We have a similar dilemma over what constitutes real soap.
'Real soap' is made of fats which can be vegetable oils or animal fats (tallow). These fats are mixed with a strong alkali, which leads to a chemical reaction called saponification. The result of the reaction is soap and glycerine and water.
The word “soap” is strictly regulated by regulators such as the FDA in the US. Many supermarket products are synthetic commercial detergents and not soap. Synthetic detergents clean by stripping the skin of its natural oils which then leaves you reaching for the moisturising lotions on next shelf in the supermarket. The natural glycerine found in soap is instead is added to hand creams and body lotions. You're then buying two products instead of one.
Supermarket brands like "dove' 'aveeno' and or are not real soap, but commercial synthetic detergents. They avoid using the term soap and instead use the labels, 'beauty bar' or 'moisturising bar'.
Is a homemade cake still artisan if it's made with a Kenwood Robot pâtissier or a kitchenaid?
Before the days of mass production in automated factories, soap was made by craftsmen in workshops, and these craftsmen would have probably learned the art of soapmaking as apprentices or from the first-hand experience of what made a good soap and what didn't. Soap is created by mixing ingredients. Traditionally this would have been done in large cauldrons.
One of our partners still mixes his soap in cauldrons and stirs it by hand.
The lovely guys that make most of our soaps use labour-saving machines, but they tip the ingredients in by hand, control the individual machines while they stand and watch, they test the consistency in person, they pour by hand and then carry over the mix to the stamping machines. They then leave the soap to season, and regularly check on it to see when the consistency is right. The soap is checked, packed and loaded by human beings. It's a small workshop and we have to order our soap in advance because it takes time to be made and seasoned.
Does this make it artisan? We think so. Yes, machines are involved, but it's no different to baking a cake at home with the use of an electric whisk. The advantage of the scale and professionalism is that consistency and transparency of ingredients is guaranteed and soaps come our pretty perfect every time.
The triple-milling process was developed by French soap makers in the 1700s and is sometimes called French-milled soap.
When soap is triple-milled it literally means that it’s put through the mill - the rollers at least three times - usually more. This makes sure all the ingredients are mixed well and knocks out excessive air and water. This results in a hard soap which lasts a lot longer and doesn’t turn to mush the moment it touches water. It’s also better value for money because you’re paying for more soap and less water, and it’s nicer soap to use.
Most of the soaps we sell, are enriched with Shea Butter but sometimes other oils are used, such as coconut, almond, argan and macadamia.
After the soap is made, it is dried into flakes or pearls, it is then rolled at least three times between rollers. The result is then pressed into bars, and triple-milled soap is created.
Our French soaps are only made with 100% vegetable oils and are made as a result of a natural process using mainly plant-based ingredients. The vegetable oils used vary depending on the soap: sustainable palm oil, coconut oil, olive oil, shea butter and Argan oil. Many of the soaps also contain plant and flower essential oils and extracts. Some also contain food-grade preservatives which keep the colour and scent, in addition to colours and fragrances approved for cosmetic use.
Only genuine Marseille soaps carry the authentic Savon de Marseille mark which guarantees an olive oil soap made exclusively from plant-based oils without chemical additives, preservatives, or fragrance, in cauldrons according to the ancestral, 5-step, Marseille process and in Marseille, France.