5 handmade scented cold process soaps

Using scented cold process soap means loving the pleasant moments of daily washing. Its sensory qualities and its fragrance explore emotional intimacy. To go further from these beautiful stories, renowned perfumers create unique fragrances for our cold process soaps. Why use a scented cold process soap? How to make scented cold process soap? And finally, if you liked it, where can you find our scented cold process soaps? We will try to answer these questions for you.

In this article you will learn:

    • The scents of our perfumed soaps;
    • The composition of our scented soaps;
    • Where to find artisanal scented soap.

Scented soap is primarily used to wash your skin to get rid of bacteria and give your body a pleasant scent of perfume.

Why use scented soap?

The use of soap has always been accompanied by a purification ritual. Not only bodily, but also spiritual.

Every time you enter the bathroom, you smell the subtle scent of scented soap waiting to come into contact with your skin.

It is true that soap is excellent for cleaning impurities from the body. But there is a surprising property of soap that not everyone knows about. Scented soaps can be used like perfumes.

Many brands, after the success of their perfume, recreate it in a soap line. Scented soaps were once associated primarily with the glamor of grand hotels, where each guest was offered a bathroom set with exclusive soaps. Some guests took bars of soap home to scent their cabinets.

By placing it on a shelf in the wardrobe, you can give the items a scent of travel souvenirs. Like a little madeleine that you extend.

For a long time, such a luxury item remained the prerogative of luxury vacations. But today the game has changed. The industry is pushing its limits and high-end scented soaps are now accessible to everyone.

You can buy soap for yourself and as a gift. These range from Guerlain, Hermès to Roger&Gallet, the family brand of many of us.

There are notable differences between soap made hot and made cold. At La Petite Madeleine, all our soaps are produced cold to preserve the best of the raw materials, to work with a more environmentally friendly process and to offer you a gentler product.

Steps for making scented soap

Some information on the history of soap making. Even before the foamy soap we are accustomed to, sand was used to wash the entire body in ancient Greece.

The Egyptians used beeswax, which was previously dissolved in water. To date, beeswax is a popular ingredient in cosmetic products.

There were also some very unusual cleaning methods. For example, in ancient times there was a tool for cleaning the skin from dirt and sweat – a trimmer.

This device was a sickle-shaped metal scraper. Before using the tool, the body was lubricated with oil, then dirt and sweat were simply scraped off the skin.

Today we explain to you how to make scented cold process soaps. The raw materials for cold process soap are natural vegetable oils, vegetable butters and washing base.

Combining oils with lye causes "fat saponification", that is, natural fats break down into glycerol and fatty acid salts, from which soap is made.

There are 2 ways to make soap. Cold saponification and soap production by hot process. We create our scented soap through the cold saponification process. It consists of mixing the fats at a lower temperature.

The variety of vegetable fats (oils) is very high, which makes it possible to obtain products with the desired properties and hardness. Depending on the oil that will be used, we can obtain soaps with medicinal, cleansing, foaming and nourishing properties.

Two categories: oils, which are liquid at room temperature, and butters, which are solid at room temperature. We use exclusively vegetable oils and butters from organic farming.

The vegetable butters we use are coconut oil and shea butter. The oils used are olive oil and sunflower oil.

The stages of cold process soap production:

  1. Melt the butters in liquid form;
  2. Add the oils;
  3. Adding an alkaline solution to oils;
  4. Addition of colorings or perfume; Please note that we do not use any coloring in our formulas.
  5. Mix the soap mass until it thickens;
  6. Pour the soap into the mold;
  7. 48 hours later, the soap is cut into pieces;
  8. The soap then sits for at least 28 days to harden and be ready for use.

This is a brief description of the steps, which are divided into many substeps. Only professionals, using the best quality ingredients, can create a unique and unforgettable soap.

Everyone has their own specific way of doing things. Depending on your desires, you can find the cold process soap that suits you best.

Scented cold process soaps in Troyes

For centuries, the Champagne region has been renowned for its unique, high-quality products. Tradition and a responsible attitude towards production have been passed down from generation to generation.

La Petite Madeleine has set up the production of scented cold process soaps in collaboration with certified organic producers. Using the best raw materials, we produce in our own workshop in Troyes.

No subcontracting or other, all stages from weighing to packaging are carried out in our workshop.

La Petite Madeleine’s scented cold process soaps

La Petite Madeleine scented cold process soap is inspired by the memory created by Marcel Proust: “ And suddenly the memory appeared to me. This taste was that of the little piece of madeleine that on Sunday morning in Combray… ”In the novel, the main character tastes Madeleine's biscuits and is transported to his past, his childhood in Combray.

The feeling of inhaling the scent of something familiar and being transported back into its memories. Smells are the quickest way to revive a memory.

Wishing to recreate this effect in their product, the perfumers of La Petite Madeleine have developed unique and touching compositions.

This is why we offer a unique sensoriality to vibrate the olfactory memory: “La Petite Madeleine – Remembering beautiful things”.

The scents of our scented cold process soaps

Our range of scented cold process soaps includes 5 scents:

The composition of our scented cold process soaps

We use the best quality certified organic oils to produce our scented soaps.

  • The coconut oil from our suppliers is organic and obtained according to fair trade rules. It's completely natural. Coconut oil is renowned for its healing properties. Its high lauric acid content makes it a natural antiseptic that helps fight acne and breakouts. And palmitic acid promotes skin elasticity. Our soap production by cold pressing allows us to retain the useful substances of coconut oil as much as possible.
  • Shea butter – a substance extracted from the nut of the African tree of the same name. It takes almost 15 years for the tree to mature and produce nuts. It is then harvested by hand and wisely, in connection with the cycle of nature. Shea butter is rich in vitamin A, a powerful antioxidant. Also vitamin E, which slows down the aging process of skin cells, and vitamin F, which promotes skin and hair regeneration. It also neutralizes the harmful effects of the sun's rays. Since ancient times, shea butter has been used for medicinal purposes and also for its moisturizing properties, it is often used in cosmetics. The shea butter content of our cold pressed soap gives it a particular softness.
  • We found the best olive grove in Occitanie. In this heavenly place, the olives are taken care of immediately after harvest to avoid oxidation of the fruit. The production of olive oil by cold pressing makes it possible to obtain an optimal level of quality and to preserve all the vitamins (A and E) of the olives. In cold process soap, olive oil provides deep hydration to the skin and is suitable for all skin types.

Working with this French manufacturer is a choice and a conviction.

  • The sunflower oil contained in our soaps is certified organic. We use oleic sunflower oil for our soap. High oleic sunflower oil is one of the most innovative and useful vegetable oils. This oil is made from sunflower seeds, which contain high amounts (75-85%) of oleic acid (omega-9, monounsaturated fatty acid). This allows it to be more comfortable on the skin.
Where to buy La Petite Madeleine soaps?

La Petite Madeleine was born only a year ago, in March 2021. With demand from our consumers, we expanded our olfactory stories to that of eau de parfum.

For the first time, a unique eau de parfum seen through the prism of a perfumed object. A story where circular design, the second life of materials, the short circuit and the work of designers are in the spotlight

You now know everything about scented soaps made in Troyes!

To go further, you can discover all our soaps here.

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