Big blocks of olive oil based soap have been crafted for one thousand years in the South of France. Since 1688 French law has declared that only soaps that are crafted using ancient methods, and containing only the purest ingredients, shall bear the famous mark “Savon de Marseille.”

It takes the Maitre de Savon (soapmaster) two weeks to make Marseille Soap. The delicate mixture of olive and vegetable oils, alkaline ash from sea plants and Mediterranean Sea salted water are heated for ten days in antique cauldrons.

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Know-how passed down through the generations will reveal to the soapmaker the right moment to pour the mixture into open pits where it slowly hardens. Cut into cubes and stamped, the soaps are then set out to dry in the sun and cool winds.

Only a few savonneries (soap factories) near Marseille still make this legendary soap in the traditional manner. But Savon de Marseille is once again being rediscovered for its extraordinary purity and gentle skin care, and its popularity is again on the rise worldwide.

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