soap makes my hands feel clean as soon as I touch it, and after I finish washing them, they feel different, but in a good way. They feel really clean, like so clean that no soap residue is on them! (I know, that's totally the point, right?). But my hands feel really clean, and they don't smell like anything, just clean hands. AND, they aren't dry at all. They just feel like clean hands should feel, but in a better way than normal (even after I chopped tons of garlic!) I'm willing to bet that most of us wash our hands in the kitchen with dish soap, right? Cause it's right there, and it's convenient. But then your hands are dry, and crackly, and then you have to put thick, fragrant lotion on them. And then how do you hold a sharp knife?! Not me, not anymore! Not for the next year at least. I keep this honkin' brick of soap in a little bowl next to the sink and use it all the time.

I just checked out Marie's Soap website, and apparently they give you a free soap dish for this, would would have been really nice to have, I just have this sitting in a bowl right now. It's not cheap ($25 at Marie's or $20 on Amazon), but keep in mind that it will last a year.

Would I buy this product? Probably not, I have a hard time justifying $20 for hand soap, but that's just me.

Would I like to receive this as a gift? Definitely. It really does make my hands feel nice and clean and healthy.

Would I buy this as a gift for someone? If someone cooked a lot and I knew they had counter space for an extra block of soap like this (I suppose you could cut it in half), I would definitely get it for them. With a soap dish.