For the Bath

Arghand Skin-Nourishing Soap

Made in Afghanistan these supersaturated, eco friendly soaps are delicately scented -- and last forever. The craftsmen use natural ingredients purchased from local farmers and make their own fragrances, colors and oils using traditional methods. Each bar of Arghand soap is wrapped in a strip of recycled silk, formerly used as a turban, woven in the western Afghan town of Herat.

Price: $25 for a set of three bars--Pomegranate, Artemis and Almond

The set includes:

One bar of round, deep red Pomegranate soap (with palm and coconut oils, cold pressed sweet almond and pomegranate oils, pomegranate concentrate). Fragrance-free and rich in pomegranate seed oil, it is especially suited to sensitive skin;

One oval-shaped bar of Kandahar rose soap with a swirl of pink. It contains palm and coconut oils, cold pressed sweet almond and pomegranate seed oils and essential oil of Rosa damascena. So ancient is the tradition of distilling the essence of the "Kandahar rose" in Kandahar, that the very word for rose is "flower-water flower"; and

One flat white oval of Almond soap, lightly colored with a swirl of wild almond butter. Contains palm and coconut oils, apricot kernel oils, sweet almond, cold pressed wild almond and almond extract. The oil of the tiny wild almonds, which grow in the highlands above Kandahar, gives this soap its character.

Artist Bio
Arghand soaps are produced by a privately-funded cooperative started in 2005 by American journalist Sarah Chayes in the area around Kandahar, Afgthanistan -- an area known for its pomegranates and other fruits and flowers. The co-op buys all ingredients for its soaps from local farmers to diversify the local economy.