Review (5/5): French Soap: It will Forever Change Your Definition of the Word "Soap"
About twenty years ago, I made my first trip to France. Since we were there for a few weeks, I had to purchase some bar soap, and picked up, at random, some Provencal soap at our local supermarket (soap is soap, right? who cares what brand it is?).
When I first used it, the shock I experienced was something that made me realize that the soap I had been using all my life wasn't really "soap," at all, but was rather a chemical concoction. Of course, it works. It's just that when I tried my first bar of milled soap from the Provence in France I immediately could see all the differences: the silky smooth lather, the smell that was real, not chemical; the cleaning power; the feeling after drying off. An absolutely different experience.
Since that time, my wife and I regularly bring back as much real Provencal soap as we can when we visit France. It's actually not that expensive in France, at least for the standard brands. But the difficulty is the weight: putting all this soap in your suitcase pushes against airline luggage weight limits, and it has become a standard challenge we deal with each trip. But that how much we like this REAL soap.
Now, here's the thing. You can go to shops in the United States, and find soaps that say "Made in France," and so you just believe it. Do a little digging, however, and you'll find that there are companies that market soap in the US with the words "Made in France" emboldened across the front are not actually selling something made in France: it's that they are getting one small component of their blend from France, and then manufacture it here very much like any other US soap is made. I feel this is fraudulent, yet it is such an arcance subject that no one cares to look into it. But anyone who has tried the real thing knows the difference.
This soap here is actually made in France. It is very good soap, not as good as the hand-made Provencal soaps you can get in France, but far, far better than domestic brands, and with 80% of the features that make a great soap, listed above. You'll notice it even before you use it: the smell is REAL, not chemical. When you first open it, you might notice a different feel to the "dry" bar before it is used. And then, when you start using it, you'll immediately see what soap can be. This soap with lather beautifully even with hard water, and that's because it is real soap. You'll find that it cuts skin oils without leaving your skin dry and puckered. In fact, my bet is that, once you try this, you'll be hooked.
When I write a review, I generally hope that people will read my reviews and find them helpful. But I cannot deny that I am having mixed feelings here, as I don't want this product better known and therefore harder to get! But this is a terrific stop-gap soap if you can't make that trip to the Provence anytime soon. (I've used hand-made soaps from the Provence that are so good that words are difficult to describe them, and they only have three or four ingredients, believe it or not.) You can sometimes find this brand in different formulations (olive, verbena, etc.), but this lavender is among the best. These bars are 200g, so they are not as big as some of the full-sized bars we see in the States, and they run about four dollars per bar. If you understand what you are getting, its a more than reasonable price for a terrific soap. Five Stars!