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A History of Soap, and the Start of Something New

argentum apothecary cleansing bar le savon lune on marble history of soap

From the simple mixture made of ashes and water the Sumerians used back in 3000 B.C. to the sophisticated versions found today, facial soaps have seemingly been around since the dawn of civilisation. As ancient Roman legend has it, the discovery was first made at Mount Sapo where animal sacrifices were made, and the soapy mixture of animal fats and wood ashes washed down to the river nearby was found to have purifying properties for clothes and skin alike.

Since then, the craft of soap making has slowly spread through Europe and beyond, becoming well-established in regions rich in natural resources, such as Marseille and Castile in France and Spain, respectively. However, soap was still very much a luxury reserved for the wealthy, until the need for mass market appeal was realised by Proctor and Gamble, who launched a series of advertising campaigns so successful that daytime drama serials took on the name 'soap operas'.

In the 1970s, another revolution came in the form of Dove’s beauty bar, when fats and creams were first introduced into their soap. This transformed the beauty industry entirely, and brands started to infuse soaps with additional benefits such as exfoliating and detoxifying properties. This led to the birth of several icons in the history of facial soaps, such as cleansing bars from Erno Lazlo and Clinique, and COR’s silver soap, which has since become a vital part of many people’s cleansing routines.

Soon after ARgENTUM’s launch in 2012 it felt right to join the ranks of these iconic contenders with something a little more unique. Since then we have been perfecting and honing our unique formula to deliver le savon lune. Our illuminating hydration bar adds to this long heritage of facial cleansing bars. Formulated with a higher concentration of Silver Hydrosol and the only soap on the market to contain DNA, our soap-free cleansing bar challenges the very idea of what a soap is and what a soap should be.

le savon lune, delivers an optimum pH and contains powerful active ingredients that outshine any of its counterparts, especially in its ability to cleanse, purify and hydrate. Bentonite clay in our unique formulation draws out impurities for a gentle deep cleanse, whilst our patented anti-aging formula of Silver Hydrosol & DNA HP target blemish-prone and sensitive skin alike.