As a special birthday treat, I ordered myself a bar of Nesti Dante shea butter chocolate-scented soap. I smiled when I opened it; the picture on the wrapper is a sort of trompe l'oeil, and even before you open it, it looks as if you're holding a bar of chocolate whose wrapper has been torn at one corner, revealing the solid sweet inside.

Like any quality chocolate product, Nesti Dante chocolate soap bars are double-wrapped, and smell heavenly. I bought the plain chocolate soap, but chocolate orange, mint, and mocha "flavors" are also available.

I have dry, very sensitive skin, and have learned the hard way that wherever else I may trim my budget, I have to use high-quality soap or suffer the consequences. I'm far from rich, though, so I was pleased that the Nesti Dante bars are very big -- they're scored to snap in half in the middle, giving you two generous squares of chocolaty soap (much easier to hang on to in the shower or tub than one unwieldy bar the length of a real bar of chocolate, but much thicker).

Because this soap contains both cacao and shea butter, the suds are very thick and rich. The first time I washed my hands with my new chocolate soap, I felt as if I was lathering up with lotion rather than bar soap.

The scent of the plain chocolate bar I got was delicate rather than overwhelmingly chocolaty. At first I was a bit disappointed that there was little chance my friends and family would exclaim over my new chocolate scent. But then again, they also wouldn't be demanding to know where the chocolate they smelled was hidden. And in order to give the bars a stronger scent than they naturally had, the company would probably have had to concoct some artificial chocolate fragrance. I've taken whiffs of chocolate colognes and perfumes in department stores and specialty shops, and am almost always disappointed. They're either too harsh, too sweet, or just nothing at all like chocolate. So I was glad that Nesti Dante had satisfied themselves with a deep dark chocolate-colored bar with a natural chocolate bouquet.

Nesti Dante soap is not cheap, but it lasts a very long time, which I appreciated. I'll be ordering more of it, both to enjoy once more the experience of a whole new kind of morning hot chocolate, and to see what I think of the other "flavors." If they're anything like the bar I've already purchased and enjoyed, I'll be completely satisfied with this decadent, calorie-free treat.