Laurus nobilis

Bay laurel grows along the Marmara coast and through the Bursa region. The famous laurel-and-olive soap of Anatolia (and the wider Mediterranean Levant) has been made for centuries in continuous workshop tradition.

On the skin, laurel is mildly antiseptic, slightly warming, deeply quieting. It earns its anchor place in the men's line — Thermées — because the hammam-tradition uses it as both bar and oil.

Properties: antiseptic, slightly warming, mildly stimulating. Traditional uses: laurel-olive soap, hair tonic, post-bath body oil.