My boyfriend and I are in the middle of figuring-out our vacation plans for summer. We’re deciding between traveling around the Provence-area or going to Prague/Budapest/Vienna/Berlin so I’ve been doing some research trying to decide between the two and came across a great article in the New York Times about all of the wonderful soap and body products in Marseille. I got very excited because one of the lines mentioned in the article was La Compagnie de Provence Marseille. The all-natural line has been around for ages, but I’ve recently seen it pop-up in a number of NYC’s small beauty boutiques. I’m absolutely in love with the packaging. I often carry the hand cream in my purse (though mine is bigger than travel size, so people sometimes laugh when I bust out the 100 ml tube!). The products have clean, simple, but super-chic packaging (looove the french writing), and the quality is great. Everything is made from palm, olive and coprah, or coconut oils, is free of colorants and animals fats and is guaranteed to contain 72% oil, a percentage that is lovingly stamped on La Compagnie de Provence Marseille cube soaps. The line is unbelievably pure making all the soaps hypoallergenic, anti-bacterial, and mildly antiseptic. There’s such a local authenticity to this line — not overly fussy just simple and effective. Has anyone been to Marseille/tried any of the city’s wonderful soaps?
Hi Sharon! My boyfriend and I went to Marseille last summer. It was lovely! We walked around the city and visited many soap shops. I think some of them even offered classes or tours on soap-making. Needless to say, half my luggage was filled with soap by the time we left!
Sounds so fun! I went to Riviera-area two summers ago and a friend and I drove around to all the small towns around Nice and there too they have so many wonderful beauty, art, (and wine!), finds..so many cute areas. Good to know that you went with your boyfriend since the only thing that’s making me lean towards Vienna/Budapest..is that I’m worried my bf might not be as into scoping out perfumes and soaps as I am! …
Sounds so fun! I went to Riviera-area two summers ago and a friend and I drove around to all the small towns around Nice and there too they have so many wonderful beauty, art, (and wine!), finds..so many cute areas. Good to know that you went with your boyfriend since the only thing that’s making me lean towards Vienna/Budapest..is that I’m worried my bf might not be as into scoping out perfumes and soaps as I am! …
Hi Sharon
I am an American and live about 20 minutes from Marseille. Marseille soap is famous in France (and beyond) and we use it for everything from the bath to laundry. There are tours you can take here of the artisanal soap factories. I specialise in women’s tours of Provence and also vintage buying tours here, and sell French vintage online. If you decide to come to Provence, stop by our boutique where we sell and produce absinthe, perfumes, and traditional Provençal aperitifs. http://www.versinthe.net and http://www.absolument.net.
Cheers and thanks for the plug for Marseille soap!
Jill