Magno Soap

I couldn't get past the terrible smell of this soap - smelled exactly like a wet towel that went sour - - and I have a strong aversion to the wet, sour towel smell.

The package came with two bars - I made a face at the smell when I first opened the package - but tried bathing with it anyway ... had to get out another soap (Musgo) and double washed with it to remove the odor - and I had to wrap the soap and put it in a plastic bag to dispose of it (didn't want the trash to smell worse than it already did.)

I wanted some black soaps for the bathroom for "decoration" and based on the good report here I bought some from Ebay and I love it, the scent is fantastic and its a good looking (if there is such a thing) soap to have sat in the soap dish and it perfumes the whole bathroom. Good buy, good shout!

Price: Many online vendors carry this for around $3 to $4 a bar. That might still be a hair more expensive than Dial, but if you're even considering this soap, my guess is Dial ain't your thing. As far as European soaps go, this is a bargain.

Quality: This isn't in the same league as, say, Santa Maria Novella soap. But then it doesn't cost $16 a bar, either. Magno is actually a semi-translucent glycerine soap. It gets its color from the inclusion of mineral salts, rather than a black dye. The color isn't black so much as a muddy tan, but takes on a black appearance when it is thicker than a few millimeters, because it doesn't allow light to pass through it. Because it is not triple milled, longevity isn't the best, but again, at this price, who cares? Currently, Magno is tallow based. Also, if you look around for it, you might see a number of sellers say it is made in Spain. It's not. The packaging clearly says it is made in Poland for La Toja, a Spanish company. I don't think this matters much, but it's still worth noting.

Latherability: It produces a lot of lather, but I don't find it to be quite as rich as the kind produced by the top soaps out there. Still, it's very good.

Moisturizing: Above average, but not outstanding. The manufacturer touts the mineral salts as being great for the skin, but I don't find it to be any better than a lot of soaps I use.

Scent: There's nothing else that smells like Magno. It's a blast from the past - warm, mellow, and very masculine. There are no modern, sharp notes in it at all. The scent is this soap's best feature. It is also quite strong. I find it scents my bathroom when I leave it in the shower.

Efficay: It's a soap, and it does what a soap is supposed to do.

Packaging: Each soap is individually wrapped in its own box. Very nice and old fashioned.