You MUST try the new L'Occitane soaps for men.

[Timmy Dee]

Which milk soap are people referring to - the Bonne Mere Milk Soap or the Extra Gentle Milk Soap?

You've got me intrigued now.

 

[Steavis]

The Extra Gentle is what I have.

 

[djmike523]

The Extra Gentle is what I have.

What he said.

 

[crdb]

a natural soap (which is what L'Occitane prides itself on mostly being), scented with essential oils or other wholesome ingredients

Just looking at the ingredients list posted earlier makes it clear than l'Occitane is anything but. Linalool, coumarin and eugeniol to name three are cheap synthetics whose use is extremely widespread in industry (granted, some of these, like eugenol, are extracted from essential oils of things found in nature). The sandalwood soap's limonene and linalool is why it has this vibrant citrus feel and the coumarin is probably why it smells almondy; real sandalwood has a much creamier feel.

They do this because natural ingredients are often expensive, unreliable (look at wine vintages), complex (so hard to work with, and potentially containing allergens - rose has over 400 identified compounds!) and risky in terms of supply (Chandler Burr talks about how the supply of Montserrat vetiver disappeared after fires in the 1960s; sandalwood and oud are two modern examples, harvested to oblivion).

It's virtually impossible to sell products at global scale (and l'Occitane is a multinational brand with retail shops in Singapore and Sydney!) entirely from natural sources, and few perfumers achieve much with it anyway. Of note: Dominique Dubrana of profumo.it and Sultan Pasha are both exceptional niche perfumers working exclusively with natural ingredients except vetiverol for the former as vetiver oil is too complex, and the occasional dash for the latter, which he will openly advertise.

L'Occitane's entire marketing strategy relies on suggesting (but not claiming!) natural sources, which I always thought was a bit unethical. However, the products are good quality, and decently priced, so I happily use them. The lather is good enough (unlike, in my experience, Tabac's soap for example) but not as lubricating as lanolin based creams like Godrej.

 

[Reevers]

Just looking at the ingredients list posted earlier makes it clear than l'Occitane is anything but. Linalool, coumarin and eugeniol to name three are cheap synthetics whose use is extremely widespread in industry (granted, some of these, like eugenol, are extracted from essential oils of things found in nature). The sandalwood soap's limonene and linalool is why it has this vibrant citrus feel and the coumarin is probably why it smells almondy; real sandalwood has a much creamier feel.

They do this because natural ingredients are often expensive, unreliable (look at wine vintages), complex (so hard to work with, and potentially containing allergens - rose has over 400 identified compounds!) and risky in terms of supply (Chandler Burr talks about how the supply of Montserrat vetiver disappeared after fires in the 1960s; sandalwood and oud are two modern examples, harvested to oblivion).

It's virtually impossible to sell products at global scale (and l'Occitane is a multinational brand with retail shops in Singapore and Sydney!) entirely from natural sources, and few perfumers achieve much with it anyway. Of note: Dominique Dubrana of profumo.it and Sultan Pasha are both exceptional niche perfumers working exclusively with natural ingredients except vetiverol for the former as vetiver oil is too complex, and the occasional dash for the latter, which he will openly advertise.

L'Occitane's entire marketing strategy relies on suggesting (but not claiming!) natural sources, which I always thought was a bit unethical. However, the products are good quality, and decently priced, so I happily use them. The lather is good enough (unlike, in my experience, Tabac's soap for example) but not as lubricating as lanolin based creams like Godrej.

Thanks for bumping a +4 year old thread and getting my hopes up that L'Occitance had a new mens range of soaps! Ha.