Soie — Hand Beauty

Tea Scented Hand Soap: Tea and Herbs, Quietly, at Every Wash

Sweet florals are not quite right, yet unscented feels like something missing. Many people who think this way end up at tea. Here are the notes of SUPREME TEA and the hours of the day a tea scented hand soap suits.

If you are looking for a tea scented hand soap rather than a floral or a plain soapy scent, you already know a good deal about what you want: a fragrance that does not rely on sweetness, that fits any room, and that leaves a sense of calm on the hands after washing. It is close to the quiet satisfaction of leaning over a freshly poured cup.

In perfumery, tea is a note in its own right, and it has long been paired with citrus such as bergamot, with herbs, and with woods. Choose it for a hand soap and the half minute at the basin becomes a small tea break, several times a day.

This page explains why tea is chosen over sweeter scents, sets out the notes of Soie's SUPREME TEA, suggests the hours and seasons a tea fragrance suits, and describes how to carry the scent from the wash into the moisture that follows.

Why a tea scented hand soap: calm instead of sweet

Most scented hand soaps are built around the sweetness of flowers or fruit. Many people enjoy that; others feel a slight unease at a sweet fragrance rising from their hands before a meal or in the middle of work. The first reason people choose tea is that this unease never arises.

Tea leaves suggest depth and a gentle astringency rather than sugar. Paired with citrus and herbs, the scent keeps its cleanliness and gains dimension, and it sits as comfortably on a man's hands as on a woman's, in the morning as in the evening. It does not announce itself the way a perfume does; it is noticed only when the hands come close, which makes it an easy fragrance for the office and for meeting people.

The second reason is that tea does not interrupt thought. Washing the hands in the middle of concentrated work, a tea fragrance shifts the mood without crowding the mind. The broader idea of fragrance worn on the hands is explained in our guide to hand fragrance.

The notes of SUPREME TEA: green tea, black tea, herbs and igusa

Among Soie's five fragrances, SUPREME TEA is the one built on tea. Two teas, Japanese green tea and British black tea, are joined with herbs and finished calm yet urbane and refined, a scent that makes you want to breathe deeply. Soie describes it as a journey back to one's own awareness.

The notes are rosemary, bergamot, sage, igusa, green tea, British tea, amber, musk, moss and patchouli. Rosemary, bergamot and sage rise first with a herbal freshness; the two teas follow and give the heart of the fragrance; and what remains on dry hands is the quiet depth of amber and musk, moss and patchouli.

Igusa and the memory of a Japanese room

The distinctive note here is igusa, the rush grass woven into tatami mats. Its dry, green scent adds a Japanese stillness to the Western impression of black tea. Soie speaks of a modern Japanese sense of beauty meeting refinement, a serene journey that clears the mind. For someone who came looking for tea, it brings a sense of Japan along with it. All five fragrances are introduced on our fragrance page.

The hours a tea fragrance suits: morning focus, an afternoon pause, a quiet evening

A tea scented hand soap has a place at every hour of the day, and the scent reads a little differently at each.

Morning: the opening of rosemary and bergamot shifts the mood from sleep to waking. It suits a morning that begins with tea rather than coffee.
Between tasks: when concentration breaks, washing the hands and meeting tea and herbs draws a line under one thing before the next. Discreet at the hands, it is unnoticed in a meeting or in front of a visitor.
Afternoon: washing the hands in place of a tea break. On an afternoon too busy for a cup, the fragrance keeps the appointment anyway.
Evening: used on the body in the bath, the amber and moss of the base bloom in the steam and close the day quietly.

SUPREME TEA is the fragrance people choose for a calmer impression; it is easy for men to wear and well suited to a bottle shared by the household. On the affinity between autumn air and tea, see a piece in our journal.

The season for tea, and carrying the scent from wash to moisture

Tea shows at its finest from autumn into winter, when the air clears and begins to dry and a warm cup is the thing one reaches for. Yet the freshness of bergamot and herbs keeps it from feeling heavy on a spring or summer morning, so it is a fragrance that can stay by the basin all year.

To keep the scent of tea on the hands for longer, follow the wash with a hand serum in the same fragrance. A soap's scent mostly leaves with the rinse and lingers only faintly on dry skin; smooth in a serum in the same SUPREME TEA and the fragrance of washing and the fragrance of moisturising join into one, worn on the hands through the hours that follow.

One last word, since this page has been mostly about scent: a hand soap must also be judged by how the hands feel afterwards. However much you love the fragrance, a soap that dries the skin with every wash leaves no hands worth scenting. How to weigh quality and strength of fragrance in a soap is covered on our scented hand soap page.

Frequently asked questions

Is SUPREME TEA a black tea fragrance only?

No. It joins two teas, Japanese green tea and British black tea, with herbs. The notes are rosemary, bergamot, sage, igusa (rush grass), green tea, British tea, amber, musk, moss and patchouli, moving from a herbal opening into the depth of tea and then a quiet base.

Is a tea scented hand soap sweet?

SUPREME TEA is not built on sweetness. Its centre is the depth and gentle astringency of tea leaves, the freshness of herbs and the dry, green impression of igusa, finished calm yet urbane. It is an easy choice for anyone who finds sweet florals too much on the hands.

Can I use a tea fragrance at work?

Yes. The scent is designed to be enjoyed close to the hands; it does not project like a perfume and is noticed only when the hands come near. SUPREME TEA is the fragrance chosen for a calmer impression, and it suits washing the hands before a meeting or a visitor.

Does it suit men?

It does. Soie's products are designed to be unisex, and SUPREME TEA, built on tea and herbs, is a fragrance men often choose. Because the soap is made for hands and body alike, it also works as a single bottle shared by everyone in the household.

How can I make the tea scent last on my hands?

Follow the wash with a hand serum in the same SUPREME TEA fragrance. A soap's scent mostly leaves with the rinse and lingers only faintly on dry skin, but when washing and moisturising share one fragrance the two layer naturally and the scent stays on the hands for longer.

Soie's SUPREME TEA: Moist Fragrance Hand & Body Soap

Soie (pronounced swah; French for silk) makes Moist Fragrance Hand & Body Soap (300 mL), a beauty soap for the hands finished with a perfume-grade fragrance composed by the brand's dedicated perfumer from raw materials selected around the world. SUPREME TEA is one of five scents, alongside LUXURY FLORAL, ELEGANT TIME, COLOR DROPS and SAKURA, all shared with Enlight Hand Serum, the beauty serum made only for the hands.

On a potassium soap base with moisturising ingredients such as glycerin, aloe vera leaf juice and allantoin, its soft lather washes hands and body and leaves no tightness behind. Wash in tea, moisturise in tea: a small tea break at the basin, several times a day.