For me, "cleaniness is next to godliness" means being clean has much to do with how I feel about myself. Soap is, of course, essential to getting clean. I wrote earlier about my choice of soap, Kirk's Original Coco Castile. Kirk's has a distinguished American history [how many companies survive 177 years in the market?]
![[Dr. Grisi]](grisi.gif)
Generally, I've been pleased with Kirk's. But of late I've noticed the bar of soap doesn't last long. The snap into two half-sized wafers comes too fast, and at $1.20 a bar, I thought it time for a review.
I tried and could not go back to that old standby: Ivory. It pales in comparison to Kirk's Certainly all the scent-heavy Irish Spring offerings are out, given my aversion to strong fragrance. My choice was surprisingly better in several ways.
Grisi Neutral natural soap is hypoallergenic [like Kirk's], has only four ingredients [versus Kirk's six], has no fragrance, and, importantly, lathers up but not at the literal expense of a fast-shrinking soap bar!
So Gris Neutral is my soap winner for the discriminating consumer not swayed by the easy appeal of olfactory teasing or eye-grabbing ads.
The history of Grisi Neutral essays an interesting, long-lived enterprise. In 1860, Jose Grisi, a physician, arrived in Mexico City. He had just emigrated from Italy. With a can-do spirit, Dr. Grisi set up Laboratorios Grisi, the beginnings of an international company still with us 156 years later.
At first, Dr. Grisi's laboratory compounded pharmaceuticals, but then went on to create Monopolis [R] plaster, important for wound dressing, which was sold throughout Mexico and exported to Guatemala, Cuba, and USA. Patented pharmaceuticals followed.
The original Laboratorios Grisi diversified, moving into beauty and personal care products [pioneering the manufacture of shampoos]. Beginning in the 70s, the company took on international strategic partners in Helene Curtis, Procter & Gamble, Combe Internacional, Sara Lee, and Merisant.
Besides a new pharmaceutical plant in 2002, tying back to Dr. Grisi's original vision, Grisi now offers beauty and personal care products for babies, children, and adults. Grisi emphasizes natural ingredients. The child care division, for example, offers chamomile-based shampoo for babies. Or you might try the donkey's milk soap!
A long, esteemed history for a single 3.5-ounce white bar of soap I choose to get clean now. Lasts long, costs 97 cents a bar at WinCo. Grisi Neutral. Look for it on your grocer's shelves, or ask for it.
Image credit: grisi.com
Read Charlie Dickinson's
story collection [and feel free to share with a friend] The Cat
at Light's End, as an ebook in these downloadable
formats:
.mobi
(Kindle)
.epub (most other readers)
.pdf (for PCs)
Also, a flash fiction, "Ylena Thinks Nyet," is at Cigale Literary Magazine.
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