I have recently discovered aleppo soap. This is and artisanal soap that people make in Syria with olive and laurel oil. I highly recommend this product as i think it is the best soap i've ever tried! it makes my skin smoother as no other product has, and according to the farmacist who sold it to me, this is due to the olive oil percentage in the soap. I don't think it's a hard to find product. This happens to be also great for people who have skin problems such as dermatitis

This is some information i've found on the net about the soap for those who are interested

Soap story
Soap from Aleppo, Syria

Soap from Aleppo symbolises something special for many people, as it stands for a much older tradition than many of the detergents and washing agents that are in use nowadays. Olive oil and laurel oil are usually fundamental ingredients. Aleppo soap (arab: «sapun ghar») - the literal meaning would be laurel-oil-soap) is boiled with olive and laurel oil. Colourings, artificial flavours, foam stabilisers, perfumes etc. are unfamiliar materials for traditional Aleppo soap boilers for two reasons. One is that they work with traditional formula. And then, their old-fashioned technology doesn´t encourage the blessings of modern chemical engineering, either. The simple, but labour-intensive production manufactures soap which skin friendly and environmentally friendly qualities are widely appreciated. This does not mean that these qualities go without saying, and don´t meet reservations. The EU has banned the use of laurel oil as a cosmetic ingredient, by its 76/768/EWG directive. Laurel oil is suspected to provoke allergic reactions in certain cases.
We used to think that these days, there were still about sixty smaller soap factories in Aleppo. As for the really traditional ones however, it really seems to be hardly a dozen by now. This is the more striking, as actually, worldwide interest is in fact rising. It seems unlikely that the small, traditional producers even have a noticable share in the overall output of Aleppo soap. Many producers have moved to the hinterland of Aleppo, and built much larger factories there.

The ratio of olive oil and laurel oil varies from one sort to the other. Usually, Sapun Ghar contains between 2 to 40 per cent of laurel oil, and therefore between 98 to 60 per cent olive oil – as far as oil is concerned. potash is another important part of the formula. Traditionally, the higher the laurel ratio, the more costly the production - and the more valuable the soap. As a soap manufacturer has put it: "Why simply eating rice, when you can have some good meat with it?" The outside of the soap grows darker, as it ripens – provided that it is exposed to some daylight.
Olive oil soap contains rather small amounts of laurel oil, if any. Chances are that it does contain at least a small share, as this is considered an appreciation of the product. Olive oil is used for exports to the EU more commonly than laurel oil soap.





Another natural product I recommend is rose hip oil. This oil is made of a special wid rose that only grows in Southern Chile, another gift from mother nature. The wild rose is called Rosa Mosqueta. Thats why the original name of the oil is rosa moqueta oil. Rosa Mosqueta also helps to repair skin tissues and generate new skin cells, leaving skin soft and healthy. Research has shown Rosa Mosqueta to have remarkable results when applied to sun damaged skin and wrinkles as well as old acne scars, stretchmarks and post operative scars. I've been using this oil and boy did it make my skin look better and healthier!

So what beauty products/secrets have you tried and tested? which ones would you recommend?