Carrière Frères has recently launched a completely new product line, namely the Florae, Silvae, Bosci and Apotheca soaps. The brand is thus entering completely new territory, having previously been at home in the field of room fragrances, scented candles, diffusers and botanical palettes. While Trudon, a candle manufacturer closely related to Carrière Frères, has also been focusing on high-quality perfumes for some time, the label founded by the Carrière brothers in 1884 is now turning its attention to body care.
Soaps – nostalgia in organic quality
The soaps from Carrière Frères are in no way inferior to the brand’s beautiful and nostalgic room fragrances in terms of appearance. The scented candles and diffusers are decorated with botanical illustrations and always provide a pleasant and decorative room fragrance with their vintage style and wonderful scent. The room fragrances also have Latin names – as well as the French translation – and the subtly bluish glass containers of the diffusers are reminiscent of apothecary bottles.
The packaging of the new soaps reflects the characteristic style of Carrière Frères. It is made of white, recycled cardboard from sustainable cultivation, as the FSC seal reveals. It depicts all kinds of foliage and a few white flowers. But the really interesting facts can be found on the side panel. Here you will find the list of ingredients and, of course, a few instructions for use. It should be well known that the soap should not be rubbed into the eyes, swallowed or otherwise introduced internally – this is not recommended for any other soap either – but safety first and so these instructions can of course also be found on the outer packaging.
I was particularly interested in the list of ingredients, as Julien Pruvost had already told me in the interview that the soap is eco-certified and consists only of selected ingredients: a selection of certified organic vegetable oils, a fragrance composed by Robertet perfumer Serge de Oliveira, a natural colorant – pink clay or turmeric were used here, for example – and water.
On the trail of soap
The soaps are produced in the traditional way using cold saponification. The name already suggests it: The saponification process takes place without heat, which is said to be particularly gentle on the ingredients. The ingredients are mixed and then left to rest – in the form of a large block – for more than 4 weeks before being cut, stamped and packaged. All this takes place in France, in a small soap factory known for its traditional craftsmanship.
The valuable, natural ingredients and the gentle manufacturing process make Carrière Frères soaps particularly nourishing and moisturizing. They are suitable for all skin types, so that even people with sensitive skin can enjoy their benefits without hesitation. Julien Pruvost told me in our interview that he also uses the soaps for his two-year-old son.
A few words about the ingredients. I was talking about certified organic vegetable oils. These are organic coconut oil, organic shea butter, organic sunflower oil and organic safflower oil, which have a particularly nourishing, regenerating, soothing and antioxidant effect. It goes without saying that the soaps are made without silicones, aluminum, parabens, palm oil or its derivatives.
Florae – the flowery one
I have the Florae soap bar here and I definitely find Florae super appealing just from the packaging and the look and feel of the soap. The fragrance is rather subtle. But Creative Director Julien Pruvost also confirmed this to me in an interview. The focus of the soap line was not on the fragrance, which is therefore more of an understated nature, but rather on the quality of the soap and its nourishing properties. In contrast to the traditional room fragrance line, the soaps are not dedicated to a single fragrance or a single plant.
Here we are dealing with an olfactory bouquet that covers four different areas. Florae revolves around flowers, Bosci around green, woody notes, Silvae around woody-aromatic notes and Apotheca around herbal nuances. And so the fragrance notes of Florae are mandarin, bergamot, pear, rose, geranium and cedarwood, a fruity-floral melange that should be right up my street.
With its floral fragrance, Florae soap is reminiscent of a bouquet of flowers: the scent of a blooming rose bush with a springtime freshness. The heart note, a blend of rose and geranium, reveals the warmth of cedarwood in the base note and the citrusy liveliness of mandarin and bergamot in the top note.
Florae soap feels wonderfully smooth and soft. Its fragrance is actually rather restrained, soapy, a little fresh and gently floral. It is not a lush floral scent that the soap exudes, and the soapy notes that the bar naturally gives off are also clearly noticeable. It is a fragrance that seems very … yes, natural, far removed from the heavily perfumed mass-produced goods that we are otherwise so often familiar with. I really like the olfactory character of the Florae soap.
However, since the focus is on the skin care properties, I will now put them through a practical test for you. After adding water, it foams up well, but not excessively. The foam is fine-bubbled, soft and what strikes me is that the floral-fruity fragrance seems to fade into the background. I notice the nourishing effect of the soap as soon as I lather it up. I have extremely dry hands and my skin is much softer, smoother and more nourished after the first application. I also like the fact that my hands don’t smell perfumed after drying, which I find very annoying with many other conventional soaps. Another plus point in my eyes. An absolute test recommendation from my side. I will also gradually test the other fragrances and report back to you when I get the chance. 🧼🫧
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