Snow, Glass, Apples Soap

[tawaen]

SNOW, GLASS, APPLES
She said nothing. Her eyes were black as coal, black as her hair; her lips were redder than blood. She looked up at me and smiled. Her teeth seemed sharp, even then, in the lamplight.

"What are you doing away from your room?"

"I'm hungry," she said, like any child.

It was winter, when fresh food is a dream of warmth and sunlight; but I had strings of whole apples, cored and dried, hanging from the beams of my chamber, and I pulled an apple down for her.

"Here."

Autumn is the time of drying, of preserving, a time of picking apples, of rendering the goose fat. Winter is the time of hunger, of snow, and of death; and it is the time of the midwinter feast, when we rub the goose-fat into the skin of a whole pig, stuffed with that autumn's apples, then we roast it or spit it, and we prepare to feast upon the crackling.

She took the dried apple from me and began to chew it with her sharp yellow teeth.

"Is it good?"

She nodded. I had always been scared of the little princess, but at that moment I warmed to her and, with my fingers, gently, I stroked her cheek. She looked at me and smiled -- she smiled but rarely -- then she sank her teeth into the base of my thumb, the Mound of Venus, and she drew blood.

I began to shriek, from pain and from surprise; but she looked at me and I fell silent.



Black Phoenix Trading Post is thrilled to present a handcrafted soap inspired by Neil Gaiman's acclaimed short story, Snow, Glass, Apples. The soap was created by the fiercely talented master soaper Brooke Stant, and the label, designed by Kira Butler, includes one of Julie Dillon’s haunting illustrations from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's chapbook of the tale. The soaps are scented with Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s 2008 Limited Edition scent, Snow, Glass Apples. In Neil's words, 'It smells like green apples and like sex and vampires, all at the same time. (Actually, it smells like sexy vampire apples.)' Snow, Glass, Apples will be available as long as supplies last.

These gloriously luxuriant soaps were created with the finest skin-nurturing ingredients. They are made by hand, from scratch, by Villainess, and are generously scented with Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab perfume. Each bar is at least 3.5oz (without any water weight), and are cut 1" thick from a 3" square block of soap. The faces of the bars are smooth and bear unique, undulating, surrealistically beautiful swirls and marbles - rivulets of blood swirling though snow - and the sides are textured and raw, exhibiting the complex landscape of unsculpted handmade soap.

As always, no animals were harmed during the creation of this soap, and all products were tested on friends and family.

This is a charitable, not-for-profit venture: proceeds from every single set go to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which works to preserve and protect the First Amendment rights of the comics community.

A million thanks and all our love to Neil, and to Charles Brownstein and his staff at the CBLDF!

The SGA soap is white and red swirled together. The paper packaging has part of the Gaiman story printed on it. Very smooth texture.

The scent is apples, of course, but with a menthol kind of undertone to give it a sharp, evil feeling. The apple is more of a green, crisp apple scent but not especially sour or sharp. It suds easily, though if the bar isn't totally wet it drags a bit on the skin even if you're drenched.

I've been using it in the shower, and the smell is invigorating. It's taking off the summer sunscreen layer easily. Doesn't seem to dry out my skin, and leaves me feeling refreshed. Yay!

[ajansuz]

I loved the packaging of this, very subtle and beautiful. The bar itself is snow white with a blood red dollop embedded atop it and tiny black granules that look like they might be flecks of mica. The texture of the soap is a little softer than the other bars I've tried, more of that vegetable soap texture without as much body. However, it lathers beautifully. The scent is kind of cold, like a cold, winter apple. There's definitely something dark going on there. I'm really enjoying using it in the heat of summer. The scent makes me feel cooler and refreshed. It doesn't last on my skin at all, though, but it does make my bathroom smell nice!

[angelamaria]

I purchased a 1/4 of this recently, and fell quite in love. The perfume itself ultimately didn't work on my skin chemistry; but this is absolute love. I received the quarter bar in a ziplock bag, and throughout the night prior to testing it in the shower, I kept bringing this ziplock bag up to my nose to sniff. It is beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Scent-wise it is like the perfume, only a bit more creamier-smelling than the perfume.

 

In the shower, it's again creamy in texture, not entirely expected, but lathers well and feels so soft and luxurious. It doesn't seem to be overly creamy or too sensitive to water, so it should keep well in a soap dish (I will update this review if I find it otherwise in the future). The scent is light and stays close to the skin, but so refreshing and bright and just plain beautiful, even if it doesn't stay for very very long. Crisp green apples with that bit of mint that is so beautiful in the Snow Glass Apples perfume.

 

(I'm not sure if this affects the soap itself, but my "sample" is only of the white portion of the bar and did not include the red portion at all. This review is based on that.)

[mistressfizz]

In honor of the cooler weather around me, I broke out my bar of SGA soap.

 

It's mostly white with about a 1/2 inch band on top of dark red, almost purple, and a dusting of shimmer. Straight out of the package, it smells very sharp, almost ozone. Holding the bar up to my nose, I don't really get much apple, more of a high pitched musk.

 

Wet, the apples start to come out, very crisp and light and ghostly, mixed with sheer musk and just a tiny hint of peppermint. The overall effect is of apples and ice, very refreshing yet chilly at the same time.

 

This is classic Villainess soap and feels exactly like any of their other bars. It is relatively soft yet dense, with a silky, creamy texture that slides on the skin once wet. It has medium lather. It does a good job on oily skin like mine, but I could see it being a bit too strong for dry skin. The scent doesn't last very long afterwards, but it's wonderful while in the shower.

[Suu4LC]

This soap was such a pleasant surprise for me. I had been holding onto it for a long time, and was worried the scent would have faded-and I have sometimes found Villainess soaps a little too softly scented to begin with. I had nothing to fear. This soap held its scent beautifully.

 

This bar has such a beautiful scent-a crisp, chilly, slightly minty, pale apple scent. Crisp and striking. Soooo beautiful. Sex and apples and vampires indeed.

 

Like the other Villainess soaps, this has that same luxurious, creamy texture. You don't get lots of suds, just a rich thick creamy lather.

 

This is definitely one of my favorite of the bptp soaps and I will enjoy the heck out of this bar! So glad I finally cracked it open!