The Best of 2023

Even if we say so ourselves, rather a lot has happened at FrenchSoaps during 2023, so we thought we’d take a moment to reflect and review our success ahead of an exciting 2024.

In summary we have imported and launched 4 new brands, three exclusive to us in the UK, developed new ranges with one of our Savonneries, and introduced more than 400 new products for our customers to choose from.

NEW BRANDS AND LAUNCHES AT FRENCH SOAPS UK IN 2023

We bought back Savonnerie de Bormes, we haven’t imported soaps from them since pre-Brexit and many of our customers had been asking for them. The Organic Argan Oil formulas are gentle and the fragrances honest and true. Tomato Flower, Patchouli Broyee and Lait were amongst our customer favourites.

In the Spring we travelled to France to meet with Fer a Cheval and La Corvette, two of the original and oldest four Savonneries in Marseille, renowned for Savon de Marseille and members of the UPSM. We are delighted to be importing both and so it seems are you! Our new Home Cleaning range has been a huge hit particular the Floor Cleaner, Washing Up Liquid and Soap Flakes, whilst Pure Olive Savon de Marseille tops our best sellers and is now available in sizes ranging from 100g cubes to whopping 2kg bars in both Olive and Natural.

CONTINUING OUR BESTSELLING PRODUCTS OF 2023

Le Provendi Rotating Wall Arms and soaps are not only iconic but a year round top seller, so back in early summer we introduced the full range, all 6 fragranced soaps available as a set with a Brass, Brushed Steel or Chrome arm. As ever Lemon & Chrome remains our top seller but Cedar surprised us parachuting straight into second place.

The product we battled to keep in stock was Citronella Spray, 100% natural & pure this is an intense bug repellent in the form of a dry body oil...with no sticky residue or fake fragrance. It's A-MAZ-ING!

The Vallet family at Savonnerie Bleu Jaune (an exclusive brand for us in the UK) invited us over to Provence in early Autumn to work on developing some new lines with them, watch this space over the coming year! The first of these has arrived and been in stock 6 weeks, a Shaving Soap formulated with Pistachio Oil which is already receiving tremendous feedback. Shortly before Christmas we launched a small range of Eau de Toilettes from them too, with pure fragrances from the best of Grasse know how, they are a beautiful addition to complement our catalogue.

Jump ahead to Boxing Day and we launched 63 new fragranced soaps from Le Chatelard 1802, lavender farmers turned soap makers. All individually wrapped in compostable packaging which we know many of our customers will be delighted about. The early day favourites are Fern, Yuzu, Eucalyptus and Oat Milk. Proper French Market Soaps formulated with a minimum of 72% plant based oils, some are rich and nourishing, other gentle and delicate. We’re excited by these new fragrances and formulations and look forward to hearing your comments on them over the next few months.

As for Multi-buys – our top sellers this year including Les Bois, Cottage Garden and The Man Trio, a great way to try new soaps with a small saving too whilst Fig and Agar Wood maintain their cult status in home fragrance with the Geodesis brand having a hugely loyal following.

Thank you for all your feedback, comments and reviews and to all those that have taken time to call, we love chatting with you on the phone and are always ‘happy to help’. 

SO WHAT ARE OUR PREDICTIONS FOR 2024?

We think that more and more of you will start buying from our natural home cleaning range, the solid washing up bars are exceptionally economical whilst the multipurpose products make cleaning effortless and remove nasty chemicals from your home.

Talking of Multipurpose, the French are masters of this, expect to see more focus on such products during 2024. We already have two products that you can wear, use as a room spray, ironing water or pillow mist and we anticipate this will evolve as many of our customers shop with us specifically for economical and exceptional products.


New formulations will continue to arrive throughout our soap bar ranges, moving away from responsibly sourced palm to feature alternative plant based oils, many chosen for the specific properties they bring to suit individual preferences and requirements.  

We'd love your thoughts on our 2023, what would you like to see and what you predict?