Bordeaux Diaries: Les Délices du Bain

I have a hobby of collecting things which my mind perceives to be precious for whatever unexplainable reasons! So far, many complicated types of mechanical pencils, cute erasers, collectible bookmarks, colorful post-its in different shapes, limited edition lip glosses/nail polishes, napkin notes from various cafes I have been in and the cutest little diaries have made it to my possession, with most of them still in their original packaging and neatly arranged in a dedicated drawer. Even though a lot of these items were either free or were very nominally priced but each one of them marks a personal memory for me. I call it my "Happy Collection" as they make me smile each time I go through them.
 
I never thought I would want to add a soap, or lets say soaps to my Happy collection! Not until the day I came across this shop called "Les Délices du Bain" which translates literally into "the delights of (taking a) bath" in English. The exterior of the shop gave me an impression of standing in front of a Candy Shop. Despite the word "Savon" meaning "Soap" written on the glass, I could not stop myself from thinking of candies! Colorful and intricately textured soaps packed in transparent sheets with ribbon frills around them made my eyes go pop with fascination.

This display stool at the entrance of the shop had a soap placed on it in fuchsia, pink and purple color combination. The note near it reads "Touchez moi" which means "Touch me" and I thought that it was an instruction to be followed. The smooth and satin finish, the melange of the different shades of colors made me want to learn more about this shop.

Upon entering the shop, I was greeted by a friendly representative who was simultaneously weighing and packing little packets of what looked like fruity jelly squares to me. I told her that I wanted to take a look around and she gladly allowed me to not just look but to touch, smell and ask anything about these soaps. I smelled the first one on the nearby shelf and this was my reaction: " I just want to eat them all!" The way she smiled back at my childish expression, seemed like this wasn't the first time she heard this. Of course she warned me: "No, please don't eat them". Silly silly me!


I started reading the little tags under the soaps arranged on the shelves. The names of these soaps were a real delight to read. Each soap has a name, a personality and a distinctive scent of its own. These adorable soaps are handmade wonders and are inspired by nature and its phenomenons, various countries and cities, fruits, flowers, food, chocolates, coffee, moods, emotions and creative combinations. This is when I realized that "Touchez moi" wasn't an invitation but actually the name of the soap. Another soap that got me thinking was called: "Parlez moi d'amour : Talk to me about love."

I am having a hard time finding the appropriate adjectives to define this experience that I had at "Les Délices du Bain". It's like an art exhibition where soaps are the canvases full of details and dimensions. It wasn't just a treat for my eyes but also for my senses of smelling and touching. Each piece would captivate your focus and will demand you to understand it before you move on to the second one. "Les Délices du Bain" also offers a range of bathing gels, loofahs, decorative items to personalize your bathing space. To ensure that no one feels left out on these delights, they offer a dedicated range for men as well.

It was on the website of "Les Délices du Bain" where I learned about the fact that currently there are two active branches of this business in France. However, they take online orders and deliver the products through post all over France. They offer customizing options on orders which means that people can actually demand a combination product of their own choice.

While it's important to use a moisturizing product after bathing, I need to ensure that my bathing products aren't the reason behind my skin's dryness. I was indeed delighted to experience the impact of the orange soap from "Les Délices du Bain". The satin finish of the soap and its fresh citrus fragrance left my hands well moisturized and pleasantly scented.

I can definitely say that the products of this shop are very skin friendly. People can easily find something suitable at "Les Délices du Bain" to fulfill the moisturizing requirements of their skin. Making a choice at the shop however can be very difficult as the products, their colors, fragrances are all very tempting. Moreover, if you are someone like me, you may even end up buying some soaps because for their interesting name.!

Through out my stay at "Les Délices du Bain", I was thinking about my friends and family back in Pakistan, wondering which one of these would suit whom? When these thoughts come to my mind in a shop, be assured that I honestly like it. I am looking forward taking a bit of french culture with me in the form of presents for the ones I love and "Les Délices du Bain" stands in the list of few such places which I have discovered in Bordeaux so far. Anyone visiting France in the near future, especially Bordeaux or St Emillion, don't forget to drop by this shop. If you aren't in these cities, you can order directly from their website and they will deliver it to you wherever you are in France.

Thank you so much Mrs. Sandra Delle Case and Mrs. Naisse for being so warm and welcoming! And an special acknowledgement to the two of you beautiful ladies for giving me the liberty to take photos of the shop for my personal record. One of the many reasons for me to revisit "Les Délices du Bain" would be your hospitable and communicative attitude towards the visitors.

Oh and did I tell you that their precious little strawberry soap brick has ended up in my "Happy Collection"? Maybe I will add some fruit salad next time from "Les Délices du Bain" to my collection as well. No, they don't sell snacks, it's one of the soaps that you can locate in the pictures on this post, called "Salade de fruits". I am totally loving the French way of pampering oneself!

Les Délices du Bain official website: www.lesdelicesdubain.fr

You can find all the contact details, product descriptions and tariffs on their website. If you don't understand French, you many need to use Google Translator this once ;-)