“Oh my gosh, I can’t give them soap as a gift. What will they think? That I’m trying to tell them they smell bad?” (*heard at just about every show, everywhere)

I’m here today to dispel that dumb myth. People will NOT, I repeat NOT be offended if they receive a gift of soap from you. Unless they really DO smell awful and they know it, and you know it, and you did actually give them soap so that they might be enticed to shower more. Those situations are usually obvious to everyone and are not what we are talking about here.

What’s most likely the case is that you want to give somebody a smallish, relatively inexpensive gift, maybe as a hostess gift, or stocking stuffer to your son’s new girlfriend that you haven’t met yet, kind of thing. And you’re worried that if they get a bar of soap, they’ll think it has some kind of underlying message. Because after all, soap is equated with dirt and being unclean, right?

But here’s the thing. People generally like soap. They wash regularly - probably every day. And handmade soap is a specialty item, something made with care and unique ingredients for a higher level of self-care than a bar of grocery store suds. It’s a practical, usable, every day item – but being handmade, higher quality, and unique, it’s maybe something people don’t splurge on for themselves very often. Isn’t that the very definition of what a gift is?

More things the gift of handmade soap says: that you understand they enjoy the good stuff, even in every day things. Your friend appreciates the finer things in life. Plus they care for themselves, and welcome a bit of pampering too. Or they are attracted to scents and things of a sensual nature, so gifting them something personal and fragrant gives them the experience of pleasure and enjoyment.

Gosh, how can any of that be a bad thing? It’s all good stuff. Really good stuff. Handmade soap is a relatively inexpensive, practical, unique item that perfectly embodies what a good gift item is. And not just for women either. Men like all that stuff too. Even if they don’t know it yet. Just surprise them with a great bar of manly soap and they’ll be amazed at what they’ve been missing.

So who’s giving soap for the holidays?!

What the gift of soap REALLY means