I have sensitive skin so I've been looking all over Florence for handmade soap that's all natural/vegan/organic with no parfum, no parabens, sulfates, or chemicals ending in 'cones'... didn't quite happen.
It's a tiny shop, very packed, highly touristy, and hard to get around but they sure have a bunch of options for handmade soaps, creams, parfums, and even additional items like brushes and combs.
I see a bunch of people go crazy over this soap and fragrances, and it appears to be perfect for people who don't have allergies and can put any typical skincare chemicals on their skin.
The best thing about this store, for me, was the staff. This woman went all over the store looking through ingredients to find the right chemical-free soap for me. The only one we found was on a shelf that was labeled 'organic all natural olive oil soap' without an ingredient list sticker on the soap like all the others so we took a chance and assumed it was chemical-free and natural. When I got home to use the soap, I thought it was the right choice because it didn't lather much, which I'm used to with my soaps. But once I started to wash my body with it, my skin was irritated and burned.
They don't label all of their soaps and some of them lack ingredient labels. I think these soaps can work for many other people and they have a huge selection of soaps, creams, lotions, with wonderful parfum scents. If you have sensitive skin and are looking for REAL all natural soap without all those added chemicals (dimethicone, phenoxanol, methyl parabens, sodium laurel sulfate, etc.) this is NOT the place for you. It's easy for me to find it in the States, but I guess not here. My search continues!
My advice for shoppers: know your skin and check ingredients. If there are no ingredients, skip it!
My advice to the store: clearly label ALL products with ALL ingredients to save the customers the mystery and disappointment. read more