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Whole Foods Triple Milled Bar Soap?

I was in Whole Foods today and went to check out their French bar soaps. I was surprised to see that they carry a Whole Foods branded triple milled bar soap that was clearly aimed at the market segment occupied by Pre de Provence, which they also carry.

The scents were similar, verbena, lemongrass, etc., the look was very similar, and it was even made in France. Difference was the Whole Foods bar was priced at $3.99 and the Pre de Provence was something like $6.99.

Interestingly, they had a third line (same type of triple milled soap from a different company, but also very similar scents, coloring, and look, and also made in France, but I forget the name) that fell right in between at $4.99, IIRC.

Anyone know anything about these soaps? I'm quite pleased that there are some affordable options.

I was interested in the Verbena, and upon first sniff it seemed the Whole Foods scent was not as bright or lively as the other two. I plan on exploring these soaps more in the coming days.
 
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I actually don't like any of the scents they have. I've used the sandalwood before, however, and it was a good performer. Our Whole Foods stores just got the Kirk's Castile Soap in (finally!), so I'll be stocking up on that soon.
 
Their Vetiver/Cedar bar soap smells amazing in the winter. Supremely woody and smoky, very warm and comforting when it's cold outside. I also like when they carry the Zum goats milk soap in bulk, sold by the pound. :thumbup:
 
Their Vetiver/Cedar bar soap smells amazing in the winter. Supremely woody and smoky, very warm and comforting when it's cold outside. I also like when they carry the Zum goats milk soap in bulk, sold by the pound. :thumbup:

I agree! The Vetiver/Cedar is in their WF line of organic triple-milled soaps, which costs a couple dollars more. I'm also quite fond of the organic Grapefruit/Mint bar and the Linden bar for the warmer months. :thumbup:
 
Their Vetiver/Cedar bar soap smells amazing in the winter. Supremely woody and smoky, very warm and comforting when it's cold outside. I also like when they carry the Zum goats milk soap in bulk, sold by the pound. :thumbup:

My favorite soap! The smell is seriously amazing!

J.
 
I agree! The Vetiver/Cedar is in their WF line of organic triple-milled soaps, which costs a couple dollars more. I'm also quite fond of the organic Grapefruit/Mint bar and the Linden bar for the warmer months. :thumbup:

I went to a different Whole Foods today and picked up the Green Tea triple milled french soap for $3.99. I'll try it sometime this week.

The soap that I thought came from a different company was Whole Food's organic soap. They're priced at $5.99, not $4.99 as I had thought. No Vetiver/Cedar currently.

I'm surprised at how many quality soaps my particular Whole Foods is stocking. At least ten different independent makers of bar bath soaps, many of them local. That's very cool!

While some of them had great scents, I'm sticking with the french triple milled for now.
 
I went to a different Whole Foods today and picked up the Green Tea triple milled french soap for $3.99. I'll try it sometime this week.

The soap that I thought came from a different company was Whole Food's organic soap. They're priced at $5.99, not $4.99 as I had thought. No Vetiver/Cedar currently.

I'm surprised at how many quality soaps my particular Whole Foods is stocking. At least ten different independent makers of bar bath soaps, many of them local. That's very cool!

While some of them had great scents, I'm sticking with the french triple milled for now.

We have a few at home and love it (WF Brand)...I tried the French brand too and wasn't much different, except price. Our local WF has not carried these WF soaps for awhile now and we hadn't checked. Time to re-check :thumbup1:. I will try the Vetiver/Cedar...wife and I love the citrus notes and lavender lines
 
I've been using the Vetiver/Ceder now for a few weeks. Really great fragrance.

My only concern is that these soaps are primarily saponified palm oil, with but a few other added ingredients, and palm oil can be very drying. My skin seems to be pretty sensitive to changes in moisture content already -- in the winter if I don't use hand lotion my knuckles chap, crack, and bleed.

