A pinch of coarse sea salt. A dash of rosemary. A bit of olive, almond, and coconut oil. Blend together, put over fire, and stirred for about two hours.

Sound like a recipe? It is, but it’s one used for soap. At Khan el Saboun in Daher el Aayn, Tripoli, the Bader Hassoun family is continuing a 600 year-old tradition: making handmade soap from recipes handed down from generation to generation.

The soap factory doesn’t look like a factory at all. In fact, it looks like a big, traditional Lebanese stone house, overlooking a huge field of olive trees. That’s where they use their olive oil from, as well as other main ingredients such as rosemary, lavender, green tea, and peppermint. Other ingredients are brought in from different parts of the world, like India, Egypt, Sudan, and France, depending on what it is.

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