Talk to me about soap, the French kind

[whatausername]

Why is it revered by some? I look at it every so often but they fragrance is always very high in the ingredients lists which puts me off. I have sensitive skin. Is it indeed the bee's knees?

Traditional Savon de Marseille is hypoallergenic and has no fragrance other than a dense scent from the Olive Oil. This is their wonder soap that can be used for everything. It’s also really economical.

The fragranced soaps vary in quality between brand and are called ‘Savon de Marseille’ meaning ‘made in the Marseille region’ as the “traditional” doesn’t have protected status like Parmesan or champagne.

Also look at Aleppo soap for sensitive skin. It is an older form of Traditional Savon de Marseille.

And the Savon de Marseille brand has a soap called fanny. Worth buying it for that alone to leave it lying around your bathroom.🙂

oh dear, I have already been on this thread talking about fanny soap. That’ll teach me to read first post later.

For background, there is a much loved trilogy of books set in Marseille called Marius, Fanny & Cesar. They were written in the 1930s or thereabouts. The soap is probably named after the book.

The movies are incredible too.

Aleppo soap is amazing. It has a lot of laurel/bay oil in it and it's very moisturising. There are still companies making it and it's probably a good thing to support, too.

I agree real Aleppo soap is the best for my dry, eczema prone skin. Apart from that I now make all my own soap, it’s nut complicated, if a little nerve wracking initially as you have to use sodium hydroxide.

Just chiming in here as I love bar soap. So much less drying. My grannies always kept the soap in the airing cupboard to harden it up.

i recently made laundry detergent using bar soap. I was a bit sceptical but it was great. It made about 2 litres, no nasties in it and safe for the fishes.

What kind of soap holder is everyone using in the shower? Our tiles are matt so I can’t have a suction holder.

@TheGander amazing that you make your own.

They do this one now, it's very similar.
en.roger-gallet.com/p/rg1018011ww-oeillet-wellbeing-soap-100g

Thanks @PortiaWithNoBreaks a Spanish friend showed me how, it’s actually a very simple process. More people should do it!

I make detergent too from soap flakes. It’s really easy and ridiculously cheap!

@TMMC glad to hear I’m not the only one. It’s been a real revelation. I’m in the process of changing over to eco versions of all cleaning products and making my own versions.

I’ve been following Nancy Birtwhistle on IG - she’s worth a look if you don’t know of her already. Laundry has been my biggest change. I use a lot of sodium per carbonate for stain removing and add a few spoons in the wash.

What soap flakes did you use? I used a bar of soap that was in the house but I couldn’t grate it properly so ended up chopping it really small then using the hand blender. Did you have to use a blender for soap flakes?

<total hijack>

I got mine savon de marseille from Eco Natural Products - they are very reasonable priced and there have got so many scents! The soaps lasts very long. Highly recommended ! :)😊

econaturalproducts.co.uk/collections/french-soaps-savon-de-marseille