The OGs of Soap: 6 of the Oldest Soaps Still Made Today

Ep. 01 Syria

Paper cut-out of a block of Aleppo soap, gold outside and stamped

UNESCO · 2024

Episode 1, Syria

Aleppo soap

Olive oil and laurel oil, poured into a shallow bed to set, then cut into blocks, stamped, and stacked to dry for months. That long dry is what gives the bar two colours — gold on the outside, green where you cut into it.

UNESCO added the craft to its list of intangible cultural heritage in 2024.

Traditionally made with Olive oil and laurel oil

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Authentic Traditional Aleppo Soap

$11.00

Ep. 02 Palestine

Paper cut-out of a cream-coloured cube of Nabulsi soap

3 ingredients

Episode 2, Palestine

Nabulsi soap

Three things and nothing else: olive oil, water, and an alkali. It is cooked for days, poured out to set, then cut and built into tall ventilated towers so air reaches every face of every bar.

Also inscribed by UNESCO in 2024.

Traditionally made with Olive oil, water and an alkali

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Nablus Soap: The Authentic Palestine Soap Bar

$9.00

Ep. 03 West Africa

Paper cut-out of two rough bars of deep brown African black soap

Cocoa-pod ash

Episode 3, West Africa

African black soap

Ash from roasted cocoa pods and plantain skins, cooked together with palm kernel oil and often shea butter.

The name undersells it slightly. It comes out a deep earthy brown rather than black, and it is softer and more textured than a pressed bar.

Traditionally made with Cocoa-pod and plantain ash, palm kernel oil, often shea butter

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Organic African Black Soap: Fight Acne Naturally - 5 oz

$8.00

Ep. 04 Spain

Paper cut-out of a pale bar of castile soap

Seville

Episode 4, Spain

Castile soap

Named after the Kingdom of Castile. Seville's Royal Soap Works made soap from olive oil using ash from salt-marsh plants.

The name travelled further than the place. Today "castile" describes the method more than the origin — plant oil rather than animal fat — which is why you will find it made in Vermont and in Alberta as readily as in Spain.

Traditionally made with Olive oil and salt-marsh plant ash

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Buck Naked | chamomile & calendula castile vegan soap bar

Buck Naked Chamomile + Calendula Castile Bar Soap

$11.00

pure organic castile solid soap bar - baby unscented | Dr. Bronner's

$7.00

pure organic castile solid soap bar -citrus | Dr. Bronner's

$7.00

pure organic castile solid soap bar -almond | Dr. Bronner's

$7.00

Ep. 05 France

Paper cut-out of an olive-green cube of savon de Marseille

1688

Episode 5, France

Savon de Marseille

A royal edict of 1688 set the rules for what could carry the name: pure olive oil, and no animal fat.

The "72%" stamped into the side of the cube came later, in 1906, marking the proportion of oil in the bar. Both makers here still stamp it.

Traditionally made with Olive oil, and no animal fat

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Savon de Marseille Soap Cube - Natural (Unscented)

$17.00

Savon de Marseille Soap - Olive

$11.00

Savon de Marseille Soap - Lavender

$11.00

Savon De Marseille Original Natural French Soap - Patchouli

$5.00

Ep. 06 Rome and Gaul

Paper cut-out of a plain warm white bar of tallow soap

c. 77 AD

Episode 6, Rome and Gaul

Tallow soap

Writing nearly two thousand years ago, Pliny the Elder called soap an invention of the Gauls, made from tallow and ash.

It is the one on this page made with animal fat rather than plant oil, and it lathers more readily than any of the olive oil bars — which is a large part of why it stayed the standard for so long.

Traditionally made with Tallow and ash, as Pliny described it

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