For thousands of years, soap has been a staple in our homes — but in recent decades, liquid alternatives and plastic packaging have pushed the humble bar aside. French Soaps, a Harrogate-based company, is working to change that by bringing traditional French soap-making back into the spotlight. French Soaps believes that the old ways are sometimes the best, and with natural soaps from some of the oldest soap makers in France in its lineup, we lathered up to see what makes them special.
We’re all familiar with soap, whether it be a bar or a liquid alternative, for washing our hands and bodies, and increasingly as hair care. It can be inexpensive and straightforward, or with the addition of a few drops of essence or fragrance, something more luxurious.
We tried out three different bath and shower bars from the French Soaps range, each with a distinctive scent, and a household soap that could be more than it initially seems.
Marine, Marseille bath and shower bar
£6.20 for 250g
Marine, handcrafted with a base of organic shea butter, is made exclusively for French Soaps. The scent is subtle and fresh, and leaves the skin feeling soft and fabulously clean. Shea butter is well known for its softening and restorative properties, so it is a great soap for most skin types.
Herbes de Provence, Marseille bath and shower bar
£6.20 for 250g
Herbes de Provence is a soap made using plant oils and enriched with shea butter, creating a soap that smells great and has a rich, luxurious lather. The herb-based scent is fresh and invigorating, making it a perfect everyday soap for the whole family, and great for an enlivening morning shower.
Nag Champa (sweet sandalwood), Marseille bath and shower bar
£6.20 for 250g
The sweet sandalwood fragrance of Nag Champa is warm and inviting, and leaves a nice, faint scent on the skin. The slightly earthy nature of the sweetness makes it an excellent unisex scent, with each element mingling differently, depending on who is using it.
Pure Olive Savon de Marseille Cube
From £4.75
Described by French Soaps as ‘probably the most versatile soap in the world’, this traditionally made, hypoallergenic soap is made using olive oil, water, salt and soda lye. It’s not a soap you might want to jump into the shower with — the scent is more industrial — but it can be used as a shaving soap, shampoo and as a toothpaste (I’ll be honest, I’m probably not going to give that a try). Its purpose, though, is primarily for jobs around the house.
With its uses listed from laundry to washing the dog (and when used regularly, as a flea deterrent, apparently), it is a very useful thing to have in your cupboard. But is it effective?
I decided that the best place to start trying it was my windows. I hate cleaning windows. The directions were to ‘dilute your Savon de Marseille in warm water,’ followed by ‘rinse and dry with a microfiber cloth.’ Many household uses call for the soap to be grated from the block and dissolved, and this seemed the logical thing to do here.
What it doesn’t tell you is how much to use, so I took a best guess, added a drop or two of vinegar, and got started. But was I left with sparklingly clean windows? It did a good job, and in fairness, the windows did look much better once I’d done. They weren’t streak-free, but that’s probably more of a reflection on my window-cleaning skills than the soap.
The big positive was that there were no harsh chemicals or environmentally damaging ingredients, and only a small portion of the block was needed, making it a cost-effective way to clean your home.
French Soaps: The verdict
With such excellent environmental credentials, French Soaps ticks a lot of boxes. All three of the unisex body soaps we tried have no plastic packaging, and are all long-lasting, so they save you money and are better for the environment.
If it’s value for money that you’re looking for, then French Soaps are streets ahead of shower gels. A 250g bar is going to last quite some time, as it lathers up easily, meaning you only use a small amount every time you wash. OK, so it’s not quite as neat as a squirt from a bottle, but get yourself a bath mitt or loofah and a soap dish, and it’ll soon just become part of the routine.
As for cleaning the house with olive oil soap, well, that one might take a little more getting used to — but I can definitely see the potential.
Whether you’re considering a change for environmental reasons or just looking for something a little different, French Soaps could be your way back to a more traditional way to stay clean that’s just as luxurious.
Tested: French Soaps
How much: various prices, from £4
Average Joes rating: ★★★★☆