Other than that, though, the soap is a great performer. It has a good lather, rinses off nice and clean, and smells absolutely amazing. It also lasts forever! My wife's been using a bar of the Verbena fragrance for almost three months and it still has at least two more months in it. A bar of Bronner's lasted me about a month, by comparison.
 
I was in Whole Foods today and went to check out their French bar soaps. I was surprised to see that they carry a Whole Foods branded triple milled bar soap that was clearly aimed at the market segment occupied by Pre de Provence, which they also carry.

The scents were similar, verbena, lemongrass, etc., the look was very similar, and it was even made in France. Difference was the Whole Foods bar was priced at $3.99 and the Pre de Provence was something like $6.99.

Interestingly, they had a third line (same type of triple milled soap from a different company, but also very similar scents, coloring, and look, and also made in France, but I forget the name) that fell right in between at $4.99, IIRC.
....
Maybe this was their Bisous de Provence line?? I have enjoyed using their Lavender, it has a bit of oatmeal or something within to make it scruffy, even though that ingredient is not listed on the label.
It has been enough to keep me away from my favorite local artisan soap: Anders
 
Maybe this was their Bisous de Provence line?? I have enjoyed using their Lavender, it has a bit of oatmeal or something within to make it scruffy, even though that ingredient is not listed on the label.
It has been enough to keep me away from my favorite local artisan soap: Anders

Very interesting link. I'm amazed at how many different triple-milled French soap brands there seem to be out there.

I'm sure, as a member pointed out in another thread, that there are just a handful of OEM French soap producers that produce soaps with proprietary scents, markings, and packaging for any number of brands/retailers.

The third soap that I referred to was, in fact, also a Whole Foods soap, but their Organic soap line. I believe the price on these bars is $5.99. This is the line that has the Vetiver/Cedar scent, which seems to be one to try, but which my local stores do not seem to carry. It's refreshing to see that they use only real scent oils in this line, and no synthetic fragrances. It probably doesn't make much of a difference, but it feels good to know that everything in the soap is natural.

Looking over the soaps on the site that you linked to, I'm amused to see that the embossed font on the bath bars looks almost identical to the font on the regular line of Whole Foods French triple milled soaps. Maybe the letters are a bit smaller on the Whole Foods bar, and the text reads a bit differently (WF says "Green Tea", not "The Vert") but the look and vibe of both is very similar. Even the feel of the packaging is very similar, though not identical. I wouldn't be surprised if both soaps were made in the same factory.

After using the WF Green Tea bar for a short while, I say it's not as lathery as my L'Epi de Provence bar. I believe LdP has more shea butter in it. Still, it's a great soap and a really great value. The Green Tea flavor is very comforting, and feels more suited to a relaxing night time shower than as a lively wake up scent. The LdP Lemon Verbena on the other hand, is a really nice pick-me-up scent in the morning.
 
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Very interesting link. I'm amazed at how many different triple-milled French soap brands there seem to be out there.

I'm sure, as a member pointed out in another thread, that there are just a handful of OEM French soap producers that produce soaps with proprietary scents, markings, and packaging for any number of brands/retailers.

The third soap that I referred to was, in fact, also a Whole Foods soap, but their Organic soap line. I believe the price on these bars is $5.99. This is the line that has the Vetiver/Cedar scent, which seems to be one to try, but which my local stores do not seem to carry. It's refreshing to see that they use only real scent oils in this line, and no synthetic fragrances. It probably doesn't make much of a difference, but it feels good to know that everything in the soap is natural.

Looking over the soaps on the site that you linked to, I'm amused to see that the embossed font on the bath bars looks almost identical to the font on the regular line of Whole Foods French triple milled soaps. Maybe the letters are a bit smaller on the Whole Foods bar, and the text reads a bit differently (WF says "Green Tea", not "The Vert") but the look and vibe of both is very similar. Even the feel of the packaging is very similar, though not identical. I wouldn't be surprised if both soaps were made in the same factory.

