Villa Sole Italian Soap Gift Set — Six Majolica-Wrapped Bars from Florence

Six natural soap bars from Nesti Dante, the family soap house that has made soap in Florence since 1947. Each bar is wrapped in paper printed with Italian maiolica tile patterns — the same scrollwork, citrus, and cobalt-and-ochre motifs you see on the hand-painted ceramics in the store. The wrappers are the reason this set is at Biordi: it is the ceramic tradition of southern Italy, rendered in paper.

The Villa Sole collection takes its scents from the Italian coast and the islands: Amalfi, Taormina, the Aeolians, Etna, and the hills of Chianti. Six bars, six places, 150g each.

Nesti Dante still makes its own soap base in cauldrons rather than buying pre-made soap chips, which is unusual and is why the bars are dense and last a long time in the dish. The soaps are vegan, contain no animal ingredients, and are free from parabens, sulphates, synthetic surfactants, and glycols.

The set arrives in a clear gift box tied with a printed Nesti Dante ribbon — it does not need wrapping. Set it out in a guest bath, break it up into six separate small gifts, or pair a single bar with a Deruta soap dish.

Chinotto di Amalfi — Myrtle-leaved orange from Amalfi
Fico d'India di Taormina — Prickly pear from Taormina
Fresia Blu delle Eolie — Blue freesia from the Aeolian Islands
Pistacchio di Sicilia e Caramello Salato — Sicilian pistachio and salted caramel
Rosso Divino del Chianti — Noble red grapes from Chianti
Fiori d'Ananas dell'Etna — Pineapple flowers from Mount Etna

Contents: 6 bars, 150g / 5.3 oz each
Made in: Florence, Italy
Producer: Nesti Dante, Florence, making soap since 1947
Method: Traditional cauldron saponification, soap base made in-house
Formulation: Vegan friendly, no animal ingredients; free from parabens, sulphates, synthetic surfactants, and glycols; palm oil from sustainable plantations
Ingredients: Sodium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Aqua/Water, Glycerin, Parfum/Fragrance, Sodium Chloride, Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Leaf Extract, Pistacia Vera Seed Extract, Ficus Carica (Fig) Leaf Extract, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Ananas Sativus (Pineapple) Fruit Extract, Rosa Canina Fruit Extract, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, and declared fragrance components including Limonene, Linalool, Geraniol, Citral, Citronellol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Alcohol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalyl Acetate, and Vanillin. The complete list is printed on the box.
Care: Keep the bar on a soap dish that drains and let it dry fully between uses — a bar left sitting in water will soften and wear away quickly. Store unopened bars in their wrappers in a drawer or linen closet; they will scent the space until you need them. External use only; keep out of the eyes
Use within: 36 months of opening
Packaging: Clear gift box with printed ribbon; wrapping paper is recyclable
Sold as: Set of six
Pairs with: Deruta soap dishes, Ortigia Sicilia bath and fragrance

What makes these different from ordinary soap?
Two things. Nesti Dante makes its own soap base in cauldrons instead of buying ready-made soap chips, so the bars are denser and last longer. And the wrappers are printed with Italian maiolica tile patterns — people keep them, line drawers with them, and frame them.

What are the six scents?
Myrtle-leaved orange from Amalfi, prickly pear from Taormina, blue freesia from the Aeolian Islands, Sicilian pistachio and salted caramel, noble red grapes from Chianti, and pineapple flowers from Mount Etna.

Are these vegan? What are they free from?
Vegan friendly, with no animal ingredients. Free from parabens, sulphates, synthetic surfactants, and glycols. The palm oil comes from sustainable plantations. The full ingredient list is printed on the box and reproduced in the specifications above.

How do I make the bars last?
Use a soap dish that drains and let the bar dry between uses; a bar sitting in a puddle dissolves fast. Keep the spare bars wrapped until you need them — the paper holds the fragrance, and Nesti Dante's own suggestion is to store them in a drawer, where they scent the linens.

Is this a good Italian wedding gift?
It works better as a shower, engagement, or thank-you gift than as the wedding gift itself, since it gets used up. For a wedding gift meant to last, look to hand-painted Deruta dinnerware or Salviati Murano glass — though a bar of this alongside a Deruta soap dish makes a handsome smaller present.

Is this a good housewarming or hostess gift?
One of the best. It arrives already boxed and ribboned, it looks far more expensive than most hostess gifts, and six bars means it can also be broken up into six individual gifts for teachers, neighbors, or a holiday table.

Why buy Italian gifts from Biordi rather than other retailers?
Biordi Art Imports has imported from Italy since 1946 and is a San Francisco Legacy Business (#LBR-2020-21-029). We buy directly from the makers — FIMA, CF Deruta, Pia Formato, Eugenio Ricciarelli, Susanna DeSimone, Geribi, Bucci Ceramiche, Ortigia Sicilia, Italesse, and Salviati — and we know where each piece comes from. Questions: (415) 392-8096 or customerservice@biordi.com.

Nesti Dante — Florence, Tuscany — A family soap house founded in Florence in 1947, one year after Emilio Biordi opened Biordi Art Imports on Columbus Avenue. Nesti Dante still produces its own soap base by the traditional cauldron method, starting from whole plant oils rather than buying soap chips, and prints its wrappers with the decorative traditions of Italian tile and paper. The company works from Via delle Molina in San Donnino, on the edge of Florence.

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