Cold-process soaps, organic and handmade

Five cold-process soaps, superfatted and organic, one per skin type: oily, combination, sensitive, dry, or for exfoliation. Handmade in my workshop in Drôme Provençale, with a four to eight week cure that makes them mild and long-lasting. Zero plastic.

The two-glance test

Cold-process, or industrial?

A cold-process soap can be told from its INCI list. Cold saponification never heats the oils, and the glycerin produced by the reaction stays in the bar: a natural humectant that holds water on the skin. Industry, by contrast, removes it to sell separately, and replaces it with synthetic chelators.

Two signals on the INCI list:

Industrial soap Tetrasodium EDTA · Etidronic Acid · no glycerin
Cold-process Glycerin · no synthetic chelator

All five of our soaps are cold-process and superfatted: part of the organic oils is never turned into soap and stays free in the bar, to nourish the skin rather than strip it. Each bar then cures for four to eight weeks before it ships.

Which soap for your skin?

A cold-process soap is not a universal product. Five soaps, five skin profiles: each answers a question you've already asked yourself in the mirror. If you're torn between two, write to me.

Elixir, activated charcoal soap for oily skin

“My skin shines by midday”

Elixir

Activated charcoal and peppermint: regulates sebum and clears pores, with immediate freshness. For oily skin and blackheads.

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Amaraterra, red clay soap for combination skin

“My T-zone is oily, my cheeks feel tight”

Amaraterra

Double clay and palmarosa: purifies while rebalancing, without drying. For combination skin with the odd blemish.

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Clair de Lune, fragrance-free soap for sensitive skin and babies

“My skin reacts to everything”

Clair de Lune

No fragrance, no essential oils, no allergens. Usable from birth, in pregnancy and on atopic skin.

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Grenada, carrot soap for dull, dry skin

“My complexion is dull and my skin feels tight”

Grenada

Carrot macerate and nourishing oils: revives the complexion and feeds dry skin. The good-mood soap, especially at winter's end.

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Nostalgia, exfoliating body and face soap with grape seeds

“I'd like smoother skin, now and then”

Nostalgia

Organic grape seeds: gently exfoliates and brightens, once or twice a week, alongside your everyday soap.

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Nothing hidden

What sets the five soaps apart

Same cold-process superfatted base, five different actives. Here is the picture, soap by soap.

Soap For which skin Key active Scent
Elixir Oily, enlarged pores Activated charcoal Peppermint
Amaraterra Combination, blemishes Double clay Palmarosa, eucalyptus
Clair de Lune Sensitive, babies Shea butter None, fragrance-free
Grenada Dull, dry Carrot macerate Citrus
Nostalgia All, for exfoliation Grape seeds Soft, fruity

All superfatted, all with the natural glycerin of cold saponification, all wrapped in plastic-free cardboard. A bar of around 100 g lasts on average four to six weeks with daily use.

How to use it, and make it last

A cold-process soap doesn't ask for much. But one extra gesture, after the shower, doubles how long it lasts.

  1. Wet your skin and the bar with warm water.
  2. Lather between your hands or directly on the skin, in circular motions.
  3. Rinse and enjoy the clean-skin feel, with no tightness.
  4. Let it dry on a draining soap dish, away from the stream: this is what decides how long it lasts.

Unlike a solid shampoo, a soap does very well on a magnetic soap holder: suspended in the air, it dries fully between uses and never softens in a puddle.

“Soap dries the skin” — it depends on the soap.

True for industrial soaps, stripped of their glycerin: the skin already feels tight out of the shower and needs a cream to compensate. A cold-process, superfatted soap does the opposite. The natural glycerin stays in the bar, the unsaponified organic oils nourish, and the skin stays soft with nothing to add. If a soap once dried out your skin, it wasn't the wrong skin: it was the soap.

Sternartica cold-process soap from Drôme Provençale
Handmade production

Every soap is poured by hand, cold.

I weigh the oils, add the lye at room temperature, colour with clays and vegetable charcoal, then pour into the mould and cut every bar by hand, in my workshop in Drôme Provençale. Then the wait begins: four to eight weeks of cure, so the reaction completes and the soap turns mild. It's slow, and that is exactly what makes the difference in the shower.

Federica, fondatrice de Sternartica

Federica

Founder & formulator

I pour every soap by hand in my workshop in Drôme Provençale, in small batches. If you're torn between two, write to me: I answer myself, and I'd rather tell you “take the other one” than sell you the wrong bar.

  • 📦 Livraison offerte 📦

    à partir de 40 € en Union Européenne

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    Se glisse dans chaque commande

Frequently asked questions

The real ones, the questions people email me.

How do I recognise a real cold-process soap?
From the INCI list. A cold-process soap keeps the natural glycerin (Glycerin) produced by the reaction, and has no synthetic chelators such as Tetrasodium EDTA or Etidronic Acid. If glycerin is missing and synthetic additives appear, the soap is industrial.
Why don't your soaps dry out the skin?
Because they are superfatted: part of the organic oils stays free in the bar and nourishes the skin. The natural glycerin of cold saponification then holds water on the skin. The opposite of industrial soaps, whose glycerin is removed.
Which soap for oily skin?
Elixir, with activated charcoal and peppermint. The charcoal regulates sebum at the source and clears pores, with immediate freshness.
And for combination skin?
Amaraterra, with double clay and palmarosa. It purifies while rebalancing the skin, without drying the areas that already feel tight.
Which for sensitive skin or babies?
Clair de Lune: no fragrance, no essential oils, no declared allergens. Usable from birth, during pregnancy and on atopic skin.
And for dull or dry skin?
Grenada, with carrot macerate. It revives the complexion and nourishes dry skin: the good-mood soap at winter's end.
How do I use an exfoliating soap?
Nostalgia, with organic grape seeds, is used once or twice a week, on top of your everyday soap. Gently on the face, more freely on the body.
Can they be used on the face?
Yes. Clair de Lune, Amaraterra and Grenada are fine on the face daily. Elixir, being stronger, is best limited to three or four times a week on the face, and used freely on the body.
Does the black Elixir soap stain?
No. The black is the natural colour of activated charcoal: the lather is dark in your hands, then turns white when rinsed. It doesn't stain skin, fabric or the bathtub with normal rinsing.
Are they suitable during pregnancy?
Clair de Lune yes: it has no essential oils. The other four contain essential oils, so during pregnancy or breastfeeding ask your doctor or midwife.
Are they vegan?
Yes. No ingredients of animal origin, and no animal musk in the fragrances.
Are they tested on animals?
No. Animal testing is banned for cosmetics in the European Union.
How long does a soap last?
A bar of around 100 g lasts on average four to six weeks with daily use, provided you let it dry between uses.
How do I store it so it lasts longer?
Away from the shower stream, on a support that lets water drain. A magnetic soap holder is ideal: it suspends the bar in the air and lets it dry completely.
Why a four to eight week cure?
So the saponification reaction completes and the excess water evaporates. A well-cured soap is milder on the skin and lasts much longer in the shower.
What's the difference from an industrial Marseille soap?
An industrial Marseille soap is often boiled at high heat, stripped of its glycerin and not superfatted: it cleans, but can dry. Ours are cold-process, superfatted and with their glycerin intact.
How are they packaged?
In FSC-certified printed cardboard, with no plastic film and no extra packaging. That's the whole point of a solid cosmetic: the bottle disappears.
Where are they made?
In my workshop in Drôme Provençale. I pour every soap by hand, in small batches, with organic oils and butters sourced as locally as possible.