Frequently asked questions

A solid cosmetic is the same thing as a liquid one, minus the water — and water is often 70 to 90 % of a conventional shampoo or shower gel. Take it out and you also take out the plastic bottle, the preservatives needed to keep that water stable, and the weight of shipping it around.

What that means for you: more active ingredients in your hand, no plastic waste, and a product that lasts for months. An 85 g Sternartica shampoo bar washes up to 60 times — two to three bottles' worth.

Soap. It's the easiest switch: the texture, the gesture and the result are close to what you already know, and there is no adjustment period.

Then comes the deodorant, then the shampoo bar. The solid cleansing bar is usually the one that surprises people most — pleasantly.

Yes, provided you let them dry between uses. A 100 g soap lasts around a month for one person showering daily. An 85 g shampoo bar gives up to 60 washes.

The cost per wash is lower than an equivalent liquid product. The real waste is a bar left sitting in a puddle: it dissolves three times faster.

Yes, all of them. Soaps and candles are hand-poured in our workshop in Drôme Provençale. Shampoo bars are hand-moulded: the paste is worked and pressed, not poured.

Every piece is unmoulded, cut, cured and wrapped by us. That's why no two soaps are ever identical.

Yes. Products are wrapped in 100 % recycled, recyclable FSC paper. Parcels are padded with paper — never bubble wrap or plastic chips. The tape is gummed paper.

It's the detail our customers mention most often in their reviews, and the one we won't compromise on.

None of our products is gendered. The scents are natural and restrained: Atlas cedar in ATLAS, bergamot and cypress in ZEFIR, peppermint in ELIXIR. The fragrance-free deodorant is our best seller across the board.

Soak your hair, then the bar. Rub it straight onto your scalp — not the lengths — in two or three passes, from forehead to nape. Put the bar down and massage with your fingers: the lather comes from the massage, not from rubbing.

Rinse thoroughly, until the water runs completely clear. Under-rinsing is the number one reason hair feels greasy after washing.

On very thick or very dirty hair, do two short washes rather than one long one.

Our 85 g bars give up to 60 washes. Washing every three days, that's around six months.

The real lifespan comes down to drying. A bar left in water dissolves; a bar on a magnetic soap holder, drying on every side, lasts as long as promised.

In the vast majority of cases it isn't a "transition period" — it's that the product was a soap, not a shampoo. Soap has an alkaline pH (around 9–10) that lifts the hair cuticle and reacts with hard water. The result is a film that clings.

Our shampoo bars are not soaps. They are built around a gentle, sulfate-free surfactant with a pH close to the hair's own. So there is no transition period to get through: the first wash already gives you the result.

If hair still feels heavy with a true shampoo bar, two reflexes: rinse for longer, and check you aren't rubbing the bar down the lengths.

No. The famous three-week transition comes from soap-based bars, whose pH throws the scalp off balance until it adapts.

Our formulas are true shampoos, sulfate-free and pH-appropriate. Your hair has nothing to relearn.

• Oily hair, quick to get greasy, itchy scalp — ATLAS, with Moroccan ghassoul clay, which absorbs excess sebum gently thanks to its calcium and magnesium.
• Dry, curly, wavy, frizzy or damaged hair — ZEFIR, with jojoba oil and white clay, sulfate-free.
• Normal hair, the whole family, children — NEPTUNE, with spirulina.

Yes. None of our shampoo bars contains sulfates — no SLS, no SLES, no SCS. The surfactant is sodium cocoyl isethionate, derived from coconut oil and known for being gentle on sensitive scalps.

ZEFIR has 7 organic ingredients out of 8, NEPTUNE 8 out of 9, ATLAS 7 out of 9.

Don't throw them away. Two things that work:

• Wet the sliver and press it firmly against a new bar — they fuse as they dry.
• Crumble the slivers into a small jar, add a little hot water and shake: you get a liquid shampoo to use within a few days.

Soap ends go into a mesh pouch for the shower, or serve as hand-washing detergent.

One rule: it must air-dry on every side. Not in a dish that holds water, and not under the shower spray.

A magnetic soap holder suspends the bar against the wall — the most effective solution. For travel, a cork case lets it breathe once it's dry.

Yes, and it's one of the best arguments for it. A solid cosmetic is not a liquid: it doesn't count towards the 100 ml carry-on limit, and it can't leak into your case.

Pack it dry, in the cork case or wrapped in cloth.

Yes, generously — but the lather comes with the massage, not on first contact. Many people rub the bar for ages waiting for foam, which just wastes product.

Two or three passes on the scalp is enough; your fingers do the rest.

Yes. Being sulfate-free is precisely what protects colour: harsh surfactants are what strip the pigment.

For coloured, dry hair, ZEFIR is the best fit.

ZEFIR is suitable from age 3. NEPTUNE was designed for the whole family and works for children as soon as they wash their own hair.

For babies and toddlers we recommend CLAIR DE LUNE soap — no fragrance, no essential oils — usable from birth on body and hair.

After shampooing, hold the bar under warm water for a few seconds to soften it, then glide it along the lengths and ends. Avoid the roots.

Leave it for a minute, comb through with a wide-tooth comb in the shower, then rinse.

