Savon de Marseille is the authentic soap that has been made in the Provençal city of Marseille, following a strict recipe and method, for more than six centuries. The result is a pure, natural soap that is unparalleled for skin care as well as for stain removal. In France, it has been trusted for generations to cleanse everything from little faces to linens.

The first documented soap maker in the city lived in the Middle Ages; in 1688, under Louis XIV, it became law that only soaps made according to the ancient method could be labeled “Savon de Marseille.” Traditionally, the soap is made from water from the Mediterranean Sea, olive oil, and alkaline ash from sea plants.  Soap makers heat the mixture in antique cauldrons for several days, stirring it continually. They then pour it into open pits and leave it to harden, a process that can take the maître de savon (soap master) from two weeks to a month.  The manufacturing process is environmentally friendly. 

This is a set of three bath-sized bars of face and body soap made with organic shea butter. Each bar is scented with a different traditional fragrance (verbena, rose, or lavender) derived from plants grown in the Provençal countryside. In addition to olive oil, the rose and lavender bars also use other pure vegetable oils, allowed by amendments to the original seventeenth-century regulations.

Each bar of soap is 3.5" x 2" x 1"