After using the WF Green Tea bar for a short while, I say it's not as lathery as my L'Epi de Provence bar. I believe LdP has more shea butter in it. Still, it's a great soap and a really great value. The Green Tea flavor is very comforting, and feels more suited to a relaxing night time shower than as a lively wake up scent. The LdP Lemon Verbena on the other hand, is a really nice pick-me-up scent in the morning.

There are three contract manufacturers of soap from France that supply most of the brands:

La Savonnerie de Haute-Provence, Lab BEA, and LABORATOIRE SCV.
Cosmesoap and Savonnerie Alpilles may also supply small amounts.
 
Maybe this was their Bisous de Provence line?? I have enjoyed using their Lavender, it has a bit of oatmeal or something within to make it scruffy, even though that ingredient is not listed on the label.
It has been enough to keep me away from my favorite local artisan soap: Anders

Hey, I went to my local Trader Joe's and they carry the Bisous de Provence line. $3.29 for a 200g bar, which makes it a good deal, I think. They had three flavors, Lemon Verbena, Green Tea, and Lavender. FWIW, the Lemon Verbena smells identical to and has the same color and consistency of the L'Epi de Provence bar I've been using. This LdP bar lathers up much nicer than the regular Whole Foods Green Tea bar (I haven't tried WF's Organic line).

Having said that, I don't know that the BdP and LdP are the same. I threw away the LdP wrapper and can't compare the ingredients. It's possible the LdP specifies more shea butter in their mix, not sure. I'm tempted to try the BdP at Trader Joe's, though. Seems like a great value.

There are three contract manufacturers of soap from France that supply most of the brands:

La Savonnerie de Haute-Provence, Lab BEA, and LABORATOIRE SCV.
Cosmesoap and Savonnerie Alpilles may also supply small amounts.

I'm getting the sense that this is the case. Thanks for the info!
 
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Hey, I went to my local Trader Joe's and they carry the Bisous de Provence line. $3.29 for a 200g bar, which makes it a good deal, I think. They had three flavors, Lemon Verbena, Green Tea, and Lavender. FWIW, the Lemon Verbena smells identical to and has the same color and consistency of the L'Epi de Provence bar I've been using. This LdP bar lathers up much nicer than the regular Whole Foods Green Tea bar (I haven't tried WF's Organic line).

Having said that, I don't know that the BdP and LdP are the same. I threw away the LdP wrapper and can't compare the ingredients. It's possible the LdP specifies more shea butter in their mix, not sure. I'm tempted to try the BdP at Trader Joe's, though. Seems like a great value.

I don't have any idea about BdP versus LdP question. Photos of the bars show them having slightly different shapes so it would not be a matter of relabeling, but the basic label info and presentation looks the same:
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I have tried the Trader Joe's branded Green Tea and Oatmeal & Honey Soap, I occasionally use the Oatmeal but I do like the BdP Lavender better. I need to look for this Lemon Verbena scent, I don't recall it in my local store.

Brief blog review of Trader Joe’s Oatmeal & Honey Soap, $1.99
 
I have tried the Trader Joe's branded Green Tea and Oatmeal & Honey Soap, I occasionally use the Oatmeal but I do like the BdP Lavender better. I need to look for this Lemon Verbena scent, I don't recall it in my local store.

Brief blog review of Trader Joe’s Oatmeal & Honey Soap, $1.99

Interesting. My Trader Joe's only had one TJ branded bar soap. Can't remember what the flavor was, but it was "Trader Jacque's", and was a milky white bar that smelled really nice. I checked on the label and no mention of triple milling on this particular bar. It was packaged differently than the one in the review.

They did have the genuine BdP bars, though.
 
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Bisous de Provence is a brand of Ton Savon, their soap is made by Lab BEA.
However this may only be for one or more of their other labels - La Belle Vie, Pure Provence, or Savon et Cie. La Savonnerie de Haute-Provence produce L'Epi de Provence.
 
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