Not if you apply it to the lengths only and rinse properly. HORIZON is silicone-free, so nothing builds up on the hair fibre wash after wash.

The detangling agents come from rapeseed, linseed oil smooths the cuticle, and sweet almond butter reduces breakage when brushing.

That's exactly what it was made for. Paired with ZEFIR it detangles without breaking the curl pattern. Our customers report curls staying defined for longer.

To finish: a wide-tooth beech comb, on wet hair still loaded with product.

No. HORIZON contains no essential oils and its formula is hypoallergenic, with no declared allergens. That's why it also suits pregnant and breastfeeding women, and children.

Not always. On fine or normal hair the shampoo bar alone is often enough. On long, dry, curly or tangle-prone hair, a conditioner genuinely changes how brushing feels.

It's a method that adds no heat: the oils and the lye react on their own, slowly, at room temperature. The soap then cures for four to six weeks.

The benefit: the oils aren't degraded by cooking, and the glycerin produced naturally stays in the bar instead of being extracted. Glycerin is what moisturises your skin.

Industrial soap, by contrast, is cooked, its glycerin harvested for other uses, and the end product dries the skin.

It means the recipe deliberately leaves a surplus of oils that were never turned into soap. Those free oils stay on the skin after rinsing and form a protective film.

All our soaps are superfatted. That's why your skin doesn't feel tight when you step out of the shower.

• Fragile, reactive skin, babies, pregnancy — CLAIR DE LUNE: fragrance-free, essential-oil-free, allergen-free. Shea, oat, olive, sweet almond.
• Combination or oily skin — AMARATERRA: red and white clay, eucalyptus, palmarosa.
• Blemish-prone skin — ELIXIR: activated charcoal from coconut shell and peppermint.
• Dull complexion, winter, change of season — GRENADA: carrot macerate, apricot, mandarin, annatto.
• Normal to dry skin, once or twice a week — NOSTALGIA: exfoliating grape seeds and AOP fine lavender.

CLAIR DE LUNE, without hesitation. No fragrance, no essential oils, no allergens. Shea butter, oat drink, olive oil and sweet almond oil.

It can be used from birth, on face and body, and also suits pregnancy, breastfeeding, and skin under strain from medical treatment.

Yes, all of them — they're formulated for face and body. CLAIR DE LUNE for reactive skin, ELIXIR for blemish-prone skin, GRENADA for a dull complexion, NOSTALGIA as a scrub once or twice a week.

For removing make-up, though, use ÉCLIPSE: soap won't take off waterproof make-up.

About a month for one person showering daily, on a 100 g bar. Our customers often write that it "stays hard right to the end" — that's the long cure.

Here too, it all comes down to drying.

Technically yes, but we don't recommend it. A soap's alkaline pH lifts the hair cuticle and leaves a rough film, especially in hard water. This is where the bad reputation of "shampoo bars" comes from.

For hair, use a real shampoo bar.

No. They are made with olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, castor oil and oils specific to each recipe (hazelnut, apricot, grape seed, sesame).

The full INCI list is published on every product page.

Small-format soaps shaped like the pebbles in our rivers. Ideal for travel, for a guest bathroom, or for trying a recipe before committing to a full bar.

Because the colourants are living materials: annatto, clays, vegetable charcoal. Their shade shifts from one harvest to the next, and the colour changes slightly during curing.

It's a sign, not a flaw.

On clean, dry skin, glide the stick two or three times under each arm. Your body heat is enough to melt just the right amount of cocoa butter.

If the stick is very cold, warm it between your fingers for a second. One application in the morning is enough.

Because baking soda is the leading cause of redness and stinging under the arms. Its high pH irritates thin skin, especially after shaving.

We use magnesium hydroxide instead, which neutralises odour without aggression, and triethyl citrate, derived from citric acid, which limits the bacteria responsible for odour. Organic calendula macerate soothes.

Everyone asks, and the answer is in our reviews: "finally a natural deodorant that works", "lasts all day".

One honest note: a natural deodorant does not stop you sweating — it stops the odour. If you want to stop perspiring, you need an aluminium-salt antiperspirant, and that isn't what we make.

No, as long as you wait a few seconds before getting dressed. One of the most common comments: "no marks on my black T-shirts".

Yes — that's exactly what it was formulated for. The fragrance-free version contains no essential oils and suits reactive skin, as well as pregnancy and breastfeeding.

On freshly shaved skin, it's better to wait a few hours.

Fragrance-free if your skin is reactive, if you're pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you want no scent competing with your perfume.

Palmarosa for a discreet floral note — that essential oil is itself a natural deodorant and a skin tonic.

Several months with daily use. Keep it away from heat: it's cocoa butter and rice wax, so it softens above 30 °C. In summer or while travelling, a spell in the fridge firms it up again.

Wet your face and the bar, then glide ÉCLIPSE straight onto the skin: with water and warmth it turns into a milk. Massage with your fingertips, including over the eyelids, then rinse.

No cotton pads, no wipes, no double cleanse.

Yes, waterproof mascara included. It's the oils — organic olive oil and Gascony plum butter — that dissolve make-up, where micellar water simply slides over it.

