Awaida El-Nasser Olive Soap

This traditional soap from Tripoli, Lebanon, made by the country's oldest still operating factory, is exceptional in its use of mechanically-extracted solvent-free olive pomace oil. Second press, metraf, or "pomace" oil is usually extracted using hexane or other solvents. Masbanat Awaida, by contrast, commissions oil from village businesses who use the traditional method of heat, water, and extreme pressure to produce an oil that retains its full natural fragrance and contains no residues from processing.

Called Marseille soap in France, olive pomace soap was brought to Europe from the Levant after the end of the Crusades, a time when soap was a novelty and was uneconomical to make from edible first press oil. It is often considered the premier traditional olive soap in Europe. Awaida's Savon El-Nasser ("The Champion" or "The Helper"), rooted where the soap first was invented, is arguably the finest of its kind in the world today.

Hard, dense, long-lasting, and stamped with the Nasser insignia, they can be used for body and face and all other everyday uses from washing to shampooing and wood protection.

Weight: 160 grams / 5.6 oz +/- 5%
Price per Weight: $0.38/g; $1.07/oz
Dimensions: 6.5 cm width, 6.5 cm length, 4.5 cm height
Volume: 0.000190725 cubic meters / 0.0067142 cubic feet
Ingredients: Olive Oil (95%), Coconut Oil (5%), Lye Water

The Palestinian Soap Cooperative is the distributor for Awaida's traditional soaps outside of Lebanon.