Choose your Aleppo soap

Properties of Aleppo Soap

Aleppo soap is above all very soft and suitable for all skin and the whole family, including babies. It preserves the hydrolipidic film of the skin, so the skin remains soft and moisturized.

... But the Aleppo soap has other virtues:
Dermatologists recommend it for: dry skin, itching, skin problems (eczema, acne, psoriasis, cradle cap ...), the face and delicate skin, dandruff, etc.. It is so gentle that it also washes the hair.

Its ingredients

Most soaps you find in the shops are based on animal fat [listed in the ingredients as "sodium tallowate" (beef fat: tallow) or "sodium lardate" (pork fat)]. These fats in soaps clog the pores, suffocate the skin, and can lead to pimples, redness, rough skin...

For some years now, "vegetable" soaps with palm oil have been invading the market, but they make the skin dry and rough, and above all they come from huge palm tree cultivations which are carried out to the detriment of so-called primary forests, particularly in Indonesia and Malaysia, with the disappearance of the flora and fauna. For example, the Orangutan is threatened with extinction. So really palm oil is not!

Soaps without soap" are even more damaging because they are made with petrochemical surfactants, preservatives, perfumes and a whole host of ingredients that are more or less harmful and allergenic. As for their "neutral" pH, which is their marketing argument, you should know that a neutral pH is not adapted to the skin, which on the one hand is acidic, and on the other hand requires a slightly alkaline product for a crucial reason that I developed in another publication "The benefits of washing with a mild alkaline pH soap". Indeed, certain pathogenic micro-organisms, especially fungi, are eradicated by a soap with an alkaline pH. In addition, the skin regains its original acidic pH in a few minutes.

Finally, Aleppo soap is made of noble oils: olive and bay laurel.
No palm oil, no beef or pork fat, no surfactants, no preservatives, no colorants ... It is the purest soap.

Are all Aleppo soaps the same?

The quality of Aleppo soap is a function :

First, the quality of oils that will enter into its composition: 1st cold pressing, 2nd hot pressing or olive pomace oil may be fermented and sometimes responsible for an unpleasant smell, or olive pomace oil extracted with petrochemical solvents (naphtha, hexane). This last point is a taboo and transparency is never appropriate.
the science and art of the Master Soapmaker, passed down from father to son for thousands of years.
the proportion of bay laurel oil: the higher the percentage of bay laurel, the more expensive the Aleppo soap (bay laurel oil is indeed precious).

Certainly, the percentage of bay leaf oil is important, but it is not decisive for the quality of Aleppo soap.

I prefer a good Aleppo soap with 1% of laurel oil rather than a soap dosed at 30% but which has not been developed with the same care. Also beware of misleading percentages of bay laurel oil. Our Aleppo soaps made in France are subject to traceability and many controls. They are made either with virgin oils of 1st pressure or 2nd pressure extracted with hot water and never with a solvent from the petrochemical industry.

By way of analogy, if you eat a stuffed tomato in two restaurants, you may enjoy it in the first restaurant but be disgusted in the second. This is because the dish may be overcooked, or undercooked, the minced meat may be bad, or there may simply be the genius of the chef! It's the same for Aleppo soap...

We elaborate this legendary product with the best ingredients and according to a technique inherited from centuries of tradition, with the added genius of our Master Soapmaker and the love of beautiful quality.

How to choose a soap of Aleppo?

A good soap of Aleppo should not be too greasy to the touch, except the soap of Aleppo "The surgras" specific very dry skin. It is a colour that goes from beige to brown, and when cut in half, the heart is green, and releases a sweet scent of laurel.

There is one exception, however: Aleppo soaps with first-pressed oil may be light in colour because the first-pressed olive oil is yellow or a light green. This does not alter the quality of the soap, quite the contrary.

It has the stamp of the Master Soapmaker with Arabic characters on one side.
In the bath, it floats! Because it has dried for 10 months to complete its maturation (this is the refining process).

