NATURAL ALEPPO SOAP
Natural Aleppo soap “the ancestor of soaps”: The world’s first bar soap is Aleppo soap. It has been carried out in Aleppo, a small town in Syria, for about 3,500 years.
It originally consisted of four pure components. These are olive oil, laurel seed and laurel leaf oil, water and natural soda. Aleppo soap transcended centuries and borders over time. He first started his journey on the Silk Road. Then he came to France in the XI century with the Crusader invasions. Crusaders. He bought this famous soap from the city of Aleppo and renamed it after the city they came to when they came to France: “Marseille Soap“.
The only difference that causes confusion between Aleppo soap and Marseille soap is that laurel leaf oil is not used in Marseille soap.
Apart from that, both soaps are produced with traditional methods dating back to years. Today, even in Aleppo, traditional Aleppo soap is as difficult to find as a real Marseille soap in Marseille. But rest assured, some soap shops still follow the traditional old recipe literally. This is good news ….
HOW IS TRADITIONAL ALEPPO SOAP MADE?
Masters traditionally make Aleppo soap with olive oil, water, natural soda (desert salt or desert salicornia), and oil from laurel leaves and seeds. In a large cauldron, olive oil is boiled with water and soda for about 20 minutes to achieve saponification. Then the oil obtained from the laurel (bay) leaf and its seed is added and the preparation is mixed thoroughly. The resulting paste thickens and turns green. Then the sunless stone is laid on the ground and left to dry for at least 9 months. Block cutting is then done manually.
Depending on the time and drying conditions, the soap changes color from light green to almost golden-brown. Finally the soaps are stamped with the brand seal before being allowed to dry again.
HOW TO MAKE A REAL ALEPPO SOAP?
Since real Aleppo soap is not so common anymore, fake Halep soaps, which are usually made with dyes, synthetic fragrances or essential oils, are widely available on the market. In fact, soaps made with oils such as palm oil, sunflower oil and coconut oil instead of laurel and olive oil are unfortunately sold as halibut soaps. Therefore, it is necessary to be extremely careful while buying soap.
To make sure you buy real Aleppo soap, it is important to note the following:
It should not be too oily to the touch
After drying our hands, it should not leave any residue and create an oily effect or feeling.
Pay special attention to its color
A real aleppo soap is golden-brown on the outside and dark green on the inside. However, soaps made with the first cold pressed olive oil may have a lighter color. In this case, this must be specified by the seller. Cut the soap in half to be sure about the color. As we mentioned on the outside, it should be golden-brown and dark green on the inside. If the color of the soap is questionable and different, you can be sure it contains dyes. And if it is stained with black spots, that’s because the oils used have bad qualities: they should be avoided!
Pay attention to the ingredient tag
The table of contents must contain the following three main components:
– Olive oil
– Laurel (Bay) leaf and seed oil
– Herbal soda-caustic
So be careful with the term “vegetable oil”, because as we have just seen, some manufacturers do not hesitate to use much cheaper oils such as sunflower or even peanuts instead of these precious oils.
Aleppo Soap must be stamped
Look at all six faces of soap, one side of the soap must be stamped with an arabic stamp indicating who the soap maker was.
Smell
Aleppo soap has a distinctive and distinctive scent, first of all olive oil, then sensitive noses smell of laurel.
Does the soap smell like lavender or rose?
This should alert you: this is not real Aleppo soap!
Test it
You can test the soap before you buy it: If the soap is too harsh, be careful, it’s probably made from coconut oil.
Another important issue is that the halo soap normally foams very little.
See the price
Real Aleppo soap is expensive. It is the very valuable and expensive laurel oil used in its content that determines its price. Some soaps contain only 1% laurel oil, some may contain up to 80% laurel oil, but this is not common. The ideal ratio is 20%, 30% or 40% laurel oil.
Suzan –
Do we buy the product on amazon.com?
naturalthings.shop –
Yes… We are in Amazon.com’s affiliate program. You can shop safely and quickly on Amazon.
We wish you happy days and good shopping…
Suzan –
Really great soap