When furnishing a new apartment, don't forget hand soap.

I'm still in the midst of moving into my new-ish apartment, and that means buying new things. How very appropriate, given this blog's purpose. But of all the random things I've purchased in the past month or so since I moved in--the cheap yet snazzy Ikea kitchen table with even cheaper bistro-style chairs, random items made of glass and retro '60s wall tapestries from eBay, a funky sofa from, well, funkysofa.com--this might just be my favorite (and actually, I didn't even buy it; it was a birthday gift): Sephora Purifying Hand Wash, of the Vanilla Frosting variety. Note that on the Sephora website the Vanilla Frosting flavor* is out of stock. Why? Because this hand soap smells so very much like a can of the Better Crocker stuff that you will for a fleeting second imagine that your hand is edible.

*Side note: Is it called a 'flavor' if its inedible? I don't know. But how I wish it was edible!

In addition to being tasty (yet tauntingly vicious in its indigestible state), this soap gets the job done without drying out your skin. My skin is incredibly sensitive, and my hands usually get dry quickly if I don't douse then in cocoa butter at least twice a day. But since I've been using the soap, I've decreased the dousing to a light coating, and my hands have been surviving the daily torments I put it through quite well. (All that typing and mouse-clicking required to check email for eight hours straight while doing nothing at work can wear on you!)

At $10 a bottle, it's a bit pricey for hand soap (considering that Softsoap can go for, what, $2 a pop?). But, it's worth it. The joy it brings to both hand and nose is well worth the money, I believe.

Having people to give it to you for your birthday isn't bad, either.

UPDATE: I just noticed that the soap is actually on sale for $6. Now more than ever, it's worth the price!