No. Its ergonomic shape was designed for the eye contour, and the formula contains no fragrance and no allergens. Our customers with very sensitive eyes are its best advocates.

Yes. Organic corn starch absorbs excess sebum without drying, and the rapeseed-derived emollients respect the skin's natural balance. It also suits pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Before. ÉCLIPSE removes make-up; soap, if you feel you need it, cleanses afterwards. Most of our customers stop at ÉCLIPSE in the evening.

Paraffin is a petroleum by-product: as it burns it blackens the jar and leaves residue. Sunflower wax is plant-based, grown in Europe, and burns clean — no soot.

It's also vegan, unlike beeswax.

Up to 70 hours for the 270 g size, if you follow two simple rules: trim the wick to 5 mm before every lighting, and let the wax melt all the way to the edges the first time.

Because the first burn was too short. Wax remembers its first melt: if you blow it out before the whole surface is liquid, it will keep melting to that same diameter.

Allow two to three hours for the first burn.

They are composed in Grasse, without phthalates and without CMR-classified substances — the most demanding standard in French perfumery.

Pour in very hot water: the leftover wax floats up and lifts off as it cools. The jar becomes a brush pot, a spice jar or a tealight holder.

A suction-cup mount fixes to the shower wall. A small magnetic insert pushes into the soap. The soap then clips onto the mount and hangs in mid-air.

The result: it dries on every side and never sits in water. Made in France, €8.90.

No. It sinks in a few millimetres and pulls out when the bar is finished, ready to reuse on the next one. If your soap is very dry, dampen it slightly before pushing the disc in.

They aren't rivals. The magnetic holder is for home, in the shower, every day. The cork case is for carrying: gym bag, weekend, suitcase.

Plenty of our customers have both.

Because it is naturally water-resistant, light, unbreakable and compostable at end of life. Our cork is harvested by hand in Spain and Portugal, every nine years, without felling the tree — the bark grows back.

Because wood doesn't build up static, where plastic makes fine hair fly away. Wooden pins massage the scalp and spread sebum down the lengths, which gives natural shine.

Ours is FSC-certified French beech, 22.5 × 6.5 cm, with a natural hevea rubber cushion. It's made by hand in Savoie.

• Wide teeth (20 × 4.2 cm) — curly or thick hair, and any hair while wet. This is the shower detangling comb.
• Fine teeth (17.7 × 4.3 cm) — fine, straight hair. It also massages the scalp.

Remove hair regularly and wipe the pins with a damp cloth. Never soak them: wood doesn't like standing water. Dry them flat, pins facing down.

The large majority of our ingredients are certified organic (Ecocert, Cosmos Organic, Bio Qualité France). We state it product by product, without rounding up: ZEFIR has 7 organic ingredients out of 8, NEPTUNE 8 out of 9, ATLAS 7 out of 9.

Some ingredients can't be certified organic because they are mineral — a clay, a charcoal — and don't come from farming.

Our soaps, shampoo bars, conditioner, cleansing bar, deodorants and candles are formulated without animal-derived ingredients. None is tested on animals.

The products without essential oils: CLAIR DE LUNE soap, the fragrance-free deodorant, HORIZON conditioner and ÉCLIPSE cleansing bar.

Products containing essential oils — ATLAS, ZEFIR, NEPTUNE, NOSTALGIA, AMARATERRA, ELIXIR, GRENADA and the palmarosa deodorant — are best avoided as a precaution. If in doubt, ask your midwife or doctor.

With CLAIR DE LUNE and the fragrance-free deodorant: our two formulas with no fragrance, no essential oils and no declared allergens.

As with any cosmetic, patch-test on a small area before regular use.

On every product page, in full, with nothing left out. We would rather show a long, honest list than a short slogan.

Each product carries its period-after-opening. Stored dry and away from light, soaps and shampoo bars keep without difficulty.

A cold process soap doesn't expire like yoghurt: over time it hardens and its scent fades, without becoming unusable.

In our workshop, in Drôme Provençale, France. Soaps, shampoo bars, deodorants and candles are made, cured and packed there by hand. The beech brush is made in Savoie, the magnetic soap holder in France, the cork case in Portugal and Spain.

Shipping is free from €40. Below that, the cost is calculated on the weight of your order and shown before payment.

France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union. Available countries and rates appear at the shipping step, once you've entered your address.

Orders leave our workshop in Drôme Provençale and travel tracked. The exact time, depending on the shipping method and country, is shown at checkout.

You receive a tracking number as soon as the parcel is on its way.

Yes, under the conditions of our return policy, for an unopened and unused product. Write to us first — we almost always find a solution.

Yes. The gift box is built from the products you choose, and the kits bring together pairings we've already thought through: curly hair, zero waste, travel, complete routine.

Yes. We offer 20 g guest-size soaps, the CLAIR DE LUNE formula with no fragrance and no allergens, individually wrapped in a paper sachet: €68 for 50 pieces, €125 for 100 pieces.

For retail, write to us through the wholesale page.

At markets and at our stockists, in Drôme Provençale and beyond. The up-to-date list lives on the "Where to find us" page.