This floating phenomenon is not always a guarantee of quality. For a soap that is too light is described in Aleppo as "crazy soap". The standard is a soap that floats, but if it does not float, it is not a bad soap.

The floatation test is therefore not a good criterion for judging the quality of the soap.

Why prefer Aleppo soap?

1) Because it makes the skin healthy and moisturized.
Indeed, the real Aleppo soap is the purest, it contains no additives or preservatives or perfume. It is hypoallergenic. It is a pure vegetable soap, without animal fat or mineral. It does not clog the pores and thus lets the skin breathe. Its constituents are the noblest and most beneficial: the sweet sacred olive oil and the powerful bay laurel oil.

2) Ecological, it preserves the environment because 100% biodegradable.
The real Aleppo soap quality does not contain palm oil, which, I repeat, intensive cultivation in Indonesia impoverishes the soil, and causes an ecological disaster, being responsible for large-scale deforestation: 90% of the Indonesian forest is unfortunately already destroyed and with it, the habitat of Orangutans, threatened with extinction. Will we finally behave responsibly?

The different soaps of Aleppo:

Aleppo soap is a balance between olive and laurel. Olive oil gives the soap its legendary softness. The oil of bay laurel provides strength, fragrance and dermatological virtues.

A soap with a lot of olive oil will be very gentle on the skin: Aleppo soap 1% and 5% laurel (so 99% and 95% olive oil respectively).

A soap with a lot of bay leaf: 16%, 25% and 40% bay leaf oil is for people who simply love the scent of bay leaves. It is also very effective for certain conditions: acne, cradle cap, etc.

Aleppo soap 1% laurel :

It is the least expensive, so gentle for the skin of adults and children. A special favorite for the soap of Aleppo Tradition Supreme resulting from a slow cooking in a cauldron.

Aleppo soap 5% Laurel:

Very good for washing, sensitive or dry skin, dandruff.

Aleppo soap 25% laurel:

Very pleasant, it has a good fragrance of laurel. Very good for the toilet, sensitive or dry skin, skin problems, dandruff.

Aleppo soap 40% laurel

Extremely pleasant. Very good for cleansing but especially for oily problem skin or as a shampoo against stubborn dandruff.

Why not 50% 70% or even 100% laurel?

We have solved the technical hurdles and acquired the know-how to make such soaps, but we do not do it in large quantities because it would require a large investment due to the price of bay laurel oil.

Premium Aleppo soap

The best Aleppo soap, probably the best soap in the world, made from virgin olive and laurel oils. It can be natural, mud from the dead sea, clay, 7 oils, goat's milk ... this soap of Aleppo premium is an alternative to traditional Aleppo soap.
It has the same virtues on the skin: very good for washing, especially the face, dry or sensitive skin.

The only drawback is its price, due to the very high quality of the oils and its high percentage of laurel.

But does not your skin and especially your face deserve this exceptional care?

How to keep its Aleppo soap?

It keeps for years in a dry place, away from the sun. The older a soap is, the better it is. Indeed, it is refined over time, it continues its maturation and thus becomes increasingly soft.

A little history

A little anecdote: I was walking in Aleppo with my friend the Master Soapmaker, we were in the Great Soap Souk (of Aleppo of course!), we then passed a small shop (wooden shop). The soaps were covered with a layer of dust of several millimeters.
- Is this shop abandoned? I asked my friend
- Not at all, this shop offers soaps that are several years old! This soap is so mild that it is recommended for extremely sensitive skin that cannot tolerate any other cosmetic product.
We currently offer an extra old soap: Mathusalep, it is vintage from January 2011

This reminds me that I must advise you to rub your Aleppo soap under the tap before the first use because it has dried 10 months in the open air and is covered with dust. Moreover, during its maturation, it expelled from the inside to its surface the salts it contained.

Now you may know a little more about the real Aleppo soap, the purest soap. I hope to have shared with you my passion ever stronger and gave desire to buy and discover this product which is much more than a simple soap.

Dr CONSTANTINI

Biologist doctor.