Why True Luxury Soap Begins With 50% Olive Oil — The Queen of Oils

In my series exploring the botanical oils and butters I use, I couldn’t overlook the ingredient that lies at the very heart of all my soaps: olive oil — the true Queen of Oils. Since day one, every bar I create contains at least 50% olive oil, a deliberate choice that defines the quality and identity of my craft.

Olive oil is one of the rare oils capable of creating a soap that:

• lasts beautifully

• cleans gently

• stays firm and never turns soft or sticky in warm weather

• remains stable and reliable over time

Its naturally high content of stable fatty acids gives each bar a dense, solid, long‑lasting structure — the kind of quality you can feel from the very first use.

This is why Castile soap and Marseille soap — two of the world’s oldest and most respected soapmaking traditions — rely almost entirely on olive oil. Its performance is timeless.

olives fit for a queen!

In recent years, as olive oil prices have surged, many soapmakers have turned to high‑oleic sunflower oil, a more affordable and trendy alternative. Naturally, I tested it too. But even replacing just 10% of the olive oil resulted in a bar that:

• melted faster

• developed a shiny surface

• and even became sticky during summer heat

For me, this was simply not acceptable. High‑oleic sunflower oil has its merits, but it cannot replicate the dense, stable, luxurious structure that olive oil brings.

Olive oil offers an artisanal soap:

• unmatched stability

• exceptional softness

• long‑lasting firmness

• natural resistance to temperature changes

• a deep connection to authentic soapmaking heritage

And despite its higher cost, I choose olive oil because it ensures:

• a truly premium bar

• a silky, gentle sensory experience

• consistent, reliable quality

• a formulation rooted in nature and tradition

It is the ingredient that best embodies my vision of soapmaking: authentic, enduring, and deeply respectful of the skin.