Questions
Aleppo soap, answered.
What it is, what goes into it, and how to use and buy it.
What is Aleppo soap?
Aleppo soap is a hard, olive-oil soap enriched and scented with laurel berry oil. It is among the oldest soaps in the world — cooked in the Syrian city of Aleppo since around the eighth century — and is the ancestor of the later Marseille soap.
What is Jebeili soap made of?
Four ingredients only: olive oil, laurel berry oil, water, and lye (sodium hydroxide). There is no palm oil, no tallow, and no synthetic fragrance, preservatives, or phosphates.
What does the laurel percentage mean?
Every bar shares the same olive-oil base; the grade is the share of laurel berry oil folded in at the end of the cook — 0% (Pure Olive), 2%, 5%, 10%, 20%, and 40% (Royal). More laurel gives a harder bar, a fuller scent, and a deeper green heart.
Is Aleppo soap good for sensitive skin?
Its mild, naturally alkaline lather cleanses without stripping, which is why the gentle Pure Olive 0% grade is often chosen for babies and sensitive skin. It contains no synthetic fragrance or dyes.
Can I use it on my hair and beard?
Yes. The higher-laurel grades — Reserve 20% and Royal 40% — are traditionally used as a shampoo bar for hair and beard as well as for the skin.
How long is Jebeili soap aged?
The soap is cooked once a year in winter and then aged in open towers in our stone vaults — from nine months for the everyday grades to eighteen months for the Royal reserve. Aging hardens the bar and turns its surface a brass-gold colour while the heart stays laurel-green. We also hold a small reserve aged up to ten years — available while stocks last; contact us for more information.
How can I tell genuine Aleppo soap from an imitation?
Genuine Aleppo soap is made only from olive oil, laurel berry oil, water, and lye, and cooked in Aleppo. Aging is the tell: the outside dries to a khaki-gold while the heart stays laurel-green, so a cut bar should show green inside. It is hard and long-cured, with no palm oil and no synthetic fragrance. Every Jebeili bar is hand-stamped with the family's brass seal.
What is the brass stamp on each bar?
Each bar is pressed by hand with the Jebeili family's brass stamp before it is set out to age — the maker's mark that has identified the family's soap since 1832. On wholesale bars the stamp can be cut to your own brand for private-label orders.
Is Jebeili soap natural, vegan, and palm-oil free?
Yes. It is made only from plant oils and mineral lye, with no animal fat, no palm oil, and no synthetic additives, so it is vegan and fully biodegradable.
What else can Aleppo soap be used for?
Beyond washing, a bar tucked into a wardrobe or among carpets keeps moths away, and the soap is also used for hand-laundering delicate silk and wool and as a gentle household cleaner.
Where is Jebeili soap made?
In the Jebeili family soap factory by Bab Qinnisrine in the Old City of Aleppo, Syria — where the family has cooked soap since 1832.
Do you sell wholesale and ship worldwide?
Yes. We supply retailers, apothecaries, spas, and hotels worldwide, in bulk and with private-label brass stamping. See our Wholesale page or write to [email protected].