By Anton Constantinou
When you’re into fragrant products as much as I am, it’s not just perfume that captivates your imagination. So imagine my excitement at visiting a city famous for producing one of the most recognisable and widely used fragrant products out there: soap. A product many of us take for granted but couldn’t do without. Not just any soap though - Marseille soap. The soap of France’s second biggest city. An authentic cleansing soap that smells great, lathers up beautifully and feels fantastic on skin. What’s not to love?
In the following article, I’ll walk you through my trip to Marseille, my experience of Marseille soap and some of the health benefits of it.
Why Marseille?
It’s March 2022 and my girlfriend and I are planning a holiday together. We’re keen to visit somewhere warm and narrow our search down to the Mediterranean. We contemplate various destinations to visit - Seville, Instanbul, Nice - but eventually settle on Marseille. A city neither of us know much about but are keen to explore.
I associate Marseille with two things only at this point - fishing and literature. Fishing for its appearance on cooking shows, literature for its appearance in the famous prison break novel, The Count of Monte Cristo (which I’d read on the trip).
Soap is the last thing on my mind at this point, but it would soon become front and centre. Presented with Marseille soap for the first time on my arrival to the city, I’d develop an instant appreciation for it. An interest in its feel, smell, origins and the benefits it carries.
So, what is Marseille soap exactly?
What is Marseille soap?
Marseille soap or Savon de Marseille is a special type of hard soap produced in and around the Marseille region of France. A humble, natural soap combining soda, sea salt, olive oil and water (and nothing else).
Believed to come from Aleppo soap (an older Syrian hard soap made using similar ingredients), Savon de Marseille finds its origins in the Middle East, in a style of soap making dating back thousands of years. France, it’s said, inherited this style of soap making from the Middle East at the time of the Crusades, when the know-how moved to Europe. From there, Marseille then began making its own soap and, before long, was a major producer of the stuff.
Today, production of the soap has dwindled, but many places continue to sell it. As I’d soon discover during my time in Marseille…
Where can I find it in Marseille?
Officially speaking, there are only a handful of places in Marseille that still produce Marseille soap, but shops are full of the stuff.
We (my girlfriend and I) visited three shops selling the soap - two in Marseille and one in Arles - a nearby market town.
72% Petanque, the first of these shops, is a traditionally French boutique specialising in handmade soaps and scented products. Located in Panier - an artsy neighbourhood in Marseille’s old town - their lavender scented soaps are as French as it gets and come in the most adorable little bags. We purchased several for family members.
La Savonniere, our second visit, is a small soap store near Marseille’s old port, stacked top to bottom with bars of the good stuff. This treasure trove of colourful, fragrant moulds sells not just Marseille soap but also perfumed soap, body oils, wash clothes, brushes and more. We bought several bars of their rose scented soap and they smell divine.
Our final visit was to the Arles soap shop Savonneire Provencale. A rustic hovel of a soap shop with a charming atmosphere inside. More farm shop than cosmetic store, its soaps are beautifully laid out in straw for all to smell, touch and marvel at. Or arranged like bookshelves - neatly stacked and colour coordinated.
For sentient beings like me, these sorts of shops are a telling reminder of why I like traditional shops so much. Only in such shops do you find smelly goods out of packaging, edibles on display, fineries within touching distance. No wonder Marseille soap made such an impression on me - you can literally get your nose right up in it in the shops. Question is: what’s so special about it?
What’s special about Marseille soap?
Here are just a few of the benefits of Marseille soap:
Good for sensitive skin - Marseille soap is natural, gentle and hypoallergenic, making it great for those with sensitive skin, including babies.
Good for the home - A biodegradable soap, Marseille soap is ideal for washing clothes and particularly good for pre-washing difficult stains (in clothes).
A great shaving soap - Not only does Marseille soap foam up nicely, it also helps prevent in-grown hairs. Now that’s what I call a shaving soap!
Lots of dermatological benefits - Marseille soap is great for those with eczema as it contains no colourings, allergens or synthetic ingredients. It’s also great for people with allergies.
An economical choice - Sure, Marseille soap may not smell the most exciting (more on this shortly) but it lasts twice as long as ordinary soap - and that’s saying something!
Fab for hair washing - Marseille soap’s use of natural ingredients makes it a far better alternative to aggressive shampoos that weaken hair and damage the scalp.
How does it smell?
Now to the most important question of all - what does Marseille soap smell like? The short answer is - not much, but the smell it does have is very pleasant indeed.
Marseille soap’s high concentration of olive oil gives it a subtle but noticeable earthy smell. A green and pleasant aroma, far away from the sweet, floral smell of perfumed soaps. For some, this can make Marseille soap a boring olfactory experience; and for others, a wonderfully natural fragrant sensation.
For those yet to try Marseille soap, I wouldn’t say it’s something you need to rush out for. There are plenty of great liquid soaps on the market that will serve you just fine. But, if are you considering switching soaps and want to try something natural, then Marseille soap is a great way to go.
Have you tried Marseille soap? What do you think of it? Are there any other soaps you’d recommend? Leave a comment below and keep the discussion